Arsalan Kazemi Naeini ( fa, ارسلان کاظمی نائینی; born 22 April 1990) is an

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Chemidor Qom of the

Iranian Basketball Super League The Iranian Basketball Super League (IBSL) is a professional men's basketball league in Iran. It was founded in 1998. The current champions is Shahrdari Gorgan. The league follows the promotion and relegation system in which the worst two te ...

. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. ...

and the Rice Owls basketball teams. He was the 54th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays ...

, becoming the first Iranian to be drafted into the league. His rights were later traded to the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Ea ...

. He was the captain of the Iranian under-18 national basketball team and has previously played for Zob Ahan Isfahan in the

at the age of 17 before travelling to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

in February 2008.

College career

Rice

Kazemi received scholarship offers from

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

, Seton Hall,

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

and

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

. On 1 November 2008, Kazemi committed to play for

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

. He became the first Iranian national to play Division I basketball. He was a member of McMurtry College at Rice University.

Freshman

Kazemi averaged 10.3 ppg and 9.1 rpg in his first season at Rice. Kazemi was named in the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

(C-USA) All-Freshman Team alongside HS teammate and current NBA player Hassan Whiteside.

Sophomore

As a sophomore Kazemi was picked by the league's coaches to the pre-season all C-USA 2nd team. Kazemi got off to a fast start averaging 17.5 points and 11.14 rebounds in the first 14 games of the season, before conference play started. He recorded nine total double double's in the first 14 games, which included a 26-point and 14-rebound game against Miami in the ACC and a 19-point and 17-rebound game against LSU in the SEC. In the weeks of 27 December 2010 and 3 January 2011 Kazemi was named C-USA player of the week becoming the first and only player to receive the honor two weeks in a row for the 2010–2011 season. Kazemi didn't miss a beat when entering conference play putting up a career high 28 points in the team's first conference game of the season against Tulane University on 5 January 2011. Kazemi would get another career high against Tulane, this time grabbing 19 rebounds on 2 February 2011. Kazemi finished conference play with 8 more double doubles. Some notable games included a 28-point 13-rebound game against Tulane, a 17-point 13-rebound game against University of Houston, a 21-point 16-rebound game against SMU, and a 24-point 18-rebound game against SMU again. Kazemi finished up C-USA play with 9 double doubles (including the conference tournament) and a conference average of 13.6 points and 10.9 rebounds. This brought his season total of double doubles to 18, which placed him in the top ten among all of active Div I players. His play in Conference USA earned him a spot on the All Conference 2nd team just as predicted in the pre-season. Kazemi averaged 15.2 points and 11 rebounds, having a total of 487 points, 120 offensive rebounds, 231 defensive rebounds making a grand total of 351 rebounds on the year. The all-conference team was not Kazemi's only honor in the 2010–2011 season. To go along with his 2 time player of the week and all conference team, Kazemi was named to the all

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University ...

(NABC) all-district second team for district 11 along with Aaron Johnson from UAB and Will Barton from Memphis. Later Kazemi was named to the NCAA all-international first team that included

Tristan Thompson Tristan Trevor James Thompson (born March 13, 1991) is a Canadian-American professional basketball player who last played for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He won the 2016 NBA Finals with the Cleveland Cavali ...

from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

and

Nikola Vučević Nikola Vučević ( Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Вучевић, ; born 24 October 1990) is a Montenegrin professional basketball player for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the U ...

from

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses ** South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. Kazemi made one more all-district team, this one being the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awar ...

(USBWA) All-District VII team. The team also featured 2010 C-USA player of the year

Randy Culpepper Randy Lechard Culpepper (born May 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for Basket Brno of the NBL. College career He played for the University of Texas El Paso Miners. He is in Conference USA's top 15 all-time in career scor ...

from UTEP, the Big 12's all-time leading scorer LaceDarius Dunn from Baylor, and Jordan Hamilton from Texas. Kazemi would be honored one more time by the USBWA. They gave him the 2010-2011 Most Courageous Award. Kazemi became the third recipient of the award. Dave Rose, the coach of BYU, and Kelvin Davis of

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

were the other two winners in years past.

Oregon

After his junior year, Kazemi transferred to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc Nike, Inc. ( or ) is a ...

. He was granted a hardship waiver by the NCAA over Rice's objections, meaning that he could play immediately, without needing to sit out a year. Kazemi was granted a hardship waiver by the NCAA in light of alleged discrimination that he experienced while a member of the basketball team at Rice. According to Kazemi's application for a hardship waiver, Rice Athletic Director Rick Greenspan allegedly made derogatory remarks to Kazemi, his teammates, and an assistant coach, Marco Morcos. One of Kazemi's teammates, Omar Oraby, was granted a hardship waiver as well and was able to play for the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

immediately. Subsequently, Morcos was fired and has since filed a complaint with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

alleging the existence of a hostile work environment at Rice, although Morcos has failed to produce any evidence of such treatment. Kazemi would not comment on the hardship waiver and Rice has categorically denied the allegations. The hardship waiver claims made by Kazemi and Oraby were not investigated by the NCAA, which granted the waivers over Rice's objections. Kazemi had a successful senior season with Oregon, and averaged nearly a double-double in points and rebounds. He led the Ducks to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, in those 3 games he averaged 15 rebounds, 10 points, and 2.3 assists a game. The Ducks were knocked out by the eventual winners, the Louisville Cardinals.

College statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2009–10 , style="text-align:left;",

, 30, , 21, , 27.9, , .530, , .000, , .610, , 9.1, , 1.2, , 1.6, , 0.9, , 10.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 32, , 30, , 29.8, , .525, , .000, , .720, , 11.0, , 1.3, , 1.2, , 0.8, , 15.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2011–12 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33, , 32, , 29.4, , .594, , .000, , .681, , 10.3, , 2.1, , 2.1, , 1.0, , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2012–13 , style="text-align:left;",

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, 35, , 27, , 28.8, , .587, , .000, , .682, , 9.9, , 1.4, , 2.1, , 0.6, , 9.3

Professional career

Kazemi was drafted by the

with the 54th pick in the 2013 NBA draft. His rights were later traded to the

on draft night. Kazemi became the first Iranian-born player to be drafted by an NBA team. He joined the 76ers for the 2013 NBA Summer League where he averaged 4.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in five games. Despite showing potential during the summer league, Sixers General Manager

Sam Hinkie Samuel William Wallace Hinkie (born December 1977) is an American businessman and former basketball executive who served as the general manager for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2013 to 2016. Hinkie ...

said "He would get a chance to work on his game somewhere else for a year, then ewould have the opportunity to reassess where he is later." Kazemi returned to Iran for the 2013–14 season and signed with

Petrochimi Bandar Imam Petrochimi Bandar Imam Basketball Club ( fa, تیم بسكتبال پتروشیمی بندر امام, ''Tim-e Beskâtbal-e Petrushimi-ye Bendâr Eman''), also known as shortly Petrochimi, is an Iranian professional basketball club based in Mahshah ...

. In July 2014, Kazemi re-joined the 76ers for the

2014 NBA Summer League The 2014 NBA Summer League consists of two pro basketball leagues organized by the NBA and the Orlando Magic just after the 2014 NBA Draft. Ten teams took part in the week-long summer league at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, from July 5 t ...

. In September 2014, he signed with the

Chongqing Soaring Dragons The Beijing Royal Fighters () are a Chinese professional men's basketball team which is based in Beijing and plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Beijing BG (known in Chinese as Beijing Beikong) is the clu ...

of the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

. He appeared in 27 games for Chongqing and averaged 15.0 points and 13.7 rebounds per game. In July 2015, Kazemi again re-joined the 76ers for the 2015 NBA Summer League, where he led the game against the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in rebounds. On 29 September 2015, he signed a training camp deal with the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

after the 76ers renounced his draft rights. He was waived by the Hawks on 10 October after appearing in one preseason game. Two days later, he was claimed off waivers by the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

and joined their team. He was waived by the Rockets on 24 October after appearing in one preseason game. On 29 December, he returned to his native Iran, signing with Samen Mash'had, reuniting with former Petrochimi Bandar Imam's coach Mehran Hatemi. Kazemi spent the 2019-20 season with Mahram Tehran BC and averaged 9.6 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. On 7 September 2020, Kazemi signed with

Chemidor Tehran BC Chemidor Qom Basketball Club is an Iranian professional basketball team based in Qom Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capita ...

International career

As captain of the Iranian under-19 team, Kazemi led the Iranian national team with 16.6PPG, 12.2RPG and 3 assists to become the team's highest scorer at the

FIBA Under-19 World Championship 2009 The 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship (Maori: 2009 FIBA I-Raro I Te 19 Tau Toa o Te Ao) was the 9th edition of the FIBA U19 World Championship, the biennial international men's youth basketball championship contested by the U19 national team ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

, New Zealand. Kazemi was initially called up to the national senior team in August 2010 for the

Stanković Cup Stanković ( sr-cyr, Станковић, ) is a common surname derived from the South Slavic masculine given name Stanko. Stanković is the eighth most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 2,842 carriers (2011 census) ...

, ahead of the much anticipated

2010 FIBA World Championship The 2010 FIBA World Championship was the 16th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship contested by the men's national teams. The tournament ran from 28 August to 12 September 2010. It was co-organised by the Inte ...

. Kazemi went on to be Iran's second leading scorer in the competition after

Hamed Haddadi Hamed Ehdadi Haddadi ( fa, حامد حدادی, , born May 19, 1985) is an Iranian professional basketball player for Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). He plays at the center position and is 7'2" (2.18 meters) tall ...

with an average of 12ppg, 7.4rpg and 2.8spg. Following several impressive performances, Kazemi received much praise amongst international media. SLAM Magazine rated Kazemi as one of the top 5 NBA Draft prospects competing in the tournament.

Career statistics

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Petrochimi , 19, , 19, , 28.3, , .591, , .000, , .576, , 11.1, , 1.5, , 2.2, , 0.7, , 13.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

Beikong Fly Dragons The Beijing Royal Fighters () are a Chinese professional men's basketball team which is based in Beijing and plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Beijing BG (known in Chinese as Beijing Beikong) is the clu ...

, 27, , 25, , 38.9, , .661, , .000, , .583, , 13.7, , 3.4, , 3.2, , 0.3, , 15.0

References

External links

*
Oregon bioRealGM profileAsiabasket profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazemi, Arsalan 1990 births Living people 2010 FIBA World Championship players 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup players American people of Iranian descent Basketball players at the 2018 Asian Games Basketball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Asian Games silver medalists for Iran Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in basketball Beijing Royal Fighters players Iranian expatriate basketball people in China Iranian expatriate basketball people in the United States Iranian men's basketball players Mahram Tehran BC players Olympic basketball players of Iran Oregon Ducks men's basketball players Petrochimi Bandar Imam BC players Power forwards (basketball) Rice Owls men's basketball players Sportspeople from Isfahan Sportspeople of Iranian descent Washington Wizards draft picks