Omar Krayem gets ''goose bumps'' thinking of how far Palestine have come

JENIN (Palestine) - The score had already gotten out of hand to Palestine’s advantage over Sri Lanka, but that didn’t matter to the hometown crowd at the Arab American Univeristy Gymnasium.

They were going to celebrate and cheer for everything and anything that their team was doing on the court. Whether it was another scoring attempt by Sani Sakakini or a monster block by Tareq Tamini, the fans were ready to burst out off of their seats and wave around any cheering equipment they had on hand.

Who could blame them? This was the first time ever they got to watch FIBA basketball right in their home town and they were watching their boys on the way to a win.

"The feeling was simply incredible!" Omar Krayem exclaimed. "We are proud to show the world that when you say Palestine basketball, we are respected on the national stage."

Krayem emerged as one of the better guards in the first window of the Asia Cup Qualifiers. He topped everyone is assists with 8.0 per game, while also finished among the top 15 in scoring (19.5 points per game) and rebounding (6.0 rebounds per game).

The 33-year-old has put on a show all over the world, having played in USA, Sweden, Hungary, Mexico, France, and the Philippines among other countries. Krayem finally got the chance to suit up for the Palestine national team at the Asia Cup Qualifiers and it was certainly worth the wait.

Palestine themselves have come a long way from playing in their first Asia Cup back in 2015. Taking a huge leap forward by hosting an Asia Cup Qualifier game in Jenin - and winning - is just another example of how far they’ve progressed.

"The growth of how far we have come from just 10 years ago, wow." he said. "When I think about it I just get goose bumps!"

Krayem isn’t just thinking about the present, how he and his team mates are showing promise as one of the upstart teams in the qualifiers. He’s looking further down the road as he saw an encouraging number of young fans that were at the home game. Fans that were engaged and enjoying the game of basketball who could one day carry on the torch as the future of Palestine basketball.

"For me this is important because something like this will definitely inspire the youth," Krayem said. "It’ll give them a chance to to dream big and have confidence that they can be a basketball player even in Palestine!"

After starting the Qualifiers with a tough loss to Kazakhstan, Palestine were able to close out the first window on a high note. Not only were they able to get a win, they also got the fans involved and celebrating their success.

"Special thanks to the Federation and everyone that helped putting in long hours of hard work to make the atmosphere very special," said Krayem before adding the most important part. "The fans were amazing!"

"Us as players, we were so proud and excited to show that when you bring up Palestine basketball, there is respect for our players and country on the international stage!"

Good news for Krayem and Palestine, because they will be brought up a lot more often throughout the Asia Cup Qualifiers and the years to come in the future at this rate.

FIBA