1. Arsalan Kazemi Naeini is an Iranian professional basketball player for Shahrdari Gorgan of the Iranian Basketball Super League.
32 Facts About Arsalan Kazemi
1. 2.
Arsalan Kazemi played college basketball for the Oregon Ducks and the Rice Owls basketball teams.
3.
Arsalan Kazemi was the 54th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft by the Washington Wizards, becoming the first Iranian to be drafted into the league.
4.
Arsalan Kazemi's rights were later traded to the Philadelphia 76ers.
5.
Arsalan Kazemi was the captain of the Iranian under-18 national basketball team and has previously played for Zob Ahan Isfahan in the Iranian Basketball Super League at the age of 17 before travelling to the United States in February 2008.
6.
On 1 November 2008, Arsalan Kazemi committed to play for Rice University.
7.
Arsalan Kazemi became the first Iranian national to play Division I basketball.
8.
Arsalan Kazemi was a member of McMurtry College at Rice University.
9.
Arsalan Kazemi averaged 10.3 ppg and 9.1 rpg in his first season at Rice.
10.
Arsalan Kazemi was named in the Conference USA All-Freshman Team alongside HS teammate and current NBA player Hassan Whiteside.
11.
Arsalan 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.
12.
Arsalan Kazemi 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.
13.
Arsalan Kazemi would get another career high against Tulane, this time grabbing 19 rebounds on 2 February 2011.
14.
Arsalan Kazemi finished up C-USA play with 9 double doubles and a conference average of 13.6 points and 10.9 rebounds.
15.
Arsalan 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.
16.
Later Arsalan Kazemi was named to the NCAA all-international first team that included Tristan Thompson from Texas and Nikola Vucevic from USC.
17.
Arsalan Kazemi made one more all-district team, this one being the United States Basketball Writers Association All-District VII team.
18.
Arsalan Kazemi would be honored one more time by the USBWA.
19.
Arsalan Kazemi 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.
20.
Arsalan 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.
21.
Arsalan Kazemi had a successful senior season with Oregon, and averaged nearly a double-double in points and rebounds.
22.
Arsalan Kazemi 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.
23.
Arsalan Kazemi was drafted by the Washington Wizards with the 54th pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
24.
Arsalan Kazemi's rights were later traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on draft night.
25.
Arsalan Kazemi became the first Iranian-born player to be drafted by an NBA team.
26.
Arsalan Kazemi joined the 76ers for the 2013 NBA Summer League where he averaged 4.6 points and 4.6 rebounds in five games.
27.
In July 2014, Arsalan Kazemi re-joined the 76ers for the 2014 NBA Summer League.
28.
Arsalan Kazemi appeared in 27 games for Chongqing and averaged 15.0 points and 13.7 rebounds per game.
29.
In July 2015, Arsalan Kazemi again re-joined the 76ers for the 2015 NBA Summer League, where he led the game against the Boston Celtics in rebounds.
30.
On 7 September 2020, Arsalan Kazemi signed with Chemidor Tehran BC.
31.
Arsalan Kazemi was initially called up to the national senior team in August 2010 for the Stankovic Cup, ahead of the much anticipated 2010 FIBA World Championship.
32.
Arsalan Kazemi went on to be Iran's second leading scorer in the competition after Hamed Haddadi with an average of 12ppg, 7.4rpg and 2.8spg.