Nets rookie Ben Saraf grew up 18 miles from Tel Aviv, the city with the world’s biggest Jewish population.
Now he’ll come to the city with the second biggest — and get to play alongside fellow Israeli citizen Danny Wolf.
“It was amazing. I got a lot of messages, getting a lot of love from the Jewish community here,” Saraf said. “And of course it’s the first time two Israelis are playing for the same team. So, it’s going to be really exciting and I appreciate all the love that I’m getting, like in the streets and from the fans.”
Technically, Omri Casspi and Jordan Farmar beat them to it, the first pair playing together on the Kings in 2017.
But his point stands, drafted five minutes before the Nets took Wolf.
It’s not uncommon to see Orthodox Jews courtside at Nets games.
And the team was in the headlines in 2022, when Kyrie Irving promoted a film denying the Holocaust and blaming Jewish people for slavery.
Now this season there will be not one but two suiting up in Brooklyn, doubling the total in the NBA.
“To be honest, it’s fantastic, the way it just worked out. If you think about it, the game of basketball is such a worldly game, played all over the globe,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “There’s talent everywhere, and that’s our job, to bring in the best talent regardless of race, ethnicity and so forth.”
With the Nets heading into Year 2 of their tank, their fans will be counting every defeat as a win, and every victory as a Pyrrhic one.
But Marks insists he won’t be among them, and hasn’t given Jordi Fernández any mandate to lose.
“Expectations for this year are the same as always: go out and compete. We don’t put a limit on ‘don’t do this’ and ‘hopefully you don’t win these amount of games’ or anything like that. That’s never crossed our lips here,” Marks said. “It’s go compete and do the borough proud. And I think that’s what this group has done.”
The Nets believe Nolan Traoré was the fastest player in the draft.
Drake Powell tested off the charts at the draft combine, his 43-inch vertical the best in the class and one of the Top 15 ever.
But it’s the wing’s defense that he expects will be his calling card as a rookie.
and Ben Saraf pose with their uniforms at a press conference in Brooklyn. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“My defense, that’s mainly just pride. That’s just something I’ve had since growing up at a young age, playing with my older brother, older cousin. That’s just something I always took pride in,” Powell said. “I can make an immediate impact to help this team be successful. Just do whatever I can to the best of my ability.”
Egor Demin’s poor 3-point shooting is the flaw that can keep him from reaching his potential.
But Fernández is convinced the Russian will improve.
“His ability to shoot the ball, he’s going to shoot the ball very well in this league,” Fernández said. “That is another thing that excites us.”