Ben Saraf is one of the most talented players in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft. He opened up about his decision to not play in the NCAA and sign with ratiopharm Ulm, the strange challenges he sometimes has to face in Germany, his childhood in Israel, and his eventual departure to the NBA.
The biggest topic in Israel is not basketball at the moment. However, one of the biggest topics in Israeli basketball at the moment is an 18-year-old player with a bright future.
Israeli basketball is in a tough situation at the moment. With sports experiencing one challenge after another, there is, however, a bright spot in the entire picture - a player projected to be drafted in the lottery of the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft.
He's averaging 13.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 14.2 PIR for ratiopharm Ulm in the EuroCup. He is also set to make his national team debut in the upcoming EuroBasket 2025 Qualifiers window.
His name is Ben Saraf.
The Upbringing
When I got the idea of talking with Ben, I wanted to find out more about him. The first thing I was told by members of the Israeli media was that he was very smart and mature for his age.
"I think [it comes] from my family, the people around me. Also, a lot of my friends are older than me, and I grew up with people who were older and more mature, so maybe I got it from them," Saraf told BasketNews.
All while Saraf is probably eternally grateful to his parents, the decision to leave Israel — a huge one at his age — was ultimately made by him.
"We all talk before we make decisions. In the end, it's my decision, but they tell me what they're thinking," he said.
Arrival in Germany
It's the first time Ben has had to live alone. He brought his PlayStation from Israel to Ulm as part of his luggage.
"Yeah, I play sometimes. UFC, 2K sometimes. But yeah, mostly UFC," he said.
Outside of his comfort zone in his apartment, the world is entirely different from what the 18-year-old Israeli was previously accustomed to.
Germany is famously a country of rules. If something is forbidden by law, it is highly likely that the locals will adhere to it. An interesting specialty in this foreign reality is traffic.
One particular part of it is bicycles. As a country of rules, Germany has at least 10 different signs that apply to bikers alone. At the same time, social media is full of anecdotal and sometimes fun examples of bikers being a nuisance in the broader traffic picture.
As a young driver in a foreign country, Ben Saraf has already experienced a lot of rule-driven drama.
"The bicycles and the people with bicycles, they're crazy how they're driving. On my first day, I almost crashed into one of them. I didn't
