Brooklyn, if it’s possible, got even more Jewish on Wednesday night, when two members of the tribe were picked back to back by the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the NBA draft.

The Nets tapped 6-foot-6 Israeli point guard Ben Saraf and Israeli-American 7-footer Danny Wolf, who starred at the University of Michigan, with the No. 26 and 27 picks, marking the first time since 2006 that two Jewish players were selected in the same NBA draft.

“Picking two Jewish players back to back is at worst a pretty kismet coincidence. They know what they’re doing,” James Hirsh, host of the Jewish sports podcast “Menschwarmers,” told Jewish Insider, referring to the Nets’ front office. “This is a pretty cool thing to happen.” 

Hirsh said that the picks reflect a “growth of professional Jewish athletes in New York,” pointing to Max Fried, who signed with the New York Yankees as a starting pitcher last December. “It makes sense to have talent that your fan base is going to automatically support.”  

Saraf, 19, is the son of two former Israeli professional basketball players and was born in Israel. He chose to wear the No. 77, according to media reports, because it is the Jewish numerical value of the word “mazal,” Hebrew for luck. He is currently playing in Germany. 

Wolf, 21, led the Wolverines to a No. 5 seed in last year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament after transferring from Yale University. He has been outspoken about the antisemitism he’s faced on the court, especially in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks while playing at Yale. “There were more than 80 fans who came to the game disguised,” he told the Detroit Free Press in March about a game against Dartmouth. “And then minutes into the game they broke out chanting and holding Palestinian flags. And it was a small gym, so everyone’s focus turned to that.” 

“I would hear it growing up, that noise about me being Jewish, and [so] you don’t expect much from me as a basketball player,” Wolf continued. “When I was younger, I kind of looked at [being Jewish] as an opportunity to prove myself.”

“The most beautiful thing about Judaism is the way it connects me with my family,” said Wolf, who attended a Solomon Schechter Jewish day school in the Chicago suburbs until fifth grade and obtained Israeli citizenship in 2023 to represent Israel at the FIBA U20 European Championship in Greece. “It transcends other things and brings us together.” 

“You can’t teach height,” Hirsh quipped, noting that Wolf is the “tallest Jewish player the U.S. has ever seen.”

“That’s pretty unique for Jewish basketball players,” he said. “There’s a lot of excitement to see whether his game can transfer to the NBA level or not.” 

The newest Nets players follow in the footsteps of Omri Casspi and Jordan Farmar, who  became the first pair of Israeli teammates on an NBA roster when they played for the Sacramento Kings in 2017. Lior Eliyahu and Yotam Halperin were the last two Jewish players to be picked in the same NBA draft in 2006. Another Israeli player, 24-year-old forward Deni Avdija, plays with the Portland Trail Blazers after three years with the Washington Wizards.

The new Jewish players mark a fresh chapter for the team, whose minority owner Oliver Weisberg is an Anti-Defamation League board member. The Nets were embroiled in an antisemitism scandal in 2022 after point guard Kyrie Irving posted a link to a film that denied the Holocaust and blamed Jewish people for slavery. Irving, who refused to apologize for days, was suspended by the NBA. The Nets traded him in 2023.