Post by WBBDaily on Dec 29, 2022 9:26:06 GMT -5
RISHON LeZION, Israel — Raanan Tzarfati, a 40-year-old high school biology teacher, has a class to run in a few hours. But on a Monday morning in December, his preparations can wait, at least for a little while. Before heading off to his school in a Tel Aviv suburb, where he’ll spend the day talking about glycogen, photosynthesis, cell structure and the brain, Tzarfati makes time to discuss another one of his favorite topics: basketball.
Chelsea Hopkins, an American guard who has played professionally in Israel for a decade, says Tzarfati “encompasses all things” Israeli women’s hoops. He has never coached, played or worked for a professional team or agency. Instead, Tzarfati is more like a superfan, though he is one who plays a larger role in the sport’s ecosystem here than a typical cheerleader. What role that exactly is, Hopkins says, is tough to pin down. “But if you’ve played here,” she says, “then you know Raanan.”
Wearing a Toronto Raptors zip-up sweater, Tzarfati, who holds a Ph.D. in biology, explains some of what he’s done in support. Over the years, he’s been a tour guide, showing players around his native Jerusalem on off-days; a team video coordinator, finding and passing along links to Israeli league games so players can re-watch them; a concierge, telling American athletes spending their winters in the Middle Eastern country where to rent a car, where to shop or where to consume the best shakshuka; and a league historian — as Hopkins puts it, “he can give you all kinds of random information and tidbits of stuff that’s happened.”
He never planned on any of this — whatever this may be. Tzarfati has merely liked the sport since he was a child. And more than a decade ago, as he was working on his master’s degree at Hebrew University, he started attending women’s basketball games. While there, he says, he began striking up conversations about what he observed. Others recognized his passion and curiosity, and he thereby became increasingly invested.
The world of professional Israeli women’s basketball is small, which helps someone like Tzarfati become known to various parties. For foreign players, according to Chicago Sky guard Rebekah Gardner, who spent the first four seasons of her overseas career in the country, the Israeli culture “is really welcoming.” Fans can attend domestic league action for free, with contests often played in sparsely attended high school arenas. Players drive themselves to games, with almost all the teams in the Israeli women’s league located within 30 minutes of each other.
Tzarfati speaks of players who have passed through the league with the same fondness of a college coach who has watched their graduates blossom. Of Marina Mabrey, who played for Bnot Herzliya in 2020, he says: “She’s a prolific scorer. She’s like Stephen Curry. The progress she’s made since she’s come to Israel is something that you barely see. Her ability to score is something amazing.”
He chuckles as he compares Gardner’s WNBA debut at 31 to a story from Genesis in which angels tell Sarah she will have a baby despite her age. “Unfortunately (Chicago) didn’t win a championship (last season), but it’s been an amazing trip for (Gardner),” he says. The two have maintained a friendship even after Gardner departed to play in other countries.
“He’s just a basketball fanatic,” Gardner says. “And I like basketball, too, so we just made that connection.”
Hopkins says Tzarfati was one of the first people she met when she came to Israel. Through her years of her experience there, which include winning league MVP honors in 2017 and a league championship in 2018, their bond has deepened too. In the process, Hopkins learned his three Bs. “He can tell you everything about the Bible, everything about biology, and everything about the Israeli women’s basketball league within the last 20 years,” she says.
During the winter, Tzarfati tries to attend one men’s and one women’s game per week. Then, when it’s time for the American players to return stateside, he tracks their progress closely, either by watching WNBA games live or catching up on highlights. Over time, he says he even had players occasionally text him from halftime of WNBA games.
Tzarfati keeps close tabs on basketball while keeping up with his academic responsibilities. He says he “didn’t suffer enough” when he got his bachelor’s degree in biology from Hebrew University, so he continued on with his studies. He then “didn’t suffer enough” when working toward his master’s so he went further with his research. Now, having earned a Ph.D. with a specialty in genetic mapping and expression assay of wheat — something he says was “one of the best decisions I make in my life” — he’s found ways to meld two of his worlds together.
“Of course, it’s related, biology and basketball,” Tzarfati says. “Our mental well-being, decision-making, the way we interpret things. This is biology. Also, you have the physical aspects. What to eat? How to eat? How to work out? How to improve your acceleration? How to rest between practice? This is also biology. This is also science.”
But when he’s at games, watching, cheering and talking to those around him, he tries to not think too much of the on-court physics.
“Suddenly, I’m not Raanan the Ph.D.,” he says. “I’m not Raanan, the teacher. I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s basketball. Who is going to guard whom?’”
Chelsea Hopkins, an American guard who has played professionally in Israel for a decade, says Tzarfati “encompasses all things” Israeli women’s hoops. He has never coached, played or worked for a professional team or agency. Instead, Tzarfati is more like a superfan, though he is one who plays a larger role in the sport’s ecosystem here than a typical cheerleader. What role that exactly is, Hopkins says, is tough to pin down. “But if you’ve played here,” she says, “then you know Raanan.”
Wearing a Toronto Raptors zip-up sweater, Tzarfati, who holds a Ph.D. in biology, explains some of what he’s done in support. Over the years, he’s been a tour guide, showing players around his native Jerusalem on off-days; a team video coordinator, finding and passing along links to Israeli league games so players can re-watch them; a concierge, telling American athletes spending their winters in the Middle Eastern country where to rent a car, where to shop or where to consume the best shakshuka; and a league historian — as Hopkins puts it, “he can give you all kinds of random information and tidbits of stuff that’s happened.”
He never planned on any of this — whatever this may be. Tzarfati has merely liked the sport since he was a child. And more than a decade ago, as he was working on his master’s degree at Hebrew University, he started attending women’s basketball games. While there, he says, he began striking up conversations about what he observed. Others recognized his passion and curiosity, and he thereby became increasingly invested.
The world of professional Israeli women’s basketball is small, which helps someone like Tzarfati become known to various parties. For foreign players, according to Chicago Sky guard Rebekah Gardner, who spent the first four seasons of her overseas career in the country, the Israeli culture “is really welcoming.” Fans can attend domestic league action for free, with contests often played in sparsely attended high school arenas. Players drive themselves to games, with almost all the teams in the Israeli women’s league located within 30 minutes of each other.
Tzarfati speaks of players who have passed through the league with the same fondness of a college coach who has watched their graduates blossom. Of Marina Mabrey, who played for Bnot Herzliya in 2020, he says: “She’s a prolific scorer. She’s like Stephen Curry. The progress she’s made since she’s come to Israel is something that you barely see. Her ability to score is something amazing.”
He chuckles as he compares Gardner’s WNBA debut at 31 to a story from Genesis in which angels tell Sarah she will have a baby despite her age. “Unfortunately (Chicago) didn’t win a championship (last season), but it’s been an amazing trip for (Gardner),” he says. The two have maintained a friendship even after Gardner departed to play in other countries.
“He’s just a basketball fanatic,” Gardner says. “And I like basketball, too, so we just made that connection.”
Hopkins says Tzarfati was one of the first people she met when she came to Israel. Through her years of her experience there, which include winning league MVP honors in 2017 and a league championship in 2018, their bond has deepened too. In the process, Hopkins learned his three Bs. “He can tell you everything about the Bible, everything about biology, and everything about the Israeli women’s basketball league within the last 20 years,” she says.
During the winter, Tzarfati tries to attend one men’s and one women’s game per week. Then, when it’s time for the American players to return stateside, he tracks their progress closely, either by watching WNBA games live or catching up on highlights. Over time, he says he even had players occasionally text him from halftime of WNBA games.
Tzarfati keeps close tabs on basketball while keeping up with his academic responsibilities. He says he “didn’t suffer enough” when he got his bachelor’s degree in biology from Hebrew University, so he continued on with his studies. He then “didn’t suffer enough” when working toward his master’s so he went further with his research. Now, having earned a Ph.D. with a specialty in genetic mapping and expression assay of wheat — something he says was “one of the best decisions I make in my life” — he’s found ways to meld two of his worlds together.
“Of course, it’s related, biology and basketball,” Tzarfati says. “Our mental well-being, decision-making, the way we interpret things. This is biology. Also, you have the physical aspects. What to eat? How to eat? How to work out? How to improve your acceleration? How to rest between practice? This is also biology. This is also science.”
But when he’s at games, watching, cheering and talking to those around him, he tries to not think too much of the on-court physics.
“Suddenly, I’m not Raanan the Ph.D.,” he says. “I’m not Raanan, the teacher. I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s basketball. Who is going to guard whom?’”
