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Name: Nadav Kristal-Tenenbaum
Age: 18
Team: Inter Aliyah Basketball
Originally from: New York, USA
Favourite team: New York Knicks
Position: Center
Basketball idol: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Fun fact: Both of Nadav's parents are from South America, he spent his formative years in New York and now he's serving in the IDF. Talk about a mixture of cultures in one teenager...
''Surprisingly I've only been playing basketball for about 6 years. Since I’ve always been really tall many people thought it was a given that I’d play but I never really liked it until I started growing a fondness for it around the age of 12. It was then that my gym teacher forced me to play on the school team and after that, I was hooked.
''Growing up as a large guy I always loved Shaq and other classic big men, especially Kareem Abdul Jabbar and I even wore the number 33 because of him. Later, as I found myself not always as the tallest guy in the team, I really appreciate versatile bigs like Kevin Love and Draymond Green and appreciate how they affect the game with limited touches and smaller moments, but the idol still remains Kareem.
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''Unlike most players on the team, I didn’t really make the decision to come to Israel. Instead, it was my parents who always wanted to live here and for them, their time in NYC was just a transitional period.
''We then moved as a family to Israel and I spent my high school years in North Tel Aviv. Nowadays, I am serving in the IDF but I'm still able to play for Inter Aliyah each week. After my military service, I hope to study film and be a filmmaker one day.
''I heard about Inter Aliyah from our coach AJ Mitnick, who was an assistant coach on a Maccabi Tel Aviv youth team that I played on. Although I had actually quit playing ball my senior year of high school and was ready to play football instead, AJ still offered me a spot and after a bit of convincing, he got me on board.
''Honestly, I’m really glad he did. Not only am I enjoying the culture Inter has set up with the right mix of guys from all over who share the same passion and love for the game.
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''Yet, it's also that feeling of being in a place (Israel) you don’t fully belong in and the connection creates a special bond not just between the players but even between the coaches and management and that’s something you just don't get anywhere else.
''Nadav.''