Napoli Basket makes a second ‘coup’ in the transfer market after Green’s. The Italian club has, in fact, also made official the arrival of <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/02/olimpia-milano-clearly-wins-at-home-on-baskonia-and-makes-two-out-of-two-oa-sport/" title="Olimpia Milano clearly wins at home on Baskonia and makes two out of two! – OA Sport”>Ben Bentil, a power forward born in 1995 from Hapoel Tel Aviv.
The Ghanaian athlete, 206 cm, has already played in Italy with the Olimpia Milano shirt in the 2021/2022 season, collecting 17 appearances in the shadow of ‘Madunina’ and scoring 173 points.
After playing two seasons in the American university team the Providence Friars, Bentil was selected by the Boston Celtics as the 51st pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, becoming the first Ghanaian basketball player in history to be chosen. During the preaseason, however, he was cut and for him there was a double experience in the D-League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants and one in China with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers.
In February 2017 he signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks and made his NBA debut, becoming the first Ghanaian basketball player in history to play in the top American league, collecting three appearances in total. A few months later, in the summer of 2017, his first European experience arrived with the arrival in France, with Châlons Reims. His journey in the Old Continent continues in Bilbao in Spain and in Greece, first with Peristeri Athens and then with Panathinaikos, where in two years he played 54 EuroLeague games with 258 points scored and 128 rebounds captured, winning both the Greece that the championship. He subsequently played for Bahçeşehir Koleji, in Türkiye, before arriving in Milan, where he won the Championship and Italian Cup while also playing in the Euroleague. The following year, in the 2022/2023 season, he moved to Belgrade where he won the Serbian Cup with Red Star. In the 2023-24 season he returns to Asia, this time to Japan, where he wears the Gunma Crane Thunders tank top. He began this season in Israel with Hapoel Tel Aviv, also playing two matches in the Eurocup before arriving in Naples.
Bentil: “I’m excited for this opportunity”
“I can’t wait to become part of the Napoli Basketball family and help the team fight and achieve victories. I also want to learn the culture of the people of Naples, enjoying my time in the city together with my family. I’m really excited about this opportunity and I can’t wait to get to Naples.” These are Ben Bentil’s first words as a new Napoli player released to the Azzurri’s official website.
Llompart: “Bentil will bring physicality, experience and quality to the team”
“Bentil will certainly bring physicality, experience and quality to the team. He is an important player who possesses leadership and the energy needed to turn our situation around. Once again I would like to thank the owners who made it possible to bring a top player to Naples. very high level.” This is the comment of the head of the Italian technical sports area Pedro Llompart.
