Background
Bender was born on November 17, 1997 in Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a city on the Croatian border, and he later moved to Split, Croatia.
Bender was born on November 17, 1997 in Čapljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a city on the Croatian border, and he later moved to Split, Croatia.
He stands 7 ft 0.5 in (215 m) and plays the power forward and center positions. He has been widely considered one of the top international prospects for the 2016 National Basketball Association draft, and is consistently considered to be a top 3 selection throughout the process. Although originally from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bender represents Croatia in international competition, with experience in the International Basketball Federation Europe junior tournaments.
Before playing in Israel, he competed with multiple teams in Croatia and in Nikola Vujčić"s academy.
At 12 years of age, he started playing at Nikola Vujčić"s basketball academy as a point guard. Vujčić was a former Maccabi Tel Aviv star and became Bender"s guardian.
Bender also played with the KK Split youth teams at this time, and he appeared for the Croatian under-16 national basketball team He idolized and modeled his game after Toni Kukoč, a former Croatian National Basketball Association player, while growing up and watched his old game tape.
Croatia (2012–2014)
Bender made his professional debut at 15 years of age with KK Split.
He played only a total of six minutes and added two points and one rebound. Foreign the following season, Bender remained in Croatia and signed with KK Kaštela, who played in the country"s second-best league. With his help, the team was promoted to the A-1 Liga, the top league in Croatia.
Most notably, he made a game-winning shot with three seconds remaining against KK Gorica to help his team secure the promotion.
Later, in February 2014, Bender joined the KK Cedevita junior team for the Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament. He put up 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists vs the junior team of the Serbian club KK Mega Basket.
Israel (2014–present)
In 2014, Bender signed a seven-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, a team that played in the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the Euroleague. He was soon loaned to Ironi Ramat Gan of the Liga Leumit, the second-tier league in Israel.
Bender would spend the 2014-2015 season with Ironi.
He made his debut on October 21, 2014, posting 13 points, 13 rebounds, and 4 assists vs Ramat HaSharon. Bender scored a season-high 25 points as his team defeated Barak Netanya by one point on January 1, 2015. After 28 games, he finished the season averaging 9.7 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.1 blocks.
As the season came to a close, Bender returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv, where he would continue his career for the following season.
In 2015, Bender was called up by the Croatian national team for the 2015 International Basketball Federation Under-19 World Championship in Crete, Greece, but he was forced to withdraw because the team"s players were obliged to wear Jordan Brand clothes and shoes due to a sponsorship agreement. Bender had signed a similar agreement with his sponsor Adidas, which prevented him to wear other brands.