Good Jew: Will Ryan Turrell be the first Sabbath guard in the NBA? | Israel today

The G-League draft generates a bit of excitement and celebration among basketball fans.

The event takes place on the first Saturday after the start of the NBA regular season and takes place in New York - but through a video broadcast from the league's offices and not in front of a tumultuous crowd.

Forget custom-made fancy suits for the top picks, who aren't even invited to attend in person.

However, the 2022 edition of the G-League draft did make headlines among Israeli basketball fans.

For starters, the Cleveland Charge used the first pick in the draft on guard Sam Merrill, whose brief stint in the NBA in 2020/21 lasted long enough for him to win a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks.

A key company in Merrill's selection: Liron Panan.

The former player agent and former manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv serves as an assistant to the general manager of the G-League team of the Cleveland Cavaliers, in addition to her extensive scouting duties for the Cavaliers.

Then, near the end of the first round, former Yeshiva University star Ryan Turrell took another small step closer to fulfilling his dream of becoming the first Orthodox Jewish player in NBA history when he was selected 27th overall by Cruz Motor City, the development team of the Detroit Pistons.

Turrell in action, photo: Joe Bednarsh

Turrell was not selected in June in the NBA draft, but now he has an established connection with a team in the league.

The 23-year-old (2.00 m) averaged 27.1 points per game last season and shot 46.8% from 3 in Division 3. His scoring average was higher than that of all college players in the 2021/22 season.

In the G-League draft, big-name players like Turrell often find a team they want to play for in advance, then rely on their agents to call other teams to ask them not to draft the player in question.

After Turrell was assured of support from Pistons officials in his determination to remain a Sabbath player, his representatives from the "Sports Excel" agency convinced the teams ranked in the draft ahead of Motor City to skip Turrell so that he could play wherever he wanted.

The player's father, Brad, told me that Ryan does intend to play in Motor City Saturday games this season, but only in games he can walk to, like he did during his youth AAU career.

If the Cruzes play at home on Friday night, Turrell plans to go to the games at Wayne State University.

If the Cruisers play away games in two different cities on Friday and Saturday, Turrell is expected to play in only one of the two games, thus avoiding traveling by train or plane on Saturday.

Reaching the best league in the world is always considered a slim chance for players from the Division 3 level, no matter how well they score, but Motor City at least provided Turrell with a place in the professional league - apart from the NBA - that most attracts the eyes of scouts.

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