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Orthodox Jewish Basketball Player Ryan Turell Stars in Documentary About NBA Prospects
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Ryan Turell, left. Photo: Courtesy of Prime Video
Ryan Turell, the first Orthodox Jew to be selected in the G League Draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA), is one of five basketball players and NBA prospects profiled in a new upcoming Prime Video documentary that airs on Aug. 8.
Destination NBA: A G League Odyssey follows the 24-year-old, a Motor City Cruise forward, and other G League players as they try to achieve their dream of earning a spot on an NBA roster. In 2022, Motor City Cruise, the Detroit Pistons’ G League affiliate, selected Turell 27th overall in the first round of the NBA G League Draft. The league is the NBA’s official minor league.
Turell wears a kippah while playing on the court, as shown in a new clip for the documentary, and said he plans to continue doing so if he becomes a professional athlete in the NBA.
“Being the first Orthodox Jew in the NBA would mean the world to me, and a dream come true, God willing,” he told ESPN. “But, just as importantly, it would mean the world to others that never saw this as a possibility.”
The NBA G League is the NBA’s official minor league and its goal is to prep players, coaches, officials, training and front-office staff for the NBA while also being the league’s research and development laboratory. Fifty-five percent of all players on 2022-23 NBA rosters had experience competing in the G League.
During his senior year at Yeshiva University in New York City, Turell averaged 27.1 points per game as a guard, leading all men’s basketball in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). He led his college basketball team, the Maccabees, to 50 straight wins between November 2019 and December 2021 — the longest winning streak in men’s college basketball. He also scored more than 2,000 points during his time at the Jewish college — the most in Yeshiva University’s history, even though his sophomore and junior seasons were shortly than usual due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Los Angeles, California, native can shoot over 46 percent from beyond the three-point arc and has been nicknamed “the Jewish Larry Bird” for his performance on the court, but also because of his blonde hair and physical appearance that resembles the legendary basketball player.
“You have to bring your best every day as the competition is both intense and exhilarating,” Turell told Rolling Stone magazine about competing in the G League. “Everyone has been fantastic and very supportive, especially the Pistons organization…. Who have been overwhelmingly respectful and accommodating in my pursuit to thread this needle of keeping Shabbos, keeping kosher at home and on the road, including in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and competing my tail off in the G to get my shot at the NBA, and for that I am tremendously grateful.”
The documentary additionally features interviews with former G League players who made it to the NBA such as Seth Curry, Spencer Dinwiddie, Gary Payton II and Jalen Green. The film is produced by Religion of Sports and The Ringer, and directed by Liam Hughes and Bryant Robinson.
Watch Ryan Turell in a clip from Destination NBA: A G League Odyssey.
