Georgian Elijah Bryant shines for Maccabi Tel Aviv

NBA basketball players in the “bubble” are getting a taste of what Elijah Bryant has done for the past month.

The Georgian, who went to Mill Creek High School, plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv of the Israeli Premier League, which resumed games in June following a COVID-19 delay that began in March. He has been sequestered in an apartment except for trips to and from the gym.

Coronavirus cases in Israel have spiked over the 1,500 mark per day, worse than when Bryant returned in June (the first week in June had 140 or fewer cases per day), but the basketball league has continued.

“We are blessed to have a job to play the game we love,” Bryant said. “We also have to think about our mental health and the safety of everyone playing the game.”

The coronavirus disruption initially impacted the Maccabi Tel Aviv season in March when the NBA saw its season halted. On the day Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test became public, Bryant and his teammates were scheduled to play Saski Baskonia of Spain in a game with no fans. That game was called off, the Israeli league postponed the season and Bryant flew back to the U.S. on March 26.

He stayed in shape with swims and workouts with his mother, Israel, who is training to be a pilates teacher. He shot on an outside basketball goal to stay sharp on the court. After the time in Georgia, he moved to Utah with his wife Jenelle to prepare for the birth of their first child — due in the next couple of weeks — and spent two weeks there before he was recalled to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

“We are blessed to have a healthy baby and for my wife to be doing well,” Bryant said.

The 6-foot-5 guard’s pro basketball path looks promising, too. He has been on a steady rise since a growth spurt during his Mill Creek career that saw him grow from 5-8 as a sophomore to 5-11 as a junior to 6-5 as a senior.

After a post-graduate year at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire, he signed with Elon and was the Colonial Athletic Association’s Rookie of the Year after averaging 14.2 points, 4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He transferred to BYU and averaged 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in a season shortened to 23 games by a knee issue, flashing his potential that season with a 39-point game against Portland.

He broke out with a huge junior season, averaging 18.1 points and 6.3 rebounds, and making 41.5 percent of his 3-pointers along with shooting 85 percent from the free throw line. He turned pro a year early, but was not selected in the NBA Draft. He showed well in the NBA Summer League with the Philadelphia 76ers, though he opted to sign a one-year deal with Hapoel Eilat, also in the Israeli Premier League.

He averaged 17.5 points for Hapoel Eilat in 2018-19, helped his team to the league’s Final Four and was a first-team All-Israeli League selection.

“I think the biggest thing I have learned in the pros is find what you are good at and try to master that,” Bryant said. “I am improving on my in-between game and also learning the little nuances about the game, like what is a good foul and bad foul in Europe basketball.”

He returned to the NBA Summer League in 2019 and created opportunities with stellar play for the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 14.2 points, 4 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Some NBA options opened up, though he chose a return to Israel with Maccabi Tel-Aviv, which also plays in the EuroLeague and offers high-level competition. He signed him to a two-year contract that goes through the 2020-21 season.

With Maccabi Tel-Aviv, he averages 9.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 steals in 23.5 minutes. He isn’t carrying the same kind of offensive load he did with Hapoel Eilat. However, he is gaining valuable experience as part of roster that includes former NBA players Amar’e Stoudemire, Omri Casspi and Tyler Dorsey, as well as young Deni Avdija, a projected top-five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.

“The Israeli league is good competition and very physical,” Bryant said. “The competition is good and you have ex-NBA guys in the league.”

The NBA is the eventual goal for Bryant, too.

“The NBA is going to happen because I believe in myself and the work I put in,” he said. “When will it happen? That is the million dollar question. But God is in control, so it will happen on his timing, which I am fine with.”