Ryan Turell, an Orthodox Jew at the gates of the NBA

• Irving Flat Earther, anti-vaccine and anti-Semite

Ryan Turell

walks out onto the track, adjusts his pants and high-fives his teammates.

Nothing differentiates him from any rookie until he turns around and the unusual is revealed on his blond locks: a navy blue

with the Detroit Pistons logo.

While the NBA puts out the fire that

caused by sharing anti-Semitic content on his social networks, Turell aspires to become the first Orthodox Jew in the best league in the world.

It's all too timely, but life has these ironies.

Last year Turell was the leading scorer in American college basketball with 27.1 points per game for the Yeshiva Maccabees, a third-division private Jewish university.

In October, days before the Irving case broke out, he was chosen in the first round of the G-League draft, the NBA's development league, by the 'affiliate' of the Detroit Pistons.

And this week, in full swell, he has made his professional debut.

It was a testimonial debut, just three minutes in a game that they had already lost, but full of spotlights due to the irony of the moment and the unusualness of the case.

At first glance, the most striking thing is the

, but behind it there are certain 'obstacles' that Turell will have to overcome in order to dedicate himself to professional basketball.

The most important is the observance of the

, the holy day of the week.

As an Orthodox Jew, from Friday evening to Saturday night Ryan Turell does not cook, drive, use electronics, and travel.

And what happens if there is a match?

That's where logistics comes in.

Play on the Sabbath

The Motor City Cruise, which is the name of the 'affiliate' of the Pistons, played their first game last Friday night.

Sabbath for Orthodox Jews.

There's no rule that prevents Ryan Turrell from playing on a holy day, but he does have to observe the same traditions, so the plan was set in motion.

Since he can't drive, Turrell walked to the pavilion.

And since the game was away from home and he can't travel or cook, when his teammates returned to Detroit on Saturday, he stayed in Cleveland and was left with

precooked

Finally that night he did not play due to a technical decision (he made his debut this Monday, already at home), but that is the plan for the entire season.

And when they play games on Friday and Saturday, which also happens, although not as often as in the NBA, the coach will choose which game he wants to have him available for.

a great shooter

The ultimate goal is to become the first Orthodox Jew in the NBA, and so far he's already gone further than anyone else.

American basketball has a long tradition of Jewish players (many of the early stars were Jewish, and some legends like

), but in recent times they are rare.

In fact the only active one is the Israeli

.

And Orthodox?

Never.

"It would mean a world to me, a dream come true. But above all it would be for all the [Orthodox Jews] who never believed it was possible," he told ESPN a few months ago, when his name began to appear on the Radar.

Turell, with his university team, Yeshiva, in 2020.WORLD

Turell is the first Orthodox Jew to have any chance, however remote, of making it to the NBA.

Yeshiva University already made headlines when they won 50 games in a row between 2019 and 2021 and he, as a star, was on the radar.

Yes, he played in the third division of the NCAA, and the last player to make such a leap was

in 1999 (he would win three rings with the Lakers of

).

But the talent attracted attention.

In the four seasons he played at Yeshiva, Ryan Turell averaged 24 points on 45% shooting from 3-point range.

Last year he was the top scorer in the three divisions with 27.1 points (and 46.8% on three-pointers).

According to the statistics company Synergy, he was the third most efficient shooter in the NCAA (1.31 points per possession) and the second best coming off blocks.

It is talent, not religion, that has gotten him to third base in the NBA.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Kobe Bryant

• NBA