Matthew Richard Ryan (born April 17, 1997)[1][2] is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Chattanooga.[3]

Matt Ryan

Ryan with the United States national team during the qualifiers for the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup
No. 37 – Los Angeles Lakers
Position	Small forward
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1997-04-17) April 17, 1997 (age 25) White Plains, New York, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High school	Iona Prep (New Rochelle, New York)
College	Notre Dame (2015–2017) Vanderbilt (2018–2019) Chattanooga (2019–2020)
NBA draft	2020 / Undrafted
Playing career	2020–present
Career history
2021–2022	Grand Rapids Gold
2022	Boston Celtics
2022	→Maine Celtics
2022–present	Los Angeles Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Second-team All-SoCon (2020) First-team Parade All-American Mr. New York Basketball (2015)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

High school career

Ryan attended Iona Prep where he led the Gaels to a 22–6 record en route to the program’s first Class AA Archdiocesan Championship while averaging 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game as a senior while also being named Mr. New York Basketball. [4] He was also named a first-team Parade All-American.[5]

College career

Ryan began his college career at Notre Dame, where he played sparingly before transferring to Vanderbilt after his sophomore season.[6] As a junior, he averaged 8.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. Following the season, Ryan transferred to Chattanooga.[7] As a senior, he had his best season, playing 33 games and averaging 15.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 30.6 minutes per game, while shooting 42.3 percent from the field, 35.9 percent from three-point range and 87.9 percent from the free-throw line.[8]

Professional career

Ryan went undrafted in the 2020 NBA draft and did not play during the 2020–21 season due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on his post-college basketball prospects. He resorted to working for DoorDash and UberEats while coaching a grassroots basketball team. He also worked at a cemetery in Yonkers, New York.[9]

Grand Rapids Gold (2021–2022)

Ryan joined the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2021 NBA Summer League and spent preseason with the Denver Nuggets.[10][11][12][13] He subsequently joined the Grand Rapids Gold of the NBA G League for the 2021–22 season.[14] He averaged 15.8 points in 28 games for the Gold.[15]

Boston Celtics (2022)

On February 28, 2022, Ryan signed a two-way contract with the Boston Celtics.[8] He averaged 20.4 points in 14 games for the Maine Red Claws to finish the 2021–22 NBA G League season.[15] He made his first and only appearance for the Celtics on April 10, 2022, against the Memphis Grizzlies, scoring three points in five minutes.[16] The Celtics made it to the 2022 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games.

Ryan joined the Celtics for the 2022 NBA Summer League.[15]

Los Angeles Lakers (2022–present)

On September 26, 2022, Ryan signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.[17] On November 2, 2022, Ryan hit a corner 3-pointer to tie the game at the regulation buzzer against the New Orleans Pelicans, with the Lakers going on to win 120–117 in overtime. He had missed six of his first seven 3-point attempts against the Pelicans and finished the game with 11 points.[18]

Career statistics

NBA

Personal life

He is the son of Richard and Laurie Ryan and has two siblings, Mikela and Michael. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics at Vanderbilt and worked on his MBA at Chattanooga.[3]

References

External links

• Chattanooga Mocs bio
• Vanderbilt Commodores bio
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish bio
• RealGM.com profile