ATLANTA — Matt Ryan's first day at Yonkers Cemetery determined his eagerness to leave the gig as soon as possible.
It was snowing and freezing in February and his small car skidded. Ryan crashed into a tombstone.
“I'm like, 'It's not going to be like this every day, right?'” Ryan said Wednesday before his first game as a Knick. “And I think, 'I have to get out of here.'”
Ryan took the graveyard job in 2021 as his NBA dreams unfolded too slowly.
He went undrafted in 2020 after spending five seasons with three schools in the NCAA.
The pandemic halted the traditional pre-draft training process, leaving Ryan to train five hours a day while waiting for a call.
The Westchester product also earned an MBA from Vanderbilt University and was considering pursuing a career on Wall Street.
Instead, he chose jobs that were easy to quit, specifically DoorDash and cemetery management.
He clarified that Ryan wasn't like that and was digging his own grave.
“I could have gone to work in New York City right away, but I thought if I did that, I might be saying goodbye to my basketball career,” Ryan said. . “In the city, you're trying to get a job and accumulate money, so you probably couldn't say to them, 'When the phone calls, you have to leave right away.'” That's why I I had a job where I could quit my job immediately. ”
Ryan received a call from the Cavs.
They then acquired several more players over the past three years, before acquiring their latest from Ryan's hometown team, the Knicks.
The 27-year-old wing was officially signed on Wednesday on a one-year, non-guaranteed contract, commuting about 20 minutes from the Knicks' practice facility in Tarrytown to his former high school in New Rochelle at Iona Prep.
“It's very special,” Ryan said. “But at the end of the day, I know I'm playing for.” [Tom Thibodeau]it will require a great deal of concentration every day, blocking out everything that is going on.
“It's a very fortunate and unique situation to be able to come back home as a Westchester kid and play for the Knicks. But I'm trapped. I've probably never been more focused than I am right now.”
Ryan joins the Knicks in a familiar position as an underdog.
He needs to make an impression until early January before a contract is secured or he is released.
No word yet on Ryan's new role, but it seems most logical to lock him out of the rotation unless one of Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, or OG Anunoby gets injured. be.
The Knicks targeted him a few weeks ago and waited until Tuesday to finalize a deal.
The reasons for the delay are multi-layered, but boil down to the Knicks saving as much money as possible on the second apron before being required to sign 14 standard contracts to the roster.
Ryan knows his job. It's about being a good teammate, working hard and making 3-point shots.
The last one is the skill that will keep Ryan in the NBA.
He's already done that with four different organizations, including 45.1 percent efficiency on the trey with the Pelicans last season.
“I've been in this place before, dude. I've probably been waived six times in this league and been on a few teams. But one thing I can say is, I've been in this league. “I mean, I've been on a playoff team every year that I've been on, and I've had the opportunity to contribute in some capacity on every team that I've been on,” Ryan said. “So whether it's a non-guaranteed deal or a two-way fully guaranteed deal, I've dipped my toe into each deal a little bit. I think I've proven that I can step in, play my role and contribute. There's no pressure. … It was never easy. There are 450 players in this league, and maybe 50 are solid stars, and I have to figure out where the rest of the players fit in. But I found a skill that I can carry from team to team.
Luckily for Ryan, it's not something that goes through the graveyard.
