Knicks newcomer Matt Ryan has bounced around NBA, knows what he can bring to the team
Matt Ryan looks on during a game between the Pelicans and the Timberwolves at Target Center on Nov. 8, 2023 in Minneapolis. Credit: Getty Images
ATLANTA — It was a complicated path for Matt Ryan to reach this day, joining the Knicks at the morning shootaround. Ryan is preparing for his first opportunity to suit up with the team. The weeks spent since being waived in New Orleans, waiting for the Knicks to work the math to sign him Tuesday is just the latest obstacle for him to navigate.
His career began as New York’s Mr. Basketball at Iona Prep, just a stone’s throw from the Knicks training facility. But from that time it was three colleges, going undrafted by the NBA and even left out of the G League bubble with COVID-19 restricting opportunities. Ryan had a decision to make. Utilize his MBA, head into the world of business where his basketball career might have become a memory. Or he could throw himself into workouts and find another way to earn a dollar and keep busy.
That meant a morning shift at the graveyard.
“For six, seven months I was just going to the gym nonstop,” said Ryan, who grew up in Cortlandt Manor. “And then at some point I was like, I’ve got to do something else. I’m just going to the gym, coming home, playing with my dogs.
“I was like, I have a car, do a little DoorDash, and then my grandparents, they own a stoning business. So if somebody passes you go to them and they take care of the headstones. So I go to my grandfather, I’m like, listen, I’m bored as hell. I could use something else to do with my day instead of going to the gym for five hours. So I started working at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Yonkers. It was cold as hell in February. Snow on the ground. Was there from 7 a.m. to 3:30, had my gym bag ready to go, went to the gym for three hours. Started coaching an AAU team because it was springtime.”
Ryan explained he was doing maintenance at the cemetery by day, basketball after that and crossing his fingers that something would come along.
“I want to make that very clear. I was not digging graves. I was not working the midnight shift,” he said. “It was early as hell, though. 7 to 3. And it was freezing. And honestly the reason I did those couple jobs was because once I got the call to go play somewhere, I could just get up and go. I had a degree at that time. I’m a Vandy alum. I had an MBA. I could’ve gone to work in New York City right away. But I thought if I did that, I might’ve kissed my basketball career goodbye.”
It paid off as he got the call from Cleveland to play on the Summer League team. Ryan then spent a season in the G League. He signed a two-way deal with the Boston Celtics, but just got one game in with the NBA squad, and then it was on to the Lakers, the Timberwolves and Pelicans. He was learning what it took to stick. He also was refining the skill that made him so enticing, a shooting touch that has him converting 41.1% of his three-point attempts in the NBA, including 45.1% last season.
“The first thing I’ll say is from my background to where I am now, for me the NBA wasn’t supposed to be easy,” Ryan said. “I wasn’t a high pick, I went to three colleges, I sat out a year. I’ve kind of bounced around teams here at the beginning of my career. It kind of makes sense for me. It was never supposed to be easy.
“You’ve got 450 guys in this league, probably 50 guys are rock solid stars and the other guys got to figure out where to fit in. That’s the category I’m in. But I’ve figured my skill that I can carry from team to team. I figured out my work ethic that no matter what jersey I put on, no matter what city I’m in, I can carry that with me. For people that are like how does a guy go from team to team and stick in this league, it’s figuring out what you can contribute. Can you be somebody that other people look forward to seeing every day at work? Can you be somebody that you can be counted upon when your numbers called to be ready?”
Now, at 27 years old, he’s back home, far from the graveyard — in employment, if not proximity.
“it’s extremely special,” he said. “But at the end of the day I know playing for Thibs it’s going to require a tremendous amount of focus every day, blocking out everything else that’s going on. It’s very lucky, a unique circumstance to come home, play for the Knicks as a Westchester kid. But I’m locked in. Probably never been more focused than I am right now.
“I’ve been in this spot before man. I’ve been probably waived in this league a half dozen times now, been on several teams. But one thing I will say is I’ve been on a playoff team every year I’ve been in the league. I’ve gotten a chance to contribute in certain stretches to every team I’ve been on. So whether it’s non-guaranteed, a two-way, full guaranteed deal I’ve kind of dipped my toes into each one. So regardless of the situation, I think I’ve proven that I can step in, play a role and contribute.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
