An All-EuroLeague First Team selection, third in last season’s MVP voting and already putting together another season at a similar level. And yet, Elijah Bryant remains one of the players most easily overlooked when the conversation turns to the EuroLeague’s elite, far more easily than his numbers and impact would suggest.
Bryant’s performance against Real Madrid was more than just an impressive box score. In a game in which Hapoel Tel Aviv built a 22-point lead before having to withstand Real Madrid’s comeback, Bryant finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists, while also drawing nine fouls, for a PIR of 40. Eleven of his 22 points came in the fourth quarter, when the game had turned into a possession-by-possession battle. It was another reminder of how much Bryant can bring to a game, and in his case, performances like this are hardly an exception.
The season that put him among the elite
Last season changed the conversation around Bryant. In Hapoel Tel Aviv’s historic first EuroLeague campaign, the American was the driving force of the team, finishing the regular season with 15.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, while ranking second in the entire competition in average PIR.
The EuroLeague named him to the All-EuroLeague First Team, while he finished third in the MVP voting, behind Sasha Vezenkov and Sylvain Francisco. He also recorded seven games with at least 30 PIR and collected two MVP of the Round awards, numbers that say more about the consistency of his performances than about any isolated peak. And yet, when the conversation turns to the best players in the EuroLeague, it still tends to start with other names.
Perhaps that is because Bryant does not have one defining trait that takes over the entire conversation. He is not the player who necessarily needs 20 shots to impose himself on a game, nor does he need to have the ball in his hands constantly to make an impact. He can create, finish plays, rebound, make an impact defensively and draw fouls, without his game ever becoming one-dimensional.
That is precisely what makes him such a difficult opponent to deal with, but perhaps also such an easy player to overlook in a competition packed with stars whose most recognizable traits are impossible to miss.
The continuation only reinforces the picture
The start of this season leaves little room to view last year’s campaign as an impressive but isolated run. Through his first three EuroLeague games, Bryant was averaging 16.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists, while against Crvena Zvezda he posted 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals for a 31 PIR. He then followed that up with his outstanding performance against Real Madrid, taking his production to another level.
There is a consistency here that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore: last season he was one of the five players selected to the All-EuroLeague First Team, this season he has started with the same kind of impact and, when Hapoel needed him against Real Madrid, he took responsibility for the key possessions without turning the game into a one-man show.
Bryant can influence a game in different ways and, when the circumstances demand it, become the player who makes the big decisions down the stretch. So, in reality, the question is no longer whether Elijah Bryant belongs among the EuroLeague’s top players. What he achieved last season, combined with the way he has started this one, has already provided more than enough evidence. The more interesting question is why a player who has already made the All-EuroLeague First Team, finished third in the MVP race and continues to produce at this level is still not mentioned more often when the EuroLeague’s best players are discussed.
After the 22+13+7 against Real Madrid, though, it is becoming increasingly difficult to describe Bryant as simply a very good player who flies under the radar. Perhaps the most underrated thing about Elijah Bryant is no longer his talent, but just how high he has already climbed.
