“From DoorDash to LeBron James’ Teammate”: Lakers’ Matt Ryan Went From Working at a Cemetery to Dropping 20 Against the Warriors

Los Angeles Lakers signed Matt Ryan on a non-guaranteed deal and he will be joining the lineup for Opening Night against the Warriors

The NBA is a cruel cruel league. It doesn’t matter who you are or how good you are. At the end of the day, it’s a business. We have seen future Hall-of-Famers like Carmelo Anthony struggle to sign with teams. We have seen former All-Stars like Isaiah Thomas, whose career got derailed after a single injury.

However, it’s also a wish-granting factory with the ability to change someone’s life overnight. The same has become the case for Matt Ryan. The 25-year-old was recently included in the Lakers roster for the season.

Lakers’ G/F Matt Ryan has made the team’s current opening night roster, as the team won’t waive him by today’s roster cut deadline, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Ryan shot 37.5 percent from 3-point land in preseason – including 20-point performance with six 3s last Sunday.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 15, 2022

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Even though it is a non-guaranteed deal, this means a lot to Ryan, and he won’t let it go to waste.

Matt Ryan has an incredible story of hard work and dedication

Matt Ryan played college basketball for four years, with three different colleges. He played for two seasons at Notre Dame, and then had a gap year. He played his Junior year at Vanderbilt, and went to Chattanooga for his senior year. Ryan went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft.

While he was away from professional basketball, he used to work at his grandfather’s cemetery and as a DoorDash driver.

 

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Ryan got his first shot at the NBA, or associated league, when he was picked by the Grand Rapids Gold in October 2021. From there, he went on to sign a two-way deal with the Celtics. After a strong summer league showing for the Cs, Ryan caught the Lakers’ eye, and was signed for training camp.

Matt provides some much-needed perimeter shooting for the 2020 NBA Champs. With Troy Brown Jr out, Ryan may get his minutes and make a mark on the team.

How does the Lakers’ roster look?

The Los Angeles Lakers are looking to get back to the playoffs, after having missed the play-in games last year. They made quite a lot of roster moves, just like last year. Their star trio of Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis, and LeBron James is still together. They’ve also retained Kendrick Nunn and Austin Reaves. Apart from these five, the rest of the 15 guys on the roster are new.

They added backcourt depth by signing Dennis Schroder and Patrick Beverley. They have quite a lot of depth for their backcourt, but lack the same for their wings and bigs. The Lakers would have to rely on their small ball lineup quite a bit, and have AD play at the 5.

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We’ll get a proper look at the same when the Lakers take on the Defending Champions on Opening Night.