Elijah Bryant

Elijah Brigham Bryant (born April 19, 1995) is an American professional basketball player for Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League and the EuroLeague.

He played college basketball for the Elon Phoenix and Brigham Young Cougars. He has played on teams that have been Israeli Basketball Premier League champion (2020), NBA champion (2021), EuroLeague champion (2022), and Turkish Super League champion (2023).

Early life Born in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Bryant began playing basketball at a young age, always playing against older children. As a junior in high school, he had a growth spurt and grew one foot in a year.

College career

Bryant started his college career with Elon University, with whom he averaged 14.2 points (8th in the league), 4.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.3 steals (10th) per game in his freshman year.

On July 28, 2015, Bryant transferred from Elon to Brigham Young University (BYU), but he sat out first season at BYU per NCAA transfer rules. He posted 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game as a sophomore in 2016-17. He only played in 23 games, due to a knee injury. Despite his injury, Bryant scored a career-high 39 points, including seven 3-pointers, in a win against Portland.

In his junior year at BYU in 2017-18, Bryant finished the season as the West Coast Conference (WCC) second-leading scorer with 18.1 points per game, third in free-throw percentage (.850), third in 3-point field goal percentage (.415), fourth in steals (1.3), eighth in rebounds (6.3), and tied for seventh in double-doubles. On April 18, 2018, after completing his junior year at BYU, Bryant announced his plans to graduate and forgo his remaining eligibility for a professional career.

Professional career Hapoel Eilat (2018–2019) After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Bryant joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2018 NBA Summer League.

On August 30, 2018, Bryant started his professional career with Hapoel Eilat of the Israeli Basketball Premier League, signing a one-year deal. On October 29, 2018, he recorded a season-high 31 points, shooting 11-of-20 from the field, along with seven rebounds in an 81–75 win over Bnei Herzliya. On December 4, 2018, Bryant was named Israeli Basketball Premier League Player of the Month after averaging 20.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2 steals in four games played in November. He helped Eilat reach the 2019 Israeli Basketball Premier League Final Four, where they eventually lost to Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 36 games played for Eilat, he finished as the league 's fourth-leading scorer (17.5 points per game) and fourth in efficiency rating (19.4 per game), along with 5.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, as he shot .558 from the field. On June 6, 2019, Bryant earned a spot on the All-Israeli Basketball Premier League First Team.

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2019–2021) On July 1, 2019, Bryant joined the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2019 NBA Summer League, where he averaged 14.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. In 49 games for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2019-20, he averaged 8.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. On February 5, 2020, Bryant recorded a EuroLeague career-high 21 points, while shooting 9-of-19 from the field, along with six rebounds and four assists, leading Maccabi to an 80–77 win over Khimki. In 52 games for Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2020-21, he averaged 11.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 0.8 steals per game, shooting .840 from the free throw line.

Milwaukee Bucks (2021) On May 13, 2021, Bryant signed with the Milwaukee Bucks. In his first and only regular-season NBA game, Bryant scored 16 points against the Chicago Bulls on May 16, 2021, in the Bucks' season finale. He won an NBA championship when the Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in 6 games in the 2021 NBA Finals. By playing 11 playoff games and only one regular season game in his NBA career, Bryant has played in 10 more playoffs games in his career than he has regular season games. In those 11 playoff games he averaged 1.3 points and 1.1 rebounds in 4.5 minutes per game. On October 14, the Bucks again waived Bryant.

Anadolu Efes (2021–2025) On October 18, 2021, Bryant signed with Anadolu Efes of the Basketbol Süper Ligi in Turkey. On May 21, 2022, Bryant won the Euroleague with Anadolu Efes, grabbing 8 rebounds and contributing one assist in the championship game win against Real Madrid. On June 22, 2023, it was announced that he had renewed his contract for another two years.

On October 15, 2024, Bryant was suspended for Round 3 of the 2024-2025 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague regular season. He was also fined 10,000 euros. Bryant had gotten into a scuffle under the basket with Tarik Biberovic. Referees had to intervene and break them apart, ultimately resulting in both of them being ejected and both were suspended for one match. On July 1, 2025, Bryant parted ways with the Turkish team.

Hapoel Tel Aviv (2025–present) On July 6, 2025, Bryant signed with Hapoel Tel Aviv of the Israeli Basketball Premier League. In 52 games for Hapoel Tel Aviv in 2025-26, he averaged 15.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 0.7 steals per game, while shooting .512 from the field and .854 from the free throw line.

Career statistics

NBA Regular season

† Denotes seasons in which Bryant won the NBA

Playoffs

EuroLeague

† Denotes seasons in which Bryant won the EuroLeague

Domestic leagues Year Team League

College

Personal life Bryant is the son of Israel Bryant and Reginald Strother, a physician. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church). Bryant remarked in 2020, after playing in Israel, "“I’ve come to respect the Jews a lot because they’re very similar to Mormons. They value family. " He married Jenelle Fraga in August 2017. They have one son.