In this YouTube video, professional basketball player Elijah Bryant reflects on his career‑high performance (28 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) in Hapoel Tel Aviv’s first EuroLeague home game against Red Star. The narrative weaves together his pre‑game travel routine, morning stretch and flow, personal connections to opponents (Devontae Graham, Jordan Nwora, Shimi Ojele), and observations of Red Star’s roster and recent form. Bryant breaks down film of opponent Jay’s shooting tendencies, emphasizes the importance of confidence, daily improvement, and emotional regulation (“desired reality”), and shares a candid self‑assessment of what he did well (hydration, sleep, emotional control) and what he can improve (referee communication). The video also includes play‑by‑play commentary highlighting key scoring moments, the team’s motivation, and the significance of the win for Israeli fans. Throughout, Bryant blends personal anecdotes, tactical analysis, and mindset coaching, offering viewers a holistic view of elite basketball preparation and performance.
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Hello, today we're playing Red Star.
Incredibly intense emotional encounter as the fans—
one of the most popular teams in Europe, and especially in Serbia to be exact. And this team is a team that last year should have honestly made the playoffs. They had a very close game in overtime with Bayern Munich, and this year they had a slow start, made some changes, added some new pieces. And ever since then, they've kind of been on a roll. So last night we arrived to the hotel and, you know, got my stretches in. And then this morning, waking up, doing my morning flow, morning routine, just to wake the body up. And after a lot of travel, you want to make sure that you're— you kind of get all tangled up when traveling, sitting. You want to kind of expand your body, allow it to, you know, release in a sense. So when it comes to the players they have on this year's team, I actually have a lot of connections to to a lot of them. The oldest connection would probably be Devontae Graham. Back in prep school when he played for Brewster and I played for New Hampton Prep, his team consisted of players like Jonah Bolden, Donovan Mitchell, Jared Terrell, and they ended up beating us in the championship. So I've been playing against him since I was in high school. Now moving on to Jordan Nwora and Shimi Ojele. That boy, that boy TikTok famous. We going viral, boy. Uh-oh, in the cut. I'm gonna start doing this inside both played together with the Bucks. Obviously with Jordan, uh, we played together in Ephesus as well. And this is just an example to you guys on sometimes the fit isn't right, or maybe sometimes just like water in the airport costs €4 and water in the convenience store costs €1. Same water, different value, different appreciation of it. So you might be somewhere and you're not valued as much, and then you go somewhere else and you are valued. But the key in this situation is to stay professional at time. So look at Jordan's situation for a case study. He came to FS out of the NBA expecting to kill. It didn't work out, maybe both sides, who knows. I don't know the complete story, but now look at him, he's killing.
Wara almost lost his footing, kept the handle to the hoop. Stepping out to the wing, Jordan Wara pump fake, lets it fly, second attempt.
So I think you could learn from that, and sometimes it might be your fault, sometimes it might be the team's fault, but regardless, don't lose your confidence. Continue to work, continue to get better daily, because maybe the next year you're in a situation where you can use those skills. And if you weren't working on them the whole year, year before when you weren't playing, then you lost time to improve as a player. And that's the ultimate goal, is to just try to get better daily, no matter the situation. Good game, bad game, good coach, bad coach, good team, bad team— get better daily. I played with Shimi Ojule in Milwaukee for basically like the preseason, and we actually connected really well. I spent a lot of time together, connected on technology, drones, gospel music. And now I'm playing against him in Red Star and played against him in Valencia as well. So the team is very talented, and they also have Chime Monique, who isn't playing tonight due to injury. So get well soon. Um, Cody Miller-McIntyre, Kalinic, Butler, who just came from the NBA, very talented. So they have a very, very talented team and are just coming off of a Derby loss, so they're going to be motivated, they're going to be excited to play. We're excited to play, first time in front of our fans. So let's watch some film. So since we didn't film too much in terms of The day in the life. Let's break down a little bit more film for you guys. So right here, obviously I know Jay really well, and he's playing with a lot of confidence. And as we know, basketball is a lot of confidence, success. So right now I'm just watching all the shots that he's taken from their last win. And like we always talk about, we watch the shot and then we watch the coach's reaction to the shot. So as I can see just from watching, uh, right drive, left shot, there's not a shot that he doesn't like. He'll take any shot. So being that I'm starting on him, I have to be very locked in from the beginning because these type of players, their start, how they start the game can really impact everything.
Elijah Bryant, Nanguetsuru starting every game so far. So a historic moment for Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv, their first ever EuroLeague game in their home country. Off the mark this time, and Bryant takes it. Blakey, Chris Jones, shot to the corner for Bryant, and doesn't take long for him. Double teamed in the paint, finds a good pass to Bryant who catches and shoots for 3. Mottley can shoot from deep, but so can Bryant. Better off giving it to him. Mottley, unselfish there. Mottley, nice pass, and there is Bryant inside this time. His first 2-pointer of the night. Stepping inside, finding a wide open Bryant for 3 for the tie. Duties today from Cody Miller. McIntosh, meaning roles reversed, is made by Aturu. Bryant wide open, money! Sidestep kickback, Bryant 3, up and good! Another And here's Antonio Blake off the mark. Bryant with the rebound, and he'll put it back in. Time out. Player of the game, Elijah Bryant, with a career high in scoring, 28 points, 2 of 4 from 2-point range, 6 of 11 threes, also adding 9 rebounds, 5 assists. Head and Shoulders the Adidas Player of the Game.
What a game! Wow, that was a super big win for us in our first game back in Israel. Even though we weren't on our home court, we really appreciate the fans that came out to support. We cannot wait to see you guys at our first game on our real home court. Now when it comes to the game, I think I obviously basketball-wise played pretty well, hit some shots, made my free throws, had some career highs and stuff, which is great. So I'm not going to focus on that. Two things I did well and one thing I can work on. So two things I did well, I would like to say is that it was a long travel day, a lot of stuff going on. I really focused on making sure that I was controlling all the controllables in terms of making sure I'm hydrated, make sure I'm taking my vitamins, make sure I'm trying to get to sleep at a reasonable time. And number 2 was making sure my emotions are matching my desired reality throughout the game. During the game, I think I missed my first 2 shots, and sometimes you can get frustrated, like, oh, uh-uh. But if you know your desired reality, which we talked about before, then don't be frustrated. And to explain the desired reality, basically is if you know you're going to make it safe to work, why would you react when someone cuts you off? That's wasted emotions, and emotions are like glue. They tie you to your reality. So if you keep having that frequency of those emotions, you stay in that same reality. One thing that I can work on is I did a really good job of not talking to the refs, but I think I can do a better job. You always— it's always something you can get better at. So I can do a better job of not talking to the refs. And as always, faith plus consistency. Love.
