28 | JULY 22 • 2021
SPORTS
D
aniel Shamayev is the
youngest player in
the new Detroit Shul
Basketball League.
The 20-year-old from
Keego Harbor also is the
league’s founder and commis-
sioner.
The first league games were
played on the night of July 14
at Farber Hebrew Day School
in Southfield.
That was less than two
weeks after Shamayev began
putting together the league
and one week after opening
night was canceled because of
a power outage.
“Crazy. Awesome.
Satisfying. Excited,” were
some of the words Shamayev
used to describe his emotions
after the league’s first night,
which saw four of the league’s
five teams compete.
There are about 40-50 men
in the league from Orthodox
shuls, many of them Farber
grads like Shamayev.
While Shamayev is the
youngest league player, the
oldest players are in their 40s
and 50s.
Shamayev’s Keter Torah
Synagogue team from West
Bloomfield defeated Dovid
Ben Nuchim-Aish Kodesh
from Oak Park 44-41 in the
league’s opening game.
Shamayev made two free
throws with six seconds left
to secure his team’s victory.
“I didn’t know the score
at the time,” he said. “But I
knew it was important for me
to make the free throws.”
Young Israel of Oak Park
defeated Young Israel of
Southfield 57-42 in the
league’s other opening night
game.
The fifth league team is
Aish Hatorah in the Woods in
Oak Park.
So why did Shamayev
decide to put together a
basketball league during the
summer before he heads to
Yeshiva University in New
York to study finance, and
while he’s working at his
father’s Lincoln Tailor shop in
Oak Park?
“I love basketball. And I
love playing basketball,” he
said. “I love everything about
the sport. I love the teamwork
it takes to make a basket.
It takes all five players on a
team to make a basket.
“I’m very vocal when I
play. Maybe too vocal. But
you have to be vocal to play
offense and defense.”
Shamayev used social
Tipof
Time
New Detroit Shul Basketball League, organized by a
20-year-old, has fi
ve teams and more than 40 players.
The Dovid Ben Nuchim-Aish
Kodesh team lost a close
game on opening night of
the Detroit Shul Basketball
League.
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Daniel
Shamayev
DANIEL SHAMAYEV
“CRAZY. AWESOME.
SATISFYING. EXCITED.”
— DANIEL SHAMAYEV