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