LeBron James’ sports media company is producing a new series on Penny Hardaway and the Memphis Tigers.
The content offerings from LeBron James’ sports media company UNINTERRUPTED continue to expand as they will get to tell the story of what is likely the most interesting team in college basketball, the Memphis Tigers and their head coach, former NBA star, Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway.
“The Harder Way,” featuring Hardaway, as well as former NBA star and LeBron James’ Miami Heat teammate Mike Miller, will be a 12-episode project that premieres tomorrow (Tuesday, Dec. 10) on ESPN+ with the first two episodes coming available. The series will follow Hardaway as he sets his goal to come back to his hometown of Memphis and they will have unique access behind the eligibility controversy surrounding Memphis’ star forward James Wiseman.
“The Harder Way” is the second UNINTERRUPTED production to go on ESPN+, following last year’s extended look at LeBron James and his inner circle, “More Than An Athlete.”
Also, with Memphis in the crosshairs of the NCAA and James Wiseman serving a 12-game suspension, it’s a subject that UNINTERRUPTED and LeBron’s productions know quite well.
With his strong play in the NBL this season, LaMelo Ball is turning heads and drawing the eyes of NBA GMs and scouts.
Despite playing just nine games in the National Basketball League, LaMelo Ball has impressed so much that he has forced his way into the conversation as the top pick. Playing in one of the top overseas leagues in the world, Ball has put up respectable numbers, averaging 17.0 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 31.3 minutes per game.
“This is LaMelo’s first real competition in his career, The fact that he’s putting up numbers like this in a league full of former NBA players is forcing every team to look at him as a potential No. 1 pick.”
Ball’s very unique upbringing through basketball circuits means he’s never truly been in the public eye since his sophomore year of high school. His time in Lithuania was lightly-covered and featured an uninspired Ball playing few minutes. A return to America and the JBA was the polar opposite as Ball played in a setting where he was vastly superior to all the talent around him.
Even at SPIRE last season, Ball did not play high-profile teams and only sparingly played in national showcases. Games were often blowouts without Ball needing to exert much effort. As a result, his stock was low heading to Australia.
But he could hardly have exceeded expectations more, notching a pair of triple-doubles in his last two outings. The result has been him making a legitimate case for the top pick.
An NBL executive recently stated that LaMelo Ball should be a lock for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.
While multiple anonymous reports from NBA executives and scouts have come out in recent weeks and months about LaMelo Ball’s potential in the NBA, few have come out from those with more first-hand experience of seeing Ball in action.
“I don’t see any way where LaMelo doesn’t go No. 1. He sees the floor better than anyone, and his passing and shooting is like nothing I’ve seen before.”
Ball’s rise has been made easier with many of his NCAA counterparts not yet hitting their strides. James Wiseman won’t play until the start of 2020 and while Anthony Edwards has certainly produced at times this year, he hasn’t caught the national (or even international) eyes that Ball has.
Whether he’s taken with the top pick or not, Ball has solidified his spot atop the draft boards and will be one of the first names called next June, a far cry from his second-round projection last year.
The Grizzlies rookie is the latest to show support in favor of James Wiseman and the Memphis Tigers.
Ja Morant is the latest to show support for Memphis Tigers center James Wiseman after the NCAA opted to suspend the five-star prospect for a total of 12 games for receiving improper benefits prior to enrolling at the university.
Wiseman was originally ruled ineligible to play on Nov. 8 for recruiting inducements his family received when Penny Hardaway helped the 18-year-old move from Nashville to Memphis in 2017 before he became head coach of the Tigers. Hardaway was considered to be a booster for the program after donating money to the school in 2008.
The decision by the NCAA did not sit well with many in the basketball community as the likes of LeBron James, Reggie Miller and others voiced their frustrations with the ruling. Morant was the latest to show support for Wiseman.
Morant has shown support to Memphis several times since joining the Grizzlies. He has been seen on campus at practice and has acted as an unofficial recruiter for the university, as well.
Wiseman is projected to be a top-five pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and some even believe he can potentially be the top pick. The arrival of Wiseman helped Hardaway have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.
In three games this season, Wiseman is averaging 19.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and three blocks per game. Wiseman is eligible to return on Jan. 12 against USF.
James Wiseman will miss the next 10 games and is required to donate $11,500 to charity.
Potential No. 1 overall draft pick James Wiseman will be suspended until 2020, and the NCAA ruled that the Memphis star will have to donate $11,500 to a charity of his choice in the wake of an investigation into benefits the Wiseman family received from current Tigers coach Penny Hardaway.
Wiseman’s battle against the NCAA resulted in the 18-year-old filing a lawsuit against the organization after he was initially ruled ineligible, but Wiseman withdrew the lawsuit in order to expedite his return to the team. Memphis announced that Wiseman was ineligible on November 14th.
On Thursday, it was reported that Wiseman has received a 12-game suspension, and is required to donate $11,500 to charity, matching the amount his family received from Hardaway for moving expenses in 2017.
When can Wiseman return?
Wiseman will be forced to miss the next 10 games, having already sat out for the Tigers’ wins over Little Rock and Alcorn State.
Wiseman will miss several nationally televised games, and one matchup against a ranked opponent, as No. 16 Memphis plays No. 20 Tennessee on December 14th.
Wiseman will be eligible to return on January 12th in a road game at South Florida.
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The NCAA, as we all know, is made up of a collection of spineless ghouls whose main job is to figure out how to make sure none of the billions of dollars made by college athletes ever goes near any of the “student-athletes” and to level mind-boggling punishments if something even seems like it might help a kid or their family out.
Seriously, the sooner the NCAA goes away the better, as anyone who has even a small pocketful of common sense can agree with.
The latest idiotic move came Wednesday when the spineless ghouls suspended Memphis star basketball player James Wiseman for 12 games and, here’s the kicker, ordered him to donate $11,500 to charity.
LOL.
I mean, how rich is that by the spineless ghouls? Fining an amateur “student-athlete” just under $12 grand! Memphis is appealing this ruling but we all know how that will go.
This all happened because Memphis head coach Penny Hardaway paid for Wiseman and his family to move to Memphis in 2017. Hardaway was coaching a high school team at the time, not Memphis. Well, the NCAA decided since Hardaway donated $1 million bucks to Memphis in 2008 that he was considered a booster and this move was illegal. Because of course.
Wiseman now has to miss a bunch of games and donate all that money, which the NCAA figured covered the expenses of his move.
I obviously have nothing wrong with donating money to charity but if I’m Wiseman, I politely tell the spineless ghouls to shove their punishment you-know-where and I walk away from college basketball – because the best players don’t need this broken plan to get to the NBA.
Wiseman is expected to be one of the top picks in next summer’s NBA draft. What does one year of unpaid basketball that is ruled by people making tons of money and rule with an iron fist, have to do for his future? Absolutely nothing.
Basketball players, unlike football players, don’t need the NCAA. Football players are stuck because there’s no other way to get to the NFL.
There are more options now than ever for the best basketball players in the world to skip college and take another route. LaMelo Ball seems to be doing just fine making money and helping is draft stock while playing in ball in the NBL, a pro league in Australia and New Zealand.
Other star players have taken that route, too. Some players have taken the year off to train for the NBA draft, which makes a ton of sense.
These days a good year with a good college program doesn’t mean all that much. Everybody knows the best freshmen entering college basketball each year and their draft stock pretty much stays the same throughout the year.
Risking injury while not getting paid for a year doesn’t seem ideal. Can the college hoops experience still be a fun? Absolutely. Zion Williamson enjoyed it last year and was thankfully able to get out without a serious injury.
But the NCAA no longer deserves the best players in the world. Which they proved again with this situation in Memphis.
If I’m Wiseman, I call the NCAA and just laugh until they hang up the phone.
Wednesday’s biggest winner: Luka Doncic.
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
The Mavs star continued his ridiculously good start to the season Wednesday night by scoring more points, collecting more rebounds, and handing out more assists in the first quarter than the entire Golden State Warriors team had in those opening 12 minutes. That’s just nuts. He also put up some other impressive numbers in the Mavs’ blowout win over the really sad Warriors.
Quick hits: Jerry Jones’ wild tale… Jackson and Ingram share special moment… Simmons finally hits 3… And more!
– An ump in a youth baseball game stormed off the field and left after some awful parents said some awful things. Seriously, these parents are the worst.
(Follow me on Twitter at @anezbitt. It might change your life. Just don’t tell me about your fantasy team.)
