James Wiseman
Updated: Wikipedia source
James Monteinez Wiseman ( WYZE-mən; born March 31, 2001) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers. Listed at 6 feet 11 inches (2.11 m), he plays the center position. Wiseman began high school at The Ensworth School in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee before transferring to Memphis East High School in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was coached by former NBA player Penny Hardaway for his first year. As a senior, Wiseman was a consensus five-star recruit, with most recruiting services ranking him number one in the 2019 class. He claimed multiple national player of the year awards and played in the McDonald's All-American Game after his final season. In college, Wiseman joined Memphis to play for Hardaway, who had become the Tigers' coach. Early into his freshman season, he was suspended by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which deemed that Hardaway had acted as a booster by facilitating Wiseman's move to Memphis, Tennessee in 2017. He served part of the suspension before withdrawing from school to prepare for the 2020 NBA draft, where he was drafted with the second overall pick by the Golden State Warriors. He won an NBA championship with the team in 2022, despite being injured and not appearing in any games during the season. He was then traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2023, before signing with the Indiana Pacers in 2024. He is regarded as an NBA draft bust.