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🏀 Future of the Game

🏀 Future of the Game

December 13, 2022

Welcome back BTP family! Sad morning in the football world as we lost one of the greatest men in all of sports in Mike Leach. Known for his Air Raid offenses, Leach was 158-107 in 21 seasons as a head coach and won the AFCA National Coach of the Year Award in 2018. Leach will be missed by millions of college football fans around the world. RIP Mike Leach! ❤️

In today's rendition of Beyond The Press we dive into Chris Beard’s nightmare situation at Texas following his arrest, Cade Cunningham's season ending surgery, and a deep dive into the Bronny James vs Kiyan Anthony game from late last night!

Stay warm!

SUSPENDED & ARRESTED

Longhorns Basketball Coach Chris Beard Suspended Following Arrest

Texas basketball coach Chris Beard was arrested yesterday on a felony domestic violence charge and is currently suspended from the team without pay "until further notice.” Beard was booked at 4:18 am Monday morning on a gruesome third-degree felony charge after a woman who identified as his fiancée told police Beard strangled and bit her. Beard was released yesterday afternoon after posting a $10,000 bail.

Beard’s attorney declined to comment but told a local newspaper that Beard is “100% innocent of these charges'' and added that "he should never have been arrested." Beard, an alumnus of UT and even a former student basketball assistant, took over the Longhorns program in 2021 after a successful run at Texas Tech that saw him win the Associated Press Coach of the Year Award in 2019.

Beard is in the second year of a seven-year guaranteed contract that pays him $5M annually. However, there is a provision in the contract that would allow Texas to fire him for just cause, such as a felony. Before his suspension, Beard led the #7 Longhorns to a 7-1 record.

Associate Head Coach Rodney Terry took over head coaching duties on Monday night and led Texas to an 87-81 OT win against Rice.

SEASON ENDING INJURY

Cade Cunningham is Out for the Season

One of the brightest young NBA talents is done for the year after planning to undergo season-ending shin surgery. Thankfully, Cade is expected to make a full recovery and be ready for the 2023-24 season.

Cunningham hasn’t played since November 9th and had spent the last month resting and rehabbing his shin, hoping to avoid surgery. But without seeing much progress, Cade, the doctors, and the Pistons all agreed surgery was the best long-term solution. With his season over prematurely, Cade has played in just 76 games across his first two years.

What does this mean for the Pistons?

The biggest blow for the Pistons is losing a prime year of Cade’s development and chemistry building among their young core of Ivey, Bey, Stewart, and Hayes. Additionally, the Pistons may not have expected to make the playoffs this season, but they wanted to be competitive — that’s all out the door now.

They’ll likely begin to embrace the Wemby sweepstakes in earnest and could move some of their veterans out by the trade deadline. For instance, while the Pistons are really high on Bojan Bogdanović, if a shooting-needy team like the Lakers makes them an offer for the 33-year-old that they can’t refuse, he could be on the move.

FUTURE OF THE GAME

Inside Bronny James & Kiyan Anthony's Epic Showdown

At a basketball game with the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Scottie Pippen, and even Kim Kardashian in attendance, all eyes were on the next generation of hoopers. Bronny James and Kiyan Anthony met last night for a nationally televised high school showcase 20 years after LeBron first made his national TV debut.

Bronny and Sierra Canyon took home the win against Anthony and Christ the King, but both young men showed flashes of their Hall of Fame fathers. Bronny was a beast in the open court and threw down a monster dunk, while Anthony showed off a smooth jumper and sank two 3-pointers. James finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while Anthony finished with eight points.

Bronny’s future is a huge topic of conversation, but no decision appears to have been made. Bronny, currently the 45th player in the 2023 class, is expected to go to college or the G-League as he works toward the NBA. But that hasn’t stopped the young king from making big money through NIL deals with Nike and Beats By Dre. Meanwhile, Kyian who’s still only a sophomore is ranked No. 62 nationally in the class of 2025.