The Next Chapter for Streetball? How Creators Are Taking Over Basketball
The Next Chapter is a premier 1v1 league turning streetball culture into a marketable, competitive sport. With unique players and pay-per-view events, the league aims to become a billion-dollar basketball business.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Every basketball player dreams of making it to the NBA — but for most, that dream goes unrealized.
"When you stop playing, a part of your identity as a basketball player fades," says Scotty Weaver, a former college hooper turned basketball content creator. "It's always that feeling of never making it."
While playing overseas or in semi-pro leagues is still an option, it rarely comes with the recognition that the NBA offers. With The Next Chapter, Weaver is aiming to change that.
Co-founded with fellow basketball creator D'Vonte Friga, The Next Chapter (TNC) is a premier 1v1 basketball league spotlighting some of the most dynamic streetballers in the game. Players go head-to-head for cash prizes in a format reminiscent of cage fighting.
Related: 7 Lessons from Basketball to Help You Succeed in Business
The prologue
Weaver was in the streetball content world long before TNC, starting out working with BallisLife doing content with their East Coast squad, where he met standout player Isaiah Hodge, aka Slim Reaper. They left Ballislife and started making their own street ball content with a group called The Wild Hunt. Weaver would bring his Wild Hunt team to local parks and film five-on-five basketball videos.
"We had a bunch of guys who were characters," Weaver says. "Slam dunkers, guys doing creative dribbling, big talkers. Everyone brought their own personality and energy."
The five-on-five format helped draw big crowds, but it made it tough for Weaver to pay the players involved consistently.
"To help pay the team, we asked after the event if they wanted to run some one-on-ones with people at the park," he explains. "When that video comes out, we'll post it as the next chapter — and whatever it generates will be how we pay you. So your ability to earn is directly tied to your performance in the video."
That model incentivized players to talk trash, play flashy and stand out, turning the games into even better content.
They started featuring one of their players, Lah Moon, in a one-on-one after every park run, challenging the best and bravest from the crowd. After a string of undefeated performances, Moon finally met his match in former college hooper Nasir Core, whose dominant showing made him a standout in the community.
Sensing they were onto something, Weaver brought Core in as another featured one-on-one player, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become The Next Chapter. Season One featured seven players, each compensated based on how well their videos performed. They shot all seven episodes in a single day and posted them over several months.
"Season one did great," Weaver says. "Players started to see how much money they could make on this."
What began as a way for players to make some extra money has unexpectedly evolved into a potential career path for streetball creators.
"We just paid attention to what people wanted to watch," Weaver says. "What we're building is a basketball league — whether it's one-on-ones, two-on-twos, three-on-threes, or five-on-fives. Right now, we're focused on ones because they're far more marketable. But we never want to close ourselves off to the idea of doing it all."
Related: 'This is the Future': WNBA Legend Lisa Leslie Reflects on the WNBA's Growth and Championing Small Business
The 'UFC' of hoops
TNC's marketing strategy channels the spirit of Vince McMahon and Dana White, building stars by spotlighting unique personalities and skill sets. YouTube phenom Devonte Friga knows this process well, having grown his personal channel to over a million followers.
"We're trying to build the UFC of one-on-one basketball," Friga says.
He points to one of TNC's standout players, J Lew, whom the marketing team cleverly labeled "the internet's shiftiest hooper."
"There are so many players like that — each with small, unique parts of their game that define who they are. Take NAS, for example. Online, he's dominant. He doesn't just win — he wins big — and makes sure everyone knows it. Then there's Moon, whose unorthodox one-on-one style is so distinctive that NBA 2K flew him out to capture his crossover move, even though he's not an NBA player. It's those little things — the way a player stands out — that turn them into a star."
The next chapter for The Next Chapter
Although most TNC players are streetballers, the league is experimenting with a new format on June 6: a one-on-one showdown between former NBA players Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley, with $100,000 at stake.
The matchup will serve as the finale of Season 2, which featured 20 episodes of the two pros coaching opposing squads, building anticipation for their long-awaited faceoff. The event will be available via pay-per-view, a bold move for a league whose audience is accustomed to free content.
Still, Weaver is confident fans will see the value.
"I think it's about proving to your audience that when you ask them to spend their money, there has to be a clear sense of value — like, wow, I actually got something great in return — rather than, this just feels like the same thing I was getting for free, but now I have to pay for it."
While some details are still being finalized, Weaver estimates that moving forward, about 95% of TNC content will remain free, with roughly 5% behind a paywall.
While others — like former NBA star Tracy McGrady with his OBL league — have explored the 1v1 basketball space, The Next Chapter is carving its path from the ground up.
"Unlike Tracy's league, we don't need to be something big right away," says Friga. "What we're building is completely different, and I believe it has the potential to become a billion-dollar industry."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
17 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Monday's Child: Rowan, 13, is a funny, playful and high-spirited young boy who keeps everyone around him smiling
Rowan, 13, is a funny, playful and high-spirited young boy who keeps everyone around him smiling. Always on the move, Rowan enjoys staying active with sports like football, karate and even waterskiing — a passion he's proud of from his time in a water skiing club. He's especially proud to have earned his boating license at a young age. In addition to his athletic interests, Rowan has a creative side. He loves writing fictional stories and sharing them with others, using his vivid imagination to bring characters to life. He's always dreaming big — right now, he's determined to master a backflip to add to his growing karate skills. Rowan is also a big country music fan and enjoys jamming out to his favorite tunes. His mix of energy, humor and creativity makes him a truly unique and unforgettable kid. If you're at least 18 years old, have a stable source of income and room in your heart, you may be a perfect match to adopt a waiting child. Adoptive parents can be single, married or partnered; experienced or not; renters or homeowners; LGBTQ+ singles and couples. As an adoptive parent, you won't have to pay any fees; adoption from foster care is completely free in Massachusetts. The process to adopt a child from foster care includes training, interviews and home visits to determine if adoption is right for you. These steps will help match you with a child or sibling group that your family will fit well with. To learn more about adoption from foster care, call the Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) at (617) 964-6273 or go to This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Monday's Child: Rowan, 13, is funny, playful and high-spirited
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Pacers vs. Thunder NBA Finals: Tyrese Haliburton's devastating injury a brutal reminder of the precariousness of the game
Tyrese Haliburton knew. He knew from the second he planted to try to drive, slipped, hit the ground and lost the ball midway through the first quarter that he wasn't right — that the 'lower leg thing' that had him limping after Game 2 of the 2025 NBA Finals had snowballed into something worse. But it was Game 5 of a tied championship series, and the sun around which the Indiana Pacers revolves knew how much more difficult the Oklahoma City Thunder would be to topple if he wasn't out there giving them advanced math problems to solve on every defensive possession. Advertisement Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said after Game 5 that he and his staff were 'concerned at halftime' about Haliburton's movement on that strained calf — but that his superstar point guard 'insisted on playing' the rest of the way. 'I mean, it's the NBA Finals. It's the Finals, man,' Haliburton said after Indiana's Game 5 loss. 'I've worked my whole life to be here and I want to be out there to compete. Help my teammates any way I can. I was not great tonight by any means, but it's not really a thought of mine to not play here. 'If I can walk, then I want to play.' A follow-up MRI confirmed Haliburton was working on a strained right calf — an injury that, if he'd picked it up during the regular season, may well have put him on the shelf for weeks. In the Finals, though, with the Pacers' backs against the wall, Haliburton and Indiana's medical and training teams explored every option to get him back on the floor as safely as possible. Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers remains down on the court during the first quarter as teammate T.J. McConnell and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder check on him in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center on June 22, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (Photo by) (Justin Ford via Getty Images) 'I think I have to be as smart as I want to be,' Haliburton said at the Pacers' practice session before Game 6. 'Have to understand the risks, ask the right questions. I'm a competitor. I want to play … I have a lot of trust in our medical staff. I have a lot of trust in our organization to make the right decision. Advertisement 'I think there's been many situations through the course of my career where they've trusted me on my body. … They trust me to make the right decision on my body when the power is in my hands. I'm trying to try my best to do that.' So Haliburton played — and he played great, scoring 14 points with five assists and three 3-pointers in 23 minutes, during which the Pacers outscored the Thunder by 25 points, to help propel Indiana to a series-leveling victory to force a Game 7. 'I just look at it as I want to be out there to compete with my brothers,' Haliburton said after Game 6. 'These are guys that I'm willing to go to war with, and we've had such a special year, and we have a special bond as a group, and, you know, I think I'd beat myself up if I didn't give it a chance.' That chance came only after what Haliburton termed 'an honest conversation' with Carlisle. 'You know, if I didn't look like myself and was hurting the team, like, sit me down,' Haliburton said. 'Obviously, I want to be on the floor. But I want to win more than anything … like I said, if I can walk, I want to be out there.' Advertisement And so, after two more days of round-the-clock treatment that he said Saturday left him 'pretty much in the same standpoint I was before Game 6 — a little stiff, a little sore, Haliburton was out there to start Game 7: the ultimate competitive crucible, the proving ground for the immortals, the situation Haliburton said he'd 'dreamed of being in [for] my whole life.' And he was throwing flames. Five shots in the first five minutes — an extremely aggressive start for a player at times derided for his pass-first play. Nine points on three deep triples to stake the visiting Pacers to an early lead. Confident, sneering; the wolf at the door. And then, midway through the first, Haliburton caught a pass, planted to try to drive, slipped, hit the ground and lost the ball … and he knew. Advertisement Knew from the second he made impact. Slapping the floor, again and again; burying his face in his forearm; grimacing, crying, screaming no, no, no. He couldn't walk. He couldn't be out there. 'I couldn't imagine playing the biggest game of my life and something like that happening,' Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after the game. 'It's not fair. But competition isn't fair sometimes.' At halftime, Haliburton's father, John, confirmed to ESPN's Lisa Salters the worst-case scenario diagnosis that everyone from NBA superstars to fans on their couches had immediately made: It was the Achilles, and while we don't know yet the severity of the injury, it was impossible not to think of Kevin Durant, and Damian Lillard, and Jayson Tatum, and the miserable gnawing left in the pits of our stomachs as we watched them first writhe, then hobble, off the floor and out of sight. Advertisement The Pacers fought like champions after losing their heart and soul, rallying to take a 48-47 lead into halftime — where, Carlisle said, Haliburton 'was in the locker room, and he was very much a part of a group that believed that they could do this.' (Asked later what Haliburton said to the team at that time, though, Pacers center Myles Turner said, 'Tyrese was getting medical attention at halftime.') Indiana couldn't sustain that surge of adrenaline, though, scoring just 20 points in 23 possessions in the third quarter and committing eight turnovers leading to 18 Thunder points. It was a stretch that laid bare just how badly these Pacers need Haliburton — how everything Indiana is on the offensive end flows from him and through him, and how, without his visionary pace-pushing playmaking, the Pacers just aren't the Pacers — and one that blew Game 7 wide open, sending Oklahoma City on the way to the NBA championship. Haliburton couldn't walk; he couldn't be out there. But, with the aid of crutches, he could greet his teammates after the game, congratulating them on a race well run, offering what he could in one of the darkest moments of all of their careers. 'That's who he is as a person, a teammate,' said backup point guard T.J. McConnell, who tried his damnedest to pick up the slack in Haliburton's absence, scoring 16 points with six rebounds and three assists off the bench. 'He put his ego aside constantly. He could have been in the locker room feeling sorry for himself after something like that happened, but he wasn't. He was up greeting us. A lot of us were hurting from the loss, and he was up there consoling us. That's who Tyrese Haliburton is. He's just the greatest, man.' Advertisement Haliburton spent the last two months captivating the basketball-watching world, delivering moment after moment, hitting some of the greatest clutch shots we've ever seen in the postseason — building a résumé as one of the premier crunch-time assassins the NBA's ever seen in real time. He deserved a better ending than this; the Pacers, their fans, all of us deserved a better ending than this. But competition isn't fair sometimes. 'What happened with Tyrese, all of our hearts dropped,' Carlisle said. 'But he will be back. I don't have any medical information about what may or may not have happened, but he'll be back in time, and I believe he'll make a full recovery.' Haliburton turns 26 in February and is still just approaching his prime; as a big guard whose game is built on his processing speed, passing touch and 3-point shooting, it seems reasonable to be optimistic about his chances of remaining a highly effective player when he returns to the court. The question now hanging over the Pacers' franchise, though: When will he make that return? And what will the team look like when he does? Heading into Game 7, Indiana appeared to be poised for an extended run of contention at the top of an Eastern Conference that figures to be in flux. The Celtics, still reeling from the loss of Tatum, could find themselves needing to shed talent to pare down a staggering luxury tax bill. The Bucks, likewise, will be without Lillard, and enter yet another summer facing existential questions surrounding the prospect of trading Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Knicks just fired the head coach who brought them to the Eastern Conference finals, and have yet to hire his replacement. It remains to be seen whether the Cavaliers will change course after winning 64 games but again failing to advance past the second round — thanks largely to Haliburton and these Pacers. There is no clear and dominant force in the East — no skyscraping juggernaut standing in the way of a team whose relentlessly frenetic style had made them the conference's unsolvable equation. And the Pacers, fresh off consecutive Eastern Conference finals berths and a trip to the NBA Finals, already have nine of their top 10 players locked in for next season, with plenty of pre-free-agency reporting suggesting that ownership's willing to finally go into the luxury tax to retain the 10th — starting center Turner, the floor-spacing 5 who helps unlock Haliburton's freewheeling playmaking and who defended like an absolute demon against Oklahoma City. Advertisement Maybe that's still ownership's plan. Maybe Pacers brass looks at what'll be left in the cupboard while Haliburton rehabs — Pascal Siakam, an absolute dynamo in this postseason; a ton of young talent (Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker, rising sophomore Johnny Furphy) with room to grow; Carlisle, who just burnished his reputation as one of the game's premier tacticians — and thinks that, with a returning Turner, Indiana still has a chance to make the playoffs for the third straight season, give its rabid hometown fans a team worth showing up to support, and hold down the fort until its signature star can return to lead a roster built on continuity and what Turner famously called 'the power of friendship.' If they take a more jaundiced view, though, and come away thinking that a team built to very exacting specifications cannot properly function without its very particular pilot … well, organizations have made decisions to pivot — to trade present-tense contributors for future assets or financial flexibility reflecting a substantially changed competitive timeline — based on a hell of a lot less. That's the cruel trick of it all, the devastating dislocation of a moment like Haliburton and the Pacers experienced midway through the first quarter on Sunday: that these opportunities are so rare, so fleeting, so difficult to put yourself in position to grasp, and when one slips through your fingers, or is wrested away from you by fickle fate, it can be so, so difficult to get back. 'Chuck Daly once said: If people had any idea how difficult it was to win one game in the NBA — in the regular season, one game — you know, they would be shocked,' Carlisle said after Game 6. '... Not everybody's been deep in the playoffs or to the Finals. But I guarantee you that people have a very good idea what goes on, and how difficult it is to get here, and how challenging it is.' Advertisement That's why Siakam, who won an NBA championship in his third season and wandered for the next six years in search of a shot at a second, spent the last two months telling his teammates and the media that he wasn't going to take this opportunity for granted. That's why Carlisle consistently refused to look back at the past or forward into the future in his news conferences, repeatedly snapping his and his team's focus back to the present, to the process, to the pursuit of this one singular goal. That's why Haliburton was willing to do whatever he could to put himself in position to seize his opportunity. 'We've got one game,' Haliburton said after Game 6. 'One game. Nothing that's happened before matters, and nothing that's going to happen after matters. It's all about that one game.' After that game, though, the sun still rises and you have to face tomorrow. And that's why what happened on Sunday night — not just losing that one game, but losing Haliburton, maybe for an entire year; losing this opportunity without any promise that a franchise that's yet to win an NBA championship will ever see another — hurts so, so much.
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
People Are Sharing The Mild Inconveniences They'd Actually Wish Upon Their Worst Enemy, And The Creativity Is Both Twisted And Impressive
Sometimes the littlest things can end up being the most annoying. Reddit user toto93lnd recently asked, "You curse your enemy, but it can only slightly inconvenience them. What would it be?" Here are the prettiest responses: 1."They start to sneeze, but never fully sneeze." —u/Ok-Opinion-8701 2."Every pair of shoes they wear is sticky on the bottom, even if they're brand new. They can never escape the sound or feel of sticky shoes." —u/theOTHERdimension 3."They will always pick the slowest-moving line. Grocery store check out, in traffic, or anywhere a line may exist." —u/Possible_Ad_4094 4."I hope your every meal is never the right temperature when you eat it." —u/Kimikohiei 5."May both sides of your pillow be warm." —u/Wolfie_142 6."They never leave the house with everything the first time, but they realize every time they sit down in the car." —u/Kman1986 7."Every traffic light will turn red when you approach." —u/Canucklehead_Esq 8."Their sheets will never fit their bed properly." —u/Shot_Fox3432 9."May you wipe and wipe but never get your butt clean." —u/JustWowinCA 10."You shall have the constant feeling of a hair in your mouth." —u/BreakfastTerrible659 Related: Private Investigators Are Sharing The Most Disturbing Cases They've Ever Gotten, And Wow 11."The first pen they pick up will always be out of ink." —u/flstcjay 12."Whenever they buy a bag of salad and take it home and put it in the fridge, it's already turning brown and getting slimy the very next time they open the fridge." —u/unclemikey0 13."Their hair always looks a little bit greasy." —u/CodReasonable 14."May your socks always slip down in your shoes." —u/binky_snoosh 15."For the rest of their life, they always choose the wrong option first when deciding whether to push or pull every door they encounter." —u/klc81 16."Eyelash in your eye forever." —u/Empty_Estus Related: People Are Sharing How What Happened In Vegas Did NOT Stay In Vegas, And This Should Be A Lesson To Never Go To A Bachelor/Bachelorette Party There 17."All of their socks are mildly damp, enough to be uncomfortable." —u/TraumaGirly 18."The audio for every video they watch will always be either a few seconds early or a few seconds late compared to the visuals." —u/The-idea-man 19."May their marinara never cling to their pasta." —u/ThatweirdoCrystal 20."Always stubbing their little toe whenever they walk past anything." —u/Meggiekayyy 21."Spinach stuck in their front teeth. Forever." —u/Limp-Owl2643 22."Every time they turn on a radio, no matter the station, it plays a song they hate." —u/Puzzleheaded_Jury429 23."Make them lose one sock every time in the washing machine." —u/Future-Exercise-5667 24."Thumbs don't work on touch screens." —u/verified_OP 25."Shoes automatically untie themselves every 10 steps." —u/lastfreerangekid 26."They always bite their tongue when they chew." —u/elvisluvr 27."May they always lose one headphone." —u/WimbledonWombleRep 28."Lose their car keys right when they need to leave." —u/Kshi-dragonfly 29."They hear that 'drip drip' water sound every day, all times of day, louder while sleeping." —u/runawayrosa 30."Random wifi and data disconnecting every few hours. It immediately goes away when someone else looks at it and never manifests at the store." —u/wayoverpaid 31."Anytime they are in a situation where they need to use an app right away, it wants them to update it first. Want to call an Uber? Hold on, needs to update. I've got a Zoom meeting now! Give me a sec, updating. Trying to share that new song with a friend? Oh, wait, updating." —u/Thomisawesome finally, "They step on a small Lego every time they get out of bed." —u/Vexonar What's the most annoying mild inconvenience you'd add to this list? Share your thoughts in the comments! Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity. Also in Internet Finds: I Need To Call My Doc For A New Inhaler After Cackling So Hard At These 41 Funny Tweets From The Week Also in Internet Finds: Here Are 50 Pictures That Make Me Grin Uncontrollably No Matter How Many Times I've Seen Them, In Case You Need Them Also in Internet Finds: People In HR Revealed Truly Unhinged Reasons Employees Got Fired, And My Jaw Is On The Floor
