Latest news with #TheNextChapter
Entrepreneur
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Entrepreneur
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."
Time of India
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
"He got to them n*pples" - Fans mimicked Michael Beasley's vulgar rant while reacting to his $100,000 win against Lance Stephenson
Fans mimicked Michael Beasley's vulgar rant while reacting to his $100,000 win against Lance Stephenson (Image Credit: Getty Images) The NBA posted on its Reddit handle how Michael Beasley reacted after his $100,000 win over Lance Stephenson in a one-on-one battle. A fan mimicked one of his quotes from the pre-game face-off streamed on the YouTube channel, The Next Chapter, which read, 'He got to them n*pples'. Michael Beasley continued using abusive language in excitement after winning the challenge, but hugged it out later with Lance Stephenson as they attended the presser. Fans mimicked Michael Beasley's NSFW rant while sharing views on one-on-one challenge by The Next Chapter Michael Beasley's one-on-one with Lance Stephenson was a one-sided battle. Before the battle, the duo engaged in a pre-game war cry where Beasley went abusive while challenging Stephenson. Beasley continued to rant vulgarly even after the win, which got fans excited. A few mimicked his rant in comments. A fan wrote, 'He got to them n*pples.' To which another fan replied, 'You gotta make it s*xy, h*ps and n*ps' Another fan commented, 'Lance got his a** shook here.' Another Reddit user quoted Beasley, '"It's not r*pe. It's consensual.." M Beasley' Michael Beasley hugged it out with Stephenson later and was quite sober during the post-challenge presser. Michael Beasley had an exciting victory over Lance Stephenson in a one-on-one challenge The Next Chapter announced a series of face-offs between the NBA's forgotten players, and its highlight was a one-on-one challenge between Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson. Lance could not keep up with the pace and intelligence of Beasley, who swept the challenge with a 31-21 victory. The series was named TNC 02 series and streamed live on With this amazing win, Michael Beasley added another $100,000 to his earnings. Michael Beasley is often associated with the one-on-one challenges, and so is Lance Stephenson, who came onto the court with high school competition experience. However, he could not display much of his talent and was clearly dominated by Beasley. Also Read: 'We made a s*xtape Kim K would envy' - Michael Beasley sends a wild NSFW message to Lance Stephenson after 1 on 1 Game for $100K Michael Beasley got praise from his childhood friend, Kevin Durant, who shared a clip from the challenge on his Instagram story and called him the finest. This initiative by The Next Chapter was hailed by fans who even called it 'the future of basketball.' It is definitely an honest attempt to acquaint basketball fans with the players who had short NBA careers but had immense talent.
Time of India
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Lance Stephenson - Michael Beasley face-off turns ugly with raunchy comments from former Los Angeles Lakers' forward
The two former NBA stars, Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley, are going to meet each other for a high-stakes face-off. They pestered each other in a pre-game duel, which took place at The Next Chapter. Their interaction took a nasty turn when Beasley started making sleazy comments in an angry, frustrated tone. The interaction went viral in no time and attracted a huge response from NBA fans. Michael Beasley lost his cool during the face-off at The Next Chapter Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley's face-off took place on the YouTube channel, The Next Chapter, before their much-awaited $100K 1v1, scheduled for June 6. During this pre-game interaction, things turned really nasty as Beasley lost all control and went on to shower Stephenson with very raunchy comments. Challenging him for the war to ensue, he said: "If you stop, I'm spinning. Imma teach you while I'm sexing you the fuck up. This is consensual. Get a bigger shirt cause' imma be in that mfer." LS: " I ain't wearing no shirt" MB: "Cool, better. Get to them nipples." The Face Off... | Michael Beasley vs Lance Stephenson $100,000 1v1 The interaction was supposed to be fun and was designed on the lines of WWE pre-game war cries that players throw at one another. During the interaction, the duo got to a point where they even agreed to double up the prize money as part of the bet. What is $100,000 one-on-one challenge Lance Stephenson and Michael Beasley will take on June 6 night? The former NBA stars announced on March 21 that they have agreed to a face-off on June 6. Their one-to-one, high-stakes challenge will fetch the winner the whopping prize money of $100,000. The news spread like a wildfire in the NBA circles, and all the NBA personalities and fans welcomed the idea of the face-off between the two former players. The 1v1 challenge is courtesy of The Next Chapter, a platform dedicated to serving authentic basketball entertainment to the fans and followers. The Next Chapter provided all details about the series of face-offs slated on June 6 to be played as part of the TNC 02 series on its Instagram account. The Lance Stephenson-Michael Beasley Face-off is going to be the main event. The post read: 'IT'S OFFICIAL. TNC 02 is locked in. 🚨 This will be the GREATEST night in YouTube basketball history. 💥 THE FULL CARD 💥 Game 1: BJ vs Caleb – $2,500 Game 2: Rob vs Tae – $10,000 Game 3: Qel vs Keyon – $10,000 Game 4: Eli vs Moon – $10,000 Game 5: Kam vs Latin – $10,000 🔥 MAIN EVENT: Michael Beasley vs Lance Stephenson – $100,000 🔥 This isn't just a legendary 1v1 lineup… We're bringing in Kyrie Irving as a special guest commentator, joining A Milly, B Ellis, and Marcelas Howard for an unforgettable night. 🎥 June 6th, the world watches. 1v1 basketball returns to its roots — raw, competitive, and personal.' Things do get awry when the egos clash, and the face-offs like this are the direct comparison of stamina, IQ, athleticism, and control. This is why such events multiply the fun and assuredly deliver high-class entertainment to those who live and breathe basketball. Also Read: 'This s*it messes up the players' - Former LA Lakers' star comes out in support of Luka Doncic over narrative around his fitness The one-on-one event can be caught live on
UPI
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Callum McGowan: 'Librarians' hero Vikram has 'White Rabbit' energy
1 of 2 | Callum McGowan's "The Librarians: The Next Chapter" premiered Sunday, with a new episode set to air Monday. Photo courtesy of TNT NEW YORK, May 25 (UPI) -- Callum McGowan compares Vikram, the brilliant adventurer he plays in the history-themed, fantasy series, The Librarians: The Next Chapter, to the White Rabbit in the classic fairy-tale, Alice in Wonderland. "Vikram is, for any actor, an embarrassment of riches," McGowan told UPI in a Zoom interview Friday. "As an actor, he's kind of a dream," he added. "Anything is valid with Vikram. In my imagination, his energy is like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. He Is behind time, never on time and always lost, always in a rush." McGowan went on to say Vikram's charisma and confidence hide a deeper sadness for a man eager to return to his own time. "I kind of really love that about the character that Dean [Devlin] created," McGowan said. "He wears many masks, but he is very rarely honest, and I found that really fascinating as a challenge." The Next Chapter premiered Sunday on TNT and new episodes will air Mondays. It follows Vikram and his team of librarians -- YouTuber Connor (Bluey Robinson), scientist Lysa (Olivia Morris) and guardian Charlie (Jessica Green) -- as they protect magical artifacts from villains in various time periods. The show is the latest installment in a franchise that started with 2004's The Librarian: Quest for the Spear and continued with two TV movie sequels and the spin-off series, The LIbrarians, which ran 2014-18. Robinson said Connor is a modern man who loves social media as much as he does history. "He's always diving into books, learning about the past and comes across these discoveries that he can't really explain with logic and that was very exciting to play," Robinson noted. "He's an adventurer. He likes to break into places and tries to prove his theories by doing all these crazy antics. He's very athletic. He does Parkour," he added. "I'm not a specialist, but I like to move and dance and play around." Despite their differences in life experiences and personalities, Vikram and Connor become fast friends by the end of Episode 1. "We saw Connor falling in love with Vikram very quickly," McGowan said. Robinson agreed with a laugh. "Connor's a historian. He's an archivist, so he can't believe that he's meeting someone from the 1800s, who's a real-life person in his face and he just wants to know more about him, wants him to like him, wants to kind of go along with him on his journey," Robinson said. "At first, he's very much. optimistic and, then, eventually, like Callum mentioned, some of the layers come off and you start to see how that evolves and develops their dynamic and relationship." The show emphasizes the importance of knowledge achieved through hard work and study, as opposed to simply looking something up via search engine or Wikipedia. "Vikram is a hero, not because he was born an alien and he's got two heartbeats, or he has any extra ability," McCallum said. "He is who he is because he reads books -- that knowledge, that thirst for knowledge is what drives him and, therefore, that is available to everybody in the world and I think that's a beautiful, special kind of message that Dean puts forward." Robinson added: "It opens up the idea that anybody could be a librarian. You could be a librarian if you're inquisitive enough, if you read a lot. "If you're knowledgeable and interested in learning about things that maybe a lot of people might just 'poo poo,' as they say, or dismiss, and you're open-minded and caring and loving, maybe the library would choose you. Who knows?"
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Librarians: The Next Chapter Sneak Peek: Jacob Stone Teaches the New Team a Magic Lesson (Exclusive)
TNT opens The Librarians: The Next Chapter this Sunday with an important lesson about magic, delivered by none other than Jacob Stone of the original series, as seen in TVLine's exclusive sneak peek above. A spinoff of the mid-2010s TNT drama The Librarians — which itself was an offshoot of series of made-for-TV movies led by Noah Wyle (ER, The Pitt) — The Next Chapter centers on Vikram Chamberlin (Jamestown's Callum McGowan), a 'Librarian' from from the year 1847 who time-travels to the present and finds himself stuck here. When he returns to his castle, which is now a museum, he inadvertently releases magic across the continent. He in turn is given a new team to help him clean up the mess he made, forming a new collection of Librarians. More from TVLine The Rookie Trio Ponders Tim's Next Move ('He's Whipped!'), Fights Over Season 7 Highlights - WATCH The Pitt Season 1 to Air on TNT Ahead of Season 2 Premiere on HBO Max Survivor Sneak Peek: Kamilla Urges Kyle to Finally Make a Move (Exclusive) Dealing with magic, as Once Upon a Time's Rumpelstiltskin often told us, always comes with a price — which Christian Kane's Jacob makes clear in the clip above, upon learning that Vikram and his newly formed team of Librarians have let loose a drekavac. The Next Chapter cast also includes Olivia Morris (Hotel Portofino) as scientist Lysa Pascal, Bluey Robinson (Britannia) as historian Connor Green, and Jessica Green (The Outpost) as Charlie Cornwall aka the Guardian. The Librarians: The Next Chapter launched with a two-night premiere event starting this Sunday, May 25, following TNT's NBA Playoffs coverage. The second episode will air Monday, May 26, following TNT's NHL Playoffs coverage, and subsequent episodes will continue to air on Monday nights. Want scoop on , or for any other TV show? Shoot an email to InsideLine@ and your question may be answered via Matt's Inside Line! The Librarians: The Next Chapter: Everything We Know View List Best of TVLine Summer TV Calendar: Your Guide to 85+ Season and Series Premieres Classic Christmas Movies Guide: Where to Watch It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, Elf, Die Hard and Others What's New on Netflix in June
