James Wiseman’s career – and life – has been an ongoing cycle of hope destroyed and hope renewed.

As a kid, he faced times when his mom had trouble putting food on the table – but made it out to play in the NBA. As he’s gotten older, he’s faced times when social media attacked him relentlessly for his play on the court – but learned to shut out the noise to keep working.

Of course those are two vastly different struggles, and there’s a very large chasm that lies between the gravity of both. But both have tested and pushed Wiseman. And both have played a role in who he’s become.

To better understand who he is and where he’s coming from, we’ll journey through two timelines – one of his childhood, high school and college years (which we’ll refer to as “Young Wiseman”), and one of his NBA career (which we’ll refer to as “Older Wiseman”).

In doing so, we’ll find constants pervading the peaks and valleys of both. And we’ll identify the forces that have shaped who he’s become, and that will undoubtedly mold his future with the Golden State Warriors – and in life.

Young Wiseman

It’s 4:30am. Donzaleigh Artis had just woken up her ten-year-old son, and a sleepy James Wiseman scrambled to get dressed.

He cozied up with a blanket in the school bus his mom drove in the wee hours of the morning. Later, he would catch another bus to get to school. During those house, Artis would clock in two bus routes and a gas station shift, before picking up her son after school. They wouldn’t arrive home until sometime after 7 p.m. 

But young Wiseman wouldn’t nap or relax. Instead, he’d work on all of his homework for the week, and kept at it until it was done. There were times he wouldn’t sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning, in the name of finishing the week’s assignments. Only to be woken up at 4:30 again – and the cycle starts over.

Life wasn’t easy for Wiseman, Artis, and Jaquarius Greer – Wiseman's older sister who was away, attending the University of Memphis. Growing up, Greer was the one who watched Wiseman while their parents worked. Greer was the one who taught him skills like cooking or doing his laundry. Artis, meanwhile, worked two jobs just to barely afford the necessities.

There were times when Artis couldn’t buy food for the both of them, so she fed her son instead. There were times when they had no electricity in the house because they couldn't pay the bills. So Wiseman had to finish his homework by candlelight.

But through it all, Artis made sure her son was taken care of.

On his part, Wiseman focused on two things as he grew older: school and basketball. His plan was to excel in those areas and ultimately help his family in the long run.

In school, he thrived, maintaining a pristine 4.3 GPA at East High. And in basketball, he spent hours upon hours in the gym honing his craft.

Wiseman grew to be so good on the hardwood that drug dealers would leave him alone on the streets. Even they knew that the budding big man was destined for a life greater than what the city could offer.

His relentless work in both academics and athletics had a singular focus: to help his mom and sister, hoping one day it would all pay off. 

That hope was scarce at times, but still worth clinging to.

Older Wiseman

Wiseman’s rookie year with the Warriors was mired with disappointment. 

Despite being the second overall pick in the 2019 draft, despite the million-dollar contract, James Wiseman still had the odds stacked against him.

He had played a total of three college games, had no training camp or preseason, and was thrown to the wolves in his first few months. The results were anything but promising. 

He’d look lost on one play, and helpless on another. His struggles were well-documented, and don’t need to be fully re-hashed. Wiseman showed flashes in between, but it wasn't enough to offset the alarming deficiencies critics were quick to point out.

But scrutiny comes with the territory.

In March 2021, Wiseman missed a COVID test at the start of the All-Star break. And in a season filled with criticisms, another public error wasn’t going to help his image.

So Artis – who now lived five floors beneath him in a San Francisco luxury apartment building – sat down with her son, per the SF Chronicle. And reminded him of words he needed to hear.

She broke out Matthew 6:25 in her Bible, which reads, Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”

The message was clear: the trials will always come. Both Artis and Wiseman have had their fair share of them in the past. But there are always much larger things to keep in mind than the current struggle.

Wiseman understood the sentiment and calmly gathered himself again. Hope may have seemed dire in dark times such as these, but there’s comfort in knowing there’s always a way out.

Young Wiseman

Some problems have no way out.

After Wiseman’s sophomore year, his sister dealt with depression and homesickness at the University of Memphis. So Artis and Wiseman moved closer to her, even if it meant Wiseman had to leave behind his friends and teammates at Ensworth High.

While there were some things he couldn’t control, he did have control over what happens on the court.

And Wiseman continued to throw himself into perfecting his game. He was often harder on himself than anyone else.

In his junior year at Memphis East High School – his new school after transferring – they lost a game where he missed six or seven free throws. As his own toughest critic, Wiseman made it a point to transform free throws from a weakness into a strength.

One Memphis East assistant coach recalled that in Wiseman’s senior year, he voluntarily wouldn’t finish practice until he made 50 free throws in a row. After every single practice.

His percentage went up to 81% from the stripe in his senior year. Along with dominating opposing centers with his freakish athleticism, the seven-footer was recognized as Gatorade’s National Player of the Year. And was the top-ranked recruit in the class of 2019, according to ESPN, Rivals, and 247Sports.

Which meant Wiseman had a big decision ahead of him. 

Colleges came knocking – all wanting a taste of a potential program-defining player. But instead of leaning into the pomp of it all, he wanted to keep his inner circle small: just his mom and his sister, like it had always been.

When he declared his intent to attend the University of Memphis, the city threw a parade in his name. “James Wiseman Day” became an unofficial holiday in Memphis. The red carpet was proverbially rolled out, and all Wiseman could think about, in front of hundreds of roaring fans, was taking his game to the next level and bringing an NCAA championship home.

But life doesn’t always go as planned.

Back in 2017, Memphis coach Penny Hardaway had given $11,500 to Wiseman’s family to help with moving expenses. While it may seem like a generous gesture, it violated rules that a program booster (which Hardaway was) could not aid a student-athlete with financial benefits.

The NCAA ruled him ineligible to play and suspended him for 12 games. In addition, he had to single-handedly give $11,500 to a charity of his choosing. As a college student, Wiseman didn’t have that kind of money. And he wasn’t allowed to receive outside help, including the GoFundMe that was set up by ESPN analyst Jay Williams.

The whole process blindsided Wiseman. The NCAA hadn’t notified him about a potential rules violation. After the suspension was announced, he was often up at nights crying on the phone to his mom and sister – heartbroken and defeated.

He rarely left his dorm room other than to attend practices. And he later made the difficult decision to withdraw from Memphis to prepare for the NBA Draft. 

The choice was made in part to avoid injuries, but Wiseman also admitted that it was almost impossible for him to come up with $11,500. Withdrawing would free him from the suspension and its consequences.

His freshman year started out with so much promise and so much hope. Only to have it ripped mercilessly to shreds.

Older Wiseman

His season was ending yet again. 

In April 2021, two years after his college suspension, Wiseman suffered a season-ending knee injury. Though his time on the court that year had been rough, at best. 

The expectation from the uninformed Warriors fan might be that Wiseman – the second overall pick in the draft – would contribute heavily. That a seven-footer with that level of athleticism would develop and aid Steph Curry in their playoff push, at least a little bit.

But across his 39 games he appeared in, the Warriors were outscored by 183 points when Wiseman was on the floor. He was still picking up the little details of playing in the NBA and still learning the intricacies of the Warriors’ system. His game broadcasted one simple message: Wiseman was raw. Extremely talented, but extremely raw.

Not that it was unexpected coming from a 19-year-old who, on opening night, was just three games removed from playing in high school. GM Bob Myers later admitted that they threw Wiseman out there just to see what he was.

But the waves of criticism were relentless. From podcasters to broadcasters, the prevailing discourse on James Wiseman wasn’t pretty.

A surefire bust, they called him.

The Warriors botched the pick, they claimed.

Just another injury-prone big man, they mocked.

And all Wiseman could do was watch – sidelined from injury in a frustration-filled season.

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It got so bad that at one point, Artis, Greer, and Wiseman all agreed to take an extended break from social media. They couldn’t control the narratives. They couldn’t bottle the hope that was slipping away.

Young Wiseman

After such a long road after the NCAA’s ruling, Wiseman still believed.

Still believed he would be drafted by his preferred team – the Warriors. And still believed that he could become an NBA star and give his mom a better life.

When hope seemed out of reach, Wiseman, his mom, and his sister always found something to believe in.

They relied on their Christian faith, and their unwavering belief that everything would work out in the end.

Wiseman couldn’t contain his wide smile when his name was called with the second overall pick. The Golden State Warriors had chosen him, and his new life – full of the optimistic feeling that had eluded him so much in the past – was just beginning.

Older Wiseman

Surgery. Rehab. Conditioning. Repeat.

Setback after setback.

Wiseman’s estimated return date in his sophomore season kept getting pushed back further and further. 

The belief from Warriors fans was that Wiseman would return and contribute even the slightest amount to an uncomfortably-thin frontcourt. It didn’t matter how raw he had looked the previous year. Any version of the seven-foot center would be better than no seven-foot center.

But their faith was not rewarded.

In March 2022, Wiseman suffered another setback and would be shut down for the rest of the season – losing another possible year of development and learning.

And while Wiseman, no doubt, has physical and mental hurdles to conquer amidst the current struggles, he’s been through worse. 

Each time, it’s his mom and his sister who were his strongest support system. It’s his faith that remains his underlying drive.

And he’s held onto those tightly, no matter how bleak the struggle has gotten.

Through every early morning bus ride and candlelit homework session, through every missed game and harsh question about his future, and through every injury setback and piercing criticism – through it all, both a young and an older James Wisemann maintained one thing that has kept his inner motor churning:

Hope.

As the struggle persists, here’s to hoping he’ll never lose sight of that.