Eight-Year NBA Veteran Heading Overseas For 2022-23 Season
Being drafted 50th overall in 2013 and spending eight total seasons in the NBA, James Ennis III is now set to join BC Samara in Russia for the 2022-23 season.
After playing three games for the Denver Nuggets on a 10-day contract during the 2021-22 season, Ennis then joined Hapoel Haifa of the Israeli Basketball Premier League.
Over the course of his eight seasons in the NBA, Ennis not only played for the Nuggets, but he played for the Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Detroit Pistons, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic, Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers.
For his career, Ennis averaged 6.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and shot 36.0% from three-point range at the NBA level. Always regarded as a key perimeter defender on the wing, the 32-year-old guard/forward will now look to make his mark elsewhere after not really finding a home in the league the last couple of seasons.
James Ennis’ biggest problem in the NBA was that he could never really carve out a spot for himself on his team’s roster. In fact, Ennis never played more than two consecutive seasons with the same team and was never really looked at as a core part of his team’s plans.
Before joining the NBA in 2013, Ennis went from being a standout at a community college in California to starting for the Long Beach State 49ers, earning All-Big West honors and putting himself on many team’s radars because of his tenacity and toughness defensively.
There is always room in the league for guys like this, but unfortunately for James Ennis, timing and age has ended up forcing him to continue his basketball career elsewhere.
