KIGALI, RWANDA -- Six years after an unceremonious end to his time with the New York Knicks, 31-year-old small forward Cleanthony Early is in his element with the Cape Town Tigers at the Basketball Africa League.
Flown in ahead of the BAL playoffs in Rwanda, as a replacement for the injured Jamel Artis, Early told ESPN that leaving the NBA helped him rediscover his love for the game, after his time with the Knicks, which ended in 2016, sucked the enjoyment from it.
Early told ESPN: "I would say when I got with the Knicks, s**t was so crazy, even on the court, [that] basketball stopped being fun for the first time as a professional.