Former Lee University basketball star Larriques Cunningham had a bumpy ride after signing to play with the Miyazaki Shining Suns in Japan, according to the Japanese Times.
The article says the Chattanoogan is among the Shining Stars top players who left the team because the ownership did not pay them the amounts promised.
Cunningham's high-flying dunks were featured on ESPN highlight reels and he won the All-Star Slam Dunk Contest in Japan. The article says the money he won from that event was also withheld.
It says foreign pro players are normally given enough money to make it back to their hometowns, but he only got enough to fly to Los Angeles. It says he was trying to make plans to get on to Atlanta and then to Chattanooga.
“I go to Atlanta from here and that’s not my final destination,” Cunningham told The Japan Times while in transit at LAX. “I have to ride a van to Chattanooga (Tennessee). I was told and showed that I had a flight to go home (between) Feb. 21-24, but the president told the staff not to tell me.”
But apparently someone within the Miyazaki organization felt compelled to help Cunningham, the article says.