Category: Dallas Mavericks Blog

Two dominating performances with the Texas Legends were enough to convince the Mavericks that Yi Jianlian is ready for his NBA return.

The 7-footer was called up and met the Mavericks in Michigan, where he is expected to be in uniform Tuesday when they play the Detroit Pistons.

“He’s really a good athlete, he has good hands and he’s just a nice, versatile big man for us,” said president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, who saw Yi’s two games with the Legends, the team Nelson co-owns.

— Reported by Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News

President Barack Obama saluted Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks on Monday as NBA champions who staged a season-ending charge to beat LeBron James and the vaunted Miami Heat and claim their first title with a “heart that’s the size of Texas.”

“This was a remarkable run, a great victory,” Obama declared, as owner Mark Cuban and Mavericks stars, including series MVP Nowitzki, looked on. “It’s too bad that next year, it’ll be the Chicago Bulls here.”

The first basketball fan—a passionate supporter of his hometown Bulls— was nonetheless lavish in praising the Mavericks, who beat the Heat in six games last June.

“They know how good teams win,” Obama said. “Not just by jumping higher or running faster, but by finding the open man, working together, staying mentally tough, being supportive of each other, playing smarter.”

— reported by Mark S. Smith of the Associated Press

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have assigned Sean Williams and Yi Jianlian to the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League.

Willliams (6-10, 235) has played in three games with the Mavericks after being signed on Dec. 21. In three appearances, Williams is averaging 4.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 5.7 minutes while shooting .714 (5-7 FGs) from the field and 1.000 (4-4 FTs) from the free throw line.

Yi (7-0, 250) was signed by Dallas on Jan. 6 and has yet to see any action with the Mavericks.

Williams and Yi are scheduled to join the Legends tonight, Jan. 6, for their game in Austin against the Toros. They will also be in uniform on Sunday, Jan. 8 when Texas battles the Maine Red Claws on HP Court at Dr. Pepper Arena in Frisco.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent forward Yi Jianlian. According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, it’s just a one-year contract.

Yi (7-0, 250) was the first round draft pick (sixth overall) in the 2007 NBA Draft of the Milwaukee Bucks. The 24-year old has played for three teams (Milwaukee, New Jersey and Washington) in his four-year career. He holds career averages of 8.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 24.1 minutes in 242 career games with 163 starts.

Yi played in 66 games (starting 49) as a rookie for the Bucks and averaged 8.6 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. That year he was selected to participate in the Rookie-Sophomore Challenge at the 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend.

In June of 2008, Yi, along with Bobby Simmons, was traded to New Jersey in exchange for Richard Jefferson. Yi enjoyed the two best years of his career while with the Nets including a 2009-10 campaign where he averaged 12.0 points and 7.2 rebounds in 52 games (51 starts). In June of 2010, Yi was traded to Washington where he played out the remainder of his contract and became a free agent.

A native of Shenzhen, China, Yi was a member of the Chinese National Olympic Team that competed in both the 2004 Athens games and 2008 Beijing games. His name is pronounced “EE jee-ENN-lee-ENN.”

Dallas Mavericks point guard Jason Kidd injured his lower back in the first quarter of Thursday’s 93-71 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Kidd will be examined Friday in Dallas and his status for Saturday’s game is uncertain.

“We’ll see where we are,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “It happened on a play and I don’t know which one, but it definitely happened on a play.”

The injury apparently occurred toward the end of the first quarter, but Kidd tried to fight through it. He could be seen reaching for his back a few times before finally exiting the game with 24.7 seconds left in the first.

— Reported by Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas

With a visit to the White House coming early next week, the Dallas Mavericks are looking forward at the opportunity of possibly playing some basketball against President Barack Obama.

An avid basketball fan, President Obama has been known to have a mean jumpshot and a slittery drive to the basket. The Mavs, who will visit the White House on Monday as part of the honor of being the defending NBA champions, hope to play a game of one-on-one with the Commander In Chief and see what they can learn from one of the most powerful people in the world.

“It’s going to be a great honor to meet the Chief, so we look forward to it,’’ guard Jason Kidd said. “Maybe we might have a little time to play a little one-on-one.’’

Asked if he believes he can truly get a call to go his way playing against the President, Kidd smiled and said: “Well, we know he’s going to get the benefit of the calls. And he has homecourt advantage, so we’ll just try to keep it close.’’

— Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Blog