1997-98 Misc News

• Robert Pack had his knee scoped after the season ended. He will be ready by the time training camp is scheduled to open.
• The Mavs announced that season ticket prices will _not_ increase for 1998-99.
• 5/25 The new arena group selected architect David Schwarz to design the new arena. Schwarz submitted the most traditional designs. His past projects include The Ballpark in Arlington (Texas Rangers) and Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall.
• 5/17 Good news and bad news is the Mavs had no luck in the lottery - neither good nor bad luck. The Mavs will draft #6 on June 24. In addition to the 6th pick, Dallas has the #30 (from Toronto [Popeye Jones]), #35, and #53 (from Phoenix [Jason Kidd]) picks.
• Former Mav update: Jim Cleamons will coach the expansion ABL (women) team in Chicago.
• Former Mav update: Roy Tarpley was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with bodily injury and failing to appear in court. The charges occured last June and he skipped the court date April 24.
• 4/30 Michael Finley received 6 votes (out of 116 media votes) for the Most Improved Player award. Finley, along with Nick Anderson, had the 4th most votes for the award.
• 4/17 Khalid Reeves did not play in the 2nd half of the Lakers game due to a sprained left ankle.
• 4/17 Martin Muursepp did not play in the two Lakers or Golden State games due to bronchitis.
• Congratulations to Charlie Parker's family on the birth of their son Christopher.
• 4/16 Khalid Reeves played in the Golden State game with a sprained left ankle and Erick Strickland played with the stomach flu.
• 4/9 Chris Anstey re-injured his left middle finger during the 2nd half of the Seattle game and did not return to action. He will miss the last 4 games of the season due to the injury.
• 4/8 As expected, Dallas signed Shawn Respert to a 2nd 10-day contract. The contract will carry him through the rest of the season.
• 4/8 Assistant coach Charlie Parker was given a 3 year contract extension.
• 4/5 Shawn Respert's last day for his 10-day contract was Sunday. The Mavs are going to wait until after Tuesday's game to sign him to a 2nd 10 day contract so that contract will take him through the rest of the season. If the Mavs were to sign him now, they would have to sign him for the rest of the season to cover the last two games (the Mavs like Respert) and they don't want to do that as he would count at minimum wage ($272,250) against the Mavs' cap and the Mavs "want to keep that flexiblity for the draft" according to Donnie Nelson.
• 4/5 Eric Riley played limited minutes in the Sacramento game due to spraining his right ankle during warmups.
• 4/3 Bubba Wells did not play in the Seattle or Portland games due to strained ligament in his right ankle.
• 4/3 Chris Anstey sprained his left middle finger in the 3rd quarter of the Houston game and did not return to action. X-rays were negative. He has not played since the injury occurred and did not travel with the team for the road trip. 4/7 He returned to action vs Portland.
• 4/2 Michael Finley played in the Seattle game despite suffering from the flu.
• 3/31 Shawn Bradley did not play in the 2nd half of the Clippers game and did not play in the Vancouver game due to the stomach flu.
• 3/30 Don Nelson again changed his bench. Assistant coach Bob Salmi has been reassigned to the scouting department for the rest of the season. If he does not find a coaching job else where, Salmi has been invited to be an East coast scout for the Mavs next season. Nelson says his bench for next season will be Donnie Nelson, Scott Roth, and Charlie Parker.
• 3/27 Dallas signed Shawn Respert to a 10-day contract. With the league's permission, the Mavs currently have 13 players on their active roster.
• 3/25 Shawn Bradley suffered a bruised hip early in the 2nd half of the Denver game and did not return.
• 3/21 Eric Riley did not play in the Houston game due to the stomach flu.
• 3/20 Cedric Ceballos under went arthroscopic surgery on his right knee to repair a slight tear of the meniscus cartilage. The injury occurred Sunday during the Phoenix game. He will be out at least 4 weeks (and, thus, likely out for the rest of the season).
• 3/15 Erick Strickland did not play in the New Jersey or Phoenix games due to a twisted right knee. The injury occurred in the Chicago game.
• 3/14 With the loss to New Jersey the Mavs have been officially mathematically elimated from the playoffs.
• 3/14 Chris Anstey suffered an injured right thumb early in the 3rd quarter of the New Jersey game and did not return to action.
• 3/10 Shawn Bradley did not play in the Miami, LA Clippers, or Houston games due to testicular trauma. The injury occured when he was kneed by Cherokee Parks in the Minnesota game.
• 3/2 Adding to a crowded bench, Scott Roth was named as an assistant coach. The Mavs now have 6 assistant coaches, but Donn Nelson and Ron Ekker (and I assume Roth too) will be spending part of their time scouting college games.
• 2/28 Don Nelson announced that he plans to move director of scouting Scott Roth to assistant coach next season and move assistant coach Ron Ekker back to the head of scouting next season.
• 2/21 The Fort Worth Star Telegram is reporting that Samaki Walker is at least 2 weeks away from being ready to return to action. Walker has been out since the end of January with a stress fracture in his right foot.
• 2/18 TRADE: Dallas traded Dennis Scott to Phoneix for Cedric Ceballos.
• 2/10 Michael Finley is still playing with a pulled groin muscle.
• 2/10 Hubert Davis did not play in the New Jersey game due to a stomach virus.
• 2/7 Congratulations to Hubert Davis for his fine performance in the 3-point shootout! Hubert scored 15 points in the first round to advance to the semi-finals and scored a very impressive 24 points in the second round to advance to the finals. He only scored 10 points in the finals as Jeff Hornacek (Uta) defeated Hubert by scoring 16 points. Hubert's 24 points tied the second highest total in the contest's history.
• 2/2 Michael Finley suffered a groin pull during the Vancouver game and has been playing through the injury.
• 1/31 Samaki Walker will be out at least 3 to 4 weeks with a stress fracture in his right foot.
• 1/30 Dallas activated Bubba Wells and placed Robert Pack on IR with torn ligaments in his right thumb.
• 1/29 Samaki Walker did not travel with the team for the short 2 game road trip due to a sore right foot. The foot has been bothering him for 3 weeks.
• Citing the fact that they probably won't re-sign him this summer, the Mavs had Dennis Scott on the trading block. Nelson is interested in receiving a player who is in the last year of his contract.
• 1/24 Hubert Davis and Dennis Scott played in the Charlotte game (though in limited minutes) despite suffering from food poisoning.
• 1/23 Robert Pack suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb during practice on Thursday and will undergo surgery February 1 to repair it. Once he undergoes surgery, he will be out 6 to 8 weeks.
• Austin Peay retired Bubba Wells #13 jersey.
• 1/20 Dallas' Hubert Davis has been selected to compete in the 3-point Shootout to take place All-Star Saturday (February 7).
• 1/17 Dallas activated Chris Anstey and placed Bubba Wells on IR with a sprained right big toe.
• The citizens of Dallas approved the increase in hotel and car rental tax to help build a new arena by 50.66% (by 1,642 votes). Thus, the city of Dallas, the Mavericks, and the Stars (hockey) will get a new arena - it is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2000.
• 1/13 Michael Finley played in the Houston game despite suffering from the flu.
• 1/13 Coach Don Nelson is suffering from back pain, but has managed to still coach the team.
• 1/13 Robert Pack, who has been struggling lately, did not play - coach's decision since the Denver game.
• 1/6 Shawn Bradley suffered a broken nose early in the 1st quarter of the Denver game. He returned to the game in the 2nd quarter. [He also received a technical foul when he had the ball in the paint and a Nugget player threw his arm across Bradley's face and arms to prevent the easy two. The player knocked the bandage off of Bradley's nose and Bradley took exception to the contact with his injured nose.]
• 1/4 Donn Nelson decided that since he's going to be here anyways, he might as well start his assistantship now. Thus, Dallas named Donn Nelson as an assistant coach. Scout Scott Roth is now director of scouting.
• 1/2 Dallas named Donn Nelson as director of scouting. Nelson has been an assistant coach for Phoenix for the past 3 season and was his father's assistant in Golden State for the 9 prior seasons. Head coach Don Nelson said that Donn will become his head assistant next season and will take over as head coach in 2000-01. Assistant coach Ron Ekker was the director of scouting before Jim Cleamon's was fired.
• 1/2 Dallas named Mark Aguirre as a scout. Aguirre has been working with the team lately providing instruction. He also served as director of player development and scout last year.
• 1/2 Dallas activated Erick Strickland and placed Chris Anstey on IR with a sprained left ankle. Anstey suffered the injury in practice.
• 12/30 Dallas and Don Nelson have reached an agreement on a 2 year coaching contract, under which Nelson will coach through the 1999-2000 season. Nelson is currently coaching under his 5 year, $7.2 million GM contract. The 2 year coaching contract is worth about $6 million, which Nelson will receive in addition to his GM salary. Nelson says he will turn the coaching reigns over to another coach after the 2000 season and will retain his GM title.
• 12/29 Shawn Bradley returned to action in the Chicago game after missing 14 games with a torn calf muscle.
• 12/28 Eric Riley will miss at least two games with tendinitis and swelling in his right heel.
• 12/22 Samaki Walker split the webbing between his index and middle fingers during Sunday's practice as his hand hit the rim while he was trying to block a shot. The cut required stitches and he wore a protective glove during the New York game. He has played the games since suffering the injury wearing the glove.
• 12/18 Kurt Thomas has decided that he will not undergo surgery on his fractured right ankle.
• 12/17 Dallas released Kevin Ollie and signed Eric Riley.
• 12/16 Dallas activated Robert Pack and placed Erick Strickland on IR with a sprained right ankle. Strickland had been playing with the ankle sprain since pre-season.
• 12/10 The Dallas city council gave their final vote of approvel for the new arena. All the council hurdles have now been passed. All that is left is the public vote for the citizens of Dallas on the hotel and car rental taxes to take place January 17.
• 12/5 Dallas named Kurt Thomas as an assistant coach. Thomas is out for the rest of the season with a fractured right ankle.
• 12/4 It's official. Dallas has fired Jim Cleamons as head coach. Dallas also fired assistant coaches Butch Beard and Sonny Allen. GM Don Nelson has been named as head coach. He will be the coach for at least the rest of the season and will retain his GM title. Ron Ekker was moved from director of scouting to assistant coach. Assistants Charlie Parker and Bob Salmi were retained.
• 12/2 Former Mav Popeye Jones suffered a torn ACL in his left knee and will be out for the rest of the season.
• 11/28 Shawn Bradley suffered a moderate tear of the calf muscle in his left leg during Friday's Dal-Tor game and is expected to be out at least two weeks.
• 11/24 Dallas activated Martin Muursepp and placed Kurt Thomas on IR with a fractured right ankle.
• 11/20 A.C. Green set the NBA consecutive games played record at 907 Thursday vs Golden State. Green broke Randy Smith's record of 906.
• 11/14 Kurt Thomas fractured his right ankle during Thursday's Dal-Phi game (though he doesn't know exactly when he fractured it). He will likely undergo surgery and will probably miss the rest of the season. It is the 4th time in a year that he has fractured the ankle.
• 11/14 The Dallas city council approved the arena issue to put it to a public vote in January. The proposed site for the new arena has also been announced: the site is the old TU Electric plant off of I-35 just north of Woodall Rogers. They also said that the proposal now includes the posiblity of not tearing down Reunion Arena.
• 11/7 Ace Custis, who is out for the season, underwent successful surgery on his torn ACL Thusday.
• 11/7 Robert Pack had the cast removed from his left hand and is now wearing a splint to protect his broken index finger.
• 11/3 Dallas signed Chris Anstey to a 3 year, $2,935,600 contract and released Adrian Caldwell.
• The team elected A.C. Green and Robert Pack as team captains. Michael Finley will fill-in for Pack while he is injured.
• 10/30 Dallas released Reggie Freeman.
• 10/30 Dallas placed Robert Pack (borken finger), Ace Custis (torn ACL), and Martin Muursepp (sprained ankle) on IR.
• 10/28 Dallas released Jerome Allen, Ike Nwankwo, Carlos Strong, and Kevin Whitted.
• 10/25 Robert Pack underwent successful surgery Friday on his broken finger and will be out 6 to 8 weeks.
• 10/22 Dallas released Malcolm Mackey.
• 10/22 Dallas signed Reggie Freeman and Jerome Allen to 1 year, non-guaranteed contracts.
• 10/21 Dallas signed Adrian Calwell to a 1 year, non-guaranteed contract.
• 10/18 Rookie free agent Ace Custis suffered a torn ACL in the right knee in the 2nd quarter of the Phoenix game and is out for the season. Custis, who GM Don Nelson said would have made the team regardless, will spend the season on the Mavs' injured list.
• 10/17 Robert Pack broke the ring finger on his right hand late in the 4th quarter of the Phoenix game. He will undergo surgery Friday and is expected to be out at least 4 weeks.
• 10/16 Erick Strickland suffered a sprained right ankle early in the 2nd quarter of the Vancouver game. The ankle has been diagnosed as a 2nd degree sprain (sprained ligaments) and he will be out 6 weeks and is not expected to return until December.
• Chris Anstey's Australian game performances (since the draft):
  • 11/1 Melbourne 83, SE Melbourne 83. Melbourne wins the series and takes the NBL championship.
  • 10/29 SE Melbourne 84, Melbourne 78. Anstey had a team high 21 points including 10-13 FG and 8 rebounds. The series is tied 1-1.
  • 10/25 Melbourne 111, SE Melbourne 74. Anstey had 6 points and 6 rebounds. Melbourne leads the series 1-0.
  • 10/17 SE Melbourne 96, Perth 69; Anstey had 0 points (0-5 FG), a team high 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks (he played 3 quarters with 4 fouls). SE Melbourne takes the series 2-0 and advances to the Australian National Basketball League finals. SE Melbourne will face the Tigers series. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, October 25; Wednesday, October 29; and Saturday, November 1.
  • 10/13 SE Melbourne 92, Perth 82; Anstey had a team high 19 points (5-11 FG, 9-10 FT), and team high 16 rebounds, and 5 steals in 34 minutes. SE Melbourne leads the best of 3 series 1-0.
  • SE Melbourne finished with the best record in the Australian National Basketball League with a record of 22-8. The Playoffs started October 3, but SE Melbourne got a first round bye. SE Melbourne will play Perth October 13, October 17, and October 19 (if necessary). The winner of the series will go on to the finals.
  • Anstey's NBL regular season performances
• 10/9 San Antonio has hired Rolando Blackman as part-time TV color commentator.
• 10/8 Dallas released Derrick Chandler.
• 10/8 The city council approved the new arena bill.
• 10/7 Because of all the training camp injuries, the Mavs have added Kevin Ollie to the roster. He's signed to a 1 year, non-guaranteed contract.
• 10/3 The city of Dallas, the Mavs, and the Stars have reached an agreement on a new arena. The city council will be fully breifed on the proposal on Monday and will vote on it Wednesday. If it is approved, the financing plan will be voted on by the citizens of Dallas January 17. If every thing is approved, the arena may be ready by the 2000-01 season.
• 10/2 Dallas named Sonny Allen as an assistant coach. Allen spent the last two seasons as a scout for Golden State and the 5 seasons before that as the scout for Charlotte. He was the head coach of SMU from 75-76 - 79-80.
• 10/2 Dallas signed 2nd round draft pick Bubba Wells to a 2 year, $572,000 contract and signed Malcolm Mackey, Carlos Strong, Ace Custis, Ike Nwankwo, Kevin Whitted, and Derrick Chandler to non-guarenteed 1 year contracts.
• 10/1 The Mavs signed Michael Finley to a 5 year, $42 million extension with a player opt-out clause the 3rd year (2000-01). The surprise deal was reached just before the 11:00 pm deadline to sign 1995 first round picks to extensions (else teams had to wait until the players became free agents July 1). Finley: "I want to thank the Mavericks organization for having enough confidence in me to offer me this type of commitment at such a young age. Its all about winning now. Im ready to get on the court and get down to business. Im ready to win. This city is ready to win. I think we have a situation here where winning is very possible.
• Former Mav Rolando Blackman has been named as a spokesman for the NBA's Team-Up program. Team-Up encourages youths to volunteer for things to help the community. In addition, Ro formally announced his retirement (he has been playing in Europe for the past few seasons). Since he is now retired, I say it's time to raise #22 to the rafters!
• 9/24 TRADE: Dallas traded Derek Harper and Ed O'Bannon to Orlando for Dennis Scott and $500,000. The money will be donated to the Dallas Mavericks Foundation - the team's charity. All three players are in the last year of their contracts. [See Mavs News from more info and quotes.]
• Dallas named Matt Pinto as radio voice of the Mavs. Pinto will be calling all the games, including pre-season games, on KLIF 570. Pinto was radio voice of the Charlotte Hornets from 1990 - 1996.
• 9/10 Vancouver named Jack Nolan as an assistant coach. Nolan was an assistant for Dallas last season.
• 9/5 Dallas signed Hubert Davis to a 6 year, $4.5 million contract with a player opt-out clause after the 4th year. Davis played with Toronto last season and New York before that. He is a pure shooter.
• 8/26 After 9 seasons, Ted Davis resigned as the voice of the Mavs. Davis unexpectedly resigned as the Mavs' radio broadcaster Wednesday. He has signed a 3 year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
• 8/18 Dallas re-signed Erick Strickland to a 6 year, $14.4 million contract with a player opt-out clause after the 4th year.
• Because the Mavs decided they would rather not give any money for compensation to Southeast Melbourne Magic, Chris Anstey will not be joining the Mavs until after the Magic is done in the playoffs. That could be as late as November 2. The Magic have Anstey under contract through December. They will let Anstey leave without compensation after their playoff run ends (they won the championship last season and are in first place in the league so far). They said if Anstey left early for Dallas, the buyout price would be "substantial". Training camp starts October 3 and the regular season starts October 31.
• Australia won the World Championship for Men 22 and Under and Chris Anstey was named tournament MVP. Anstey finished 7th in tournament in scoring (14.6), 2nd in rebounds (9.4), 2nd in blocks (2.25), and tied for 4th in steals (1.63). Anstey's game performances
• The Mavs participated in 2 summer camps - the Fila Summer League in Long Beach, California July 16 through 27 and the Rocky Mountain Review in Salt Lake City, utah July 27 through August 2.
  Mavs Fila Results, Boxscores, and Roster
  Mavs Rocky Mountain Review Results, Boxscores, and Roster
• 7/25 The Mavs and Erick Strickland have reached an agreement on a 6 year, $13.5 million contract with a player opt-out clause after the 4th year. The contract will not actually be signed until the salary cap increases on August 15.
• 7/16 Martin Muursepp suffered a severely sprained right ankle and will be out of action for up to 6 weeks. The injury means that he will not be able to participate in the summer leagues as he was scheduled to.
• The Mavs held a rookie/young players mini-camp at the Baylor-Landry Center July 13-16. Chris Anstey, Bubba Wells, Samaki Walker, Erick Strickland, and Darnell Robinson (1996 2nd round pick who played in Europe last season) were among the attendees.
• 6/25 With the #15 pick, Dallas drafted Kelvin Cato (Iowa State'97, C, 6-11, 255), but then traded him to Portland for #18 Chris Anstey (Australia, C, 7-0, 249) and monetary considerations (~$500,000). The trade saves a little bit of money cap wise. With the #35 pick, Dallas drafted and kept Bubba Wells (Austin Peay'97, F, 6-5, 230).
• Congradulations to Shawn Bradley on the birth of his daughter Chelsea Kate on June 5.
• The Mavs will play a regular season game vs Houston in Mexico City December 6. The game will be considered a home game for Dallas. Which means that Houston will visit Dallas only once next season.
• 6/1 Sasha Danilovic signed a 3 year contract with a base salary of $6 million with Buckler Bologna of the Italian League. His signing frees up about $680,000 under the cap for Dallas, which the team will likely use to re-sign Erick Strickland.
• 5/29 Kurt Thomas underwent successful surgery Thursday on his re-fractured right ankle to get a bone graft and have new screws inserted. It is the same ankle that kept him out of most of last season. He re-injured the ankle May 8 and it is expected to take 3 months to recover.
• 5/13 Dallas named Keith Grant as director of player personnel. Grant was signed to a 3 year contract.
• 5/13 Dallas extended head scout Ron Ekker's contract by 3 years.
• 4/23 Dallas fired assistant coach Lanny Van Eman. Assistant coaches Charlie Parker's and Jack Nolan's futures in Dallas are also up in the air. Nolan may be moved to be an assistant to GM Don Nelson.
• 4/21 A fracture was discovered in Samaki Walker's right foot. Walker underwent surgery 4/22 on the foot and his recovery will take 4 to 6 weeks.
• 4/21 Derek Harper stated that next season will be his last.
• 4/19 Dallas finished the 1996-97 season with a record of 24-58.
• 4/15 Ross Perot announced that coach Jim Cleamons will be back next season.
• 4/14 Dallas named Terdema Ussery as president and chief executive officer. Ussery recently served as president of Nike Sports Management and was the CBA commissioner from 1991 to 1993.