Mavs rookie Dereck Lively II is getting to experience the NBA Finals in his maiden year and he’s getting some help from 2011 Dallas championship-winner Tyson Chandler, Yahoo Sports‘ Jake Fischer revealed.
“When Lively returned to the Mavericks’ locker room Thursday night, his phone had already been pinged by former Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler,” Fischer said. “Reminders to keep his head down, to stick to the grind. ‘Text messages,’ Lively said. ‘I suck at phone calls.’ Chandler, once the tremendous paint presence who anchored Dallas’ last championship in 2011, has been part of the franchise in some capacity throughout his retirement, a common theme among former players during Mark Cuban’s tenure owning the organization. Before home games, you’ll see Chandler, a bright orange hat flipped backwards, leaning his own massive frame against Lively in the paint.”
Chandler wasn’t present for Game 1 in Boston, but made sure to keep motivating Lively at such a crucial time.
“All he’s telling me to do is the little things, no matter if that’s hitting them on the box-out or being able to talk to my teammates on the backside,” Lively said. “Just doing the little things so that everybody is connected on the court, so we’re not leaving anybody behind.”
Lively played out of his skin in the Western Conference Finals against the Timberwolves, where he averaged 9.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in 21.9 minutes.
He also made each of 16 field goal attempts, surpassing Chris Andersen’s record of the most field goal made in a playoffs series without a miss.
With the majority of the Mavs’ core being 25 years of age or under, the future in Dallas certainly looks bright.
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