|
|
 |
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Video Plus Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities 
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
|  |
'A long arduous process' Chinese big man Wang finally arrives in Dallas
DALLAS (AP) -- The Dallas Mavericks' long awaited 1999 second-round draft pick, 7-foot-1 center Wang Zhi Zhi, has finally arrived. Wang landed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Thursday night on a flight from China with Mavericks' assistant coach Donnie Nelson. A news conference is scheduled Wednesday to announce the team's signing of Wang, who would be the first player from China to play in the NBA. The Mavericks have worked for three years to secure Wang's release from the Chinese army. Coach Don Nelson even traveled to China to conduct a series of clinics and meet with Chinese basketball federation officials. "It's been a long, arduous process," Donnie Nelson said Thursday. "There was no timetable. We knew it would be a long process.... The bottom-line is he's an NBA player and we're excited to have him." Wang just finished playing in the Chinese Basketball League finals last week against the Shanghai Sharks. His team, the Bayi Rockets, won 3-1 in the best-of-5 series. Wang scored 40 points in Game 4, including a pair of 3-pointers and a 15-footer late in the fourth quarter after the Sharks had cut a 20-point deficit to eight.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
