Congrats to @Dlee042 on getting his ?#DALatGSWhttps://t.co/rg4wznXYS5
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) March 26, 2016
David Lee wasn’t a big part of the Golden State Warriors’ championship run last season. You might even say that his misfortune cleared the way for it in certain respects as an untimely pre-season injury opened up an opportunity for Draymond Green, who’s since evolved into one of the league’s premier players.
Nonetheless, Lee’s relationship with his former team has remained amicable since his departure last summer, and upon his initial return to Oracle Arena on Friday night, former teammate Steph Curry personally presented Lee his championship ring prior to tip-off.
Lee has started to find his niche again in the second half of the season since joining the Dallas Mavericks. Since the All-Star break, he’s averaged 10.6 points and 8.1 rebounds per game on 65.3 percent shooting in nearly 20 minutes of action. Dallas is currently clinging to a half-game hold on the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference standings, and the way things are panning out, Lee might very well face his former squad in a first-round playoff series in a few weeks.
But for tonight, the Mavs have the unenviable task of trying to slow down a team that is chasing history here in the final stretch of the season.