Tyrell Terry knows he had an up and down rookie season.
What he also knows is that he can appreciate how Mavericks’ fans viewed him and his introduction to NBA life at the tender age of 20.
When he was not with the team for nearly two months, the shooting guard wasn’t sure what to expect. But what he got helped build his connection with Dallas and the Mavericks.
“I’m very appreciative of it,” Terry said Thursday. “When I was gone, fans could have easily been in my DMs (direct messages) saying: where the heck are you, you need to be back out here. And saying a lot of negative things.
“But I found the opposite with Mavs fans. They were all very supportive, saying they cared about me and they’re worried about me. And that next season, they’re excited to see what I can do. So I’m very appreciative of all the support Mavs fans showed me.”
Terry’s gratitude was on display Thursday when he participated in two Mavs Academy hoops camps, one in Fort Worth and the other in Plano.
He took part in drills and taught things like shot-fakes and pick-and-rolls to some 100 kids at each camp.
In Plano, he was asked some pretty interesting questions, such as:
“When you were starting to play basketball, did anyone discourage you?”
To which, Terry said: “Oh yeah, of course. That’s a big thing – having confidence and belief in yourself. Going through middle school, high school and college, all I heard was how small I was. I still hear it to this day. I could have easily let people say, you’re too small and you’re never going to make it. But I didn’t. I tried to find ways to compensate for me being thinner. And my belief in myself got me to this point.”
The 6-2, 160-pound Terry, like all the Mavericks, is eager to see how the team will look under new coach Jason Kidd, with whom Terry had an extended conversation shortly after the hall of famer was named the Mavericks’ new coach.
“I had a call with coach Kidd, just to get to know each other a little over the phone, talk about what I was doing over the summer and when I can get to meet him,” Terry said. “I think I’ll be able to meet him here soon. I’m looking forward to that and what’s to come with coach Kidd.”
As it turns out, the two had a connection to talk about. Kidd is a legend in the Bay Area and starred at Cal. Terry played his only collegiate season at nearby Stanford.
“My head coach, coach Jerod Haase, actually played with coach Kidd at Cal,” he said. “So when I first hopped on the phone with coach Kidd, it was kind of a little joke that he went to Cal and I went to Stanford – a big rivalry out there. So it was a lot of fun. You hear a lot about Jason Kidd all over the Bay Area. I’m very excited to work with him.”
It will be Terry’s second season, technically, but his rookie season was basically a wash-out, interrupted by the two-month absence when he was not with the team. He had played 11 of the first 19 games.
He was inactive for a time, then went to the G-League to play with the Memphis Hustle on Feb. 4, averaging 14.7 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 13 games. He shot 34.5 percent from 3-point range.
But when he returned, he was not with the Mavericks. It was roughly two months before he returned to the bench, albeit as part of the inactive list.
“Rookie season was a lot of ups and downs, especially with COVID and things like that,” Terry said. “But I think I got some great experience, just being around the guys and going to the G-League for a month and getting to play.
“My time away, I had something to deal with personally that I needed to take care of in order for me to come back and be the best version of myself.
“The Mavericks were very helpful and supportive in that time. And allowed me to come back toward the end of the season and treated me as if I never left.”
The new season will start with summer league in August, something Terry and other rookies didn’t get the chance to go through last summer.
Being around the kids on Thursday as part of the hoops camps was a step in the right direction for Terry, as he tries to get his NBA career back on path.
He remembered his father, who played professionally, getting an autograph for him when he was just learning how to play the game. That was one of the many memories that flooded back to him as he horsed around on the courts with kids from 6 to 17.
“I know when I was a kid, as a basketball player, looking up to see an NBA player anywhere was kind of eye-opening,” he said.
“Back when I was a kid, my dad had gotten me an autograph from Kevin Love, and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. And I hadn’t even met him. So, to put that in perspective, I know how much it meant to meet an NBA player face-to-face. To be able to do that for a kid, it’s very easy to do that, to take time out of my day.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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