Life in the NBA G League bubble was very, very good to Josh Green.

Not only did Green average 13.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 steals while shooting 45.5 percent from the field in six games with the Salt Lake City Stars. He also was able to play 29.7 productive minutes per game, which was extremely important at this stage in his career.

The Dallas Mavericks drafted Green No. 18th overall on Nov. 18 in the NBA Draft. But since the Mavs already have a wealth of established players at his positions, Green’s chances of cracking the rotation and receiving several minutes of meaningful playing time was limited.

So off to the G League he went.

“We decided to have Josh go play in the G League bubble because he wasn’t getting consistent minutes here when the Covid-19 protocol guys came back,” coach Rick Carlisle said after Tuesday’s practice. “He did a great job there (in Salt Lake City).

“He was going to a strange team. It wasn’t our (G League) team.”

The Mavs did not send a G League squad to the bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, which started on Feb. 10. Thus, Green was flex-assigned to the Stars, whose season ended last week.

“I think just in general just getting up and down (the court) you can learn so much just being out to play and being out to get game reps,” Green said. “There’s a huge difference between every day I’m working out, but being able to put it together in a game setting, it was great for not only me, but the other three rookies here.

“So overall, it was a really good experience and I felt like I was able to grow a lot as a player.”

Before going to the G League, Green played 17 games for the Mavs – he started five games – and averaged 2.5 points and 2.3 rebounds and shot 47.2 percent from the floor in 12.5 minutes per contest. He admits there were obvious challenges coming into this season, particularly considering the NBA didn’t have a summer league because of the coronavirus pandemic, and training camp was scaled back to a week, and the Mavs only played three preseason games.

“Probably like four practices and then going into your first (regular season) game is pretty challenging,” Green said, explaining his subtle introduction to the NBA. “I think overall a lot of these (rookies) in other years have had months to prepare for their teams.

“It’s really hard just coming into an NBA setting and just being able to adjust to it. I think for any other rookie to say that it was easy is good on them. But, yeah, I think it’s a gradual type of thing, and the more time I kind of sort (through it), going down to the bubble is almost like a summer league. It’s almost like an offseason experience for all of us.”

That experience enabled Green, a 6-6-, 210-pound guard/forward, to hone his skills to the point where during a 109-93 victory over the Fort Wayne Mad Ants on March 2, he contributed 22 points, six rebounds, eight assists and four steals while converting 10-of-19 shots.

Green credited his success to being more comfortable with the ball in his hands, being able to come off screens and being able to slow down a little bit.

“I was very overly energetic at first, because you have your jitters and what-not,” he said of his rookie performances during the early portions of this season. “I think I was able to tone that down and just be out to be focused on what I needed to do and have a good pace to it.”

The Mavs certainly noticed the change in Green’s game and the obvious impact he had on the Stars.

“He was a guy that was coming in from the outside,” Carlisle said, referring to Green’s G League experience. “He played extremely well. He was a guy that was an energy giver for their team. He had some very good statistical games and helped them win some games.

“They were not a very good team before he got there, and he did a good job. He’s back today, practicing with us today. He had a good practice and we’re very happy to have him back and really grateful that he was able to get this experience.”

Twitter: @DwainPrice

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