Mavs have seven players in health and safety protocols

Jason Kidd delivered a solid message to the six new players who had the privilege of making their way onto the Dallas Mavericks’ roster this week after signing 10-day contracts under the COVID-related hardship allowance.

“One, be yourself,” the Mavs’ coach said. “We’re not asking you to do anything more or less. Believe in your talent and stay in character. And as we go, we’re going to learn each other very quickly.”

In essence, the message is that in one of the strangest weeks in the history of the NBA, teams like the Mavs are just trying to do the best they can with what they have. In this week, Marquese Chriss, Theo Pinson, Charlie Brown Jr., Brandon Knight, Carlik Jones and George King have all been added to the roster because the Mavs have been dealing with COVID-19 cases.

Unfortunately, this is a sign of the times right now since the NBA has been experiencing postponement of games and players forced to sit out because of the virus.

“It’s not our first year dealing with this, so as we talked about the last game, you keep pushing forward, stay positive and put guys in a position to be successful,” Kidd said. “We’re just lucky enough to have guys on the team at this point to play games.

“We’re not trying to postpone any games like some other teams have. So, when you look at it positive, we’re playing games.”

The Mavs have seven players in the health and safety protocols: Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr., Reggie Bullock, Maxi Kleber, Josh Green, JaQuori McLaughlin and Trey Burke. They also were without Kristaps Porzingis (right toe soreness), Willie Cauley-Stein (personal reasons) and rookie forward Eugene Omoruyi (right foot injury).

Omoruyi, in fact, underwent surgery on his right big toe earlier this week. Coach Jason Kidd said: “He’s expected to make a full recovery, but he likely will miss the remainder of the season.”

Even though there have been no practices for the new players to get accustomed to playing with the healthy players remaining on the Mavs’ roster, at least the games are still being played. However, getting everybody on the same page on the fly has its challenges.

“You just got to coach them on the go, during timeouts as the game is going on,” Kidd said. “You’re trying to put them in position to be successful.

“But the new guys you just try and talk to them during the game, and everybody’s trying to help each other during the game so that they can be successful. Everybody is going through it. Just not us. You just got to try and find a way to win.”

Winning, though, becomes difficult when players are in the game who barely know the playbook.

“It’s funny because when you wake up you’re just wondering who’s out,” Kidd said. “And then there’s certain times. . .first thing in the morning early, when you check your phone who’s out.

“And then there’s a time between two and three in the afternoon to give you another update of who’s out. So, when you think you’ve dodged one you still have to wait for that second test.”

And that’s not the only thing on Kidd’s to-do list.

“(You’ve got to) communicate with the new guys, with the guys that are out, checking on them to see how they’re feeling,” he said. “You’re communicating with (general manager) Nico (Harrison), with (director of player health and performance) Casey (Smith), your coaching staff, directing them to communicate with the guys that are out because it’s easy to forget about them because you’re so focused on the six new guys and trying to get them up to speed and trying to find a way to win.

“There’s a lot going on besides X’s and O’s right now. And then you have the holiday season when Santa’s coming to town.”

Above all, Kidd wants his players to just play hard when they’re in the game with the hope that hard play will bring them the reward they covet.

“This is a learning lesson from everybody’s vocabulary,” Kidd said. “But it’s basketball.

“Keep it simple. When you’re open, shoot it, and then play hard.”

As for what keeps him grounded during these trying times, Kidd offered a simple answer.

“When you get to close your eyes for a couple of hours,” he said, “because nobody can bother you then.”

GRINCH TRYING TO STEAL CHRISTMAS: The Grinch is sure doing his best to try and steal Christmas.

The NBA has five games scheduled for Christmas, and the plethora of star-power players out due to the health and safety protocols has threaten to make the games resemble a shell of themselves.

All-Stars such as Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Trae Young are all in the health and safety protocol and may not be available to play on Christmas. That left coach Jason Kidd to say:

“(The NBA) might go back to just two games instead of having the whole day of basketball. Just the four teams that are healthy.

“But unfortunately, everybody is going to play. But that gives other guys an opportunity to play on Christmas that normally wouldn’t, so that will be a special time for them, too.”

How special?

“You can’t take that for granted because a lot of times growing up we got to see only two games or one game,” Kidd said. “There was the Michael Jordan’s of the world, but now you get five or six games.

“With COVID going on there’s a lot of guys playing that would normally not get the chance to play on Christmas.”

The Mavs will play the Jazz in Utah on Christmas at 9 p.m. CT in the final game of the five-game slate.

FELTON TO JOIN USA BASKETBALL: Renee Felton is moving on up.

Currently the media relations director for the Mavs, Felton has been named head of communications for USA Basketball. She replaces the legendary Craig Miller, who recently announced his retirement after being in this position since 1990.

Felton will begin her new job on Feb. 1, and will serve as USA Basketball’s spokesperson and primary liaison with the national media, international media and basketball organizations. She also will oversee USA basketball’s communications strategy, including all media communications and media outreach.

“Renee is going to a great organization,” coach Jason Kidd said. “When you talk about USA Basketball — not just the one (men’s) team that everybody talks about. But it also involves the women’s side and all the ages.

“She’s in charge of a big operation and they have the right person for the job.”

BRIEFLY: With 7:17 remaining in the second quarter of Thursday’s Mavs-Bucks game, the crowd at American Airlines Center let out a thunderous ovation after some members of the South Oak Cliff High School football team and coaching staff were shown on the Jumbotron and announced to the assembled crowd. Last Saturday, SOC defeated Liberty Hill, 23-14, to win the Class 5A-II state championship. With the win, SOC became the first Dallas Independent School District school to win a state football title since 1958. (That’s not counting the state title Dallas Carter captured in 1988 which was later stripped by the University Interscholastic League because Carter was found to have used an ineligible player). . .Thursday’s 102-95 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks was the final home game of the calendar year 2021 for the Mavs. The next home game for the Mavs is Jan. 3 against the Denver Nuggets.

Twitter: @DwainPrice