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The Dallas Mavericks are down 2-0 to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the teams' best-of-7 first round series.

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Coop and Nate discuss what needs to happen for the Mavs in Game three against the the Thunder. Listen

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said the series' physical brand of play will continue, but his team needs to move on from the first two games and worry about Game 3.

"Right now, we've got to win four out of five to win the series," Carlisle said. "That's our mindset and what’s done is done. A playoff series is a major test of perseverance and you've got to overcome a lot of things. Right now, we've got to overcome the shotmaking that they’ve thrown at us, we’ve got to overcome some errors in officiating and we've got to overcome being in situations where we had opportunities to win those two games and came up short. It’s got to strengthen our resolve for Game 3."

Rick Carlisle wasn't as mad Tuesday, a day after accusing Kendrick Perkins of dirty play during the Mavs' Game 2 loss at Oklahoma City, but you could sense he was still irked.

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Coop and Nate discuss what needs to happen for the Mavs in Game three against the the Thunder. Listen

The Mavericks coach exchanged words with Perkins during the game and protested the way he covered Dirk Nowitzki.

Asked Tuesday afternoon whether Perkins should be suspended for his physical style, Carlisle said: "I can't get into that. You’re asking me my opinion and my opinion doesn't matter. They're going to see all that stuff in black and white in New York (where the league office is located) and they’re going to decide whatever they decide."

Carlisle wouldn't say whether the Mavericks sent tapes of plays involving Perkins to the league office. But he said several of the tactics Perkins and Serge Ibaka are using shouldn't be allowed.

Perkins and Nowitzki were called for double technicals midway through the first quarter Monday after exchanging shoves and shouts. Perkins was called for a loose ball foul for forearming Nowitzki in the back while battling for rebounding position.

Later in the game, Nowitzki was boxing out on a successful 3-point attempt by Kevin Durant when Perkins delivered a hard forearm to his back. Perkins approached Nowitzki after the whistle blew, and Nowitzki responded by lowering his shoulder and initiating contact. Perkins shoved Nowitzki with his right hand before referee Zach Zarba separated the players, who proceeded to exchange angry words.

"There are things that are happening out there that can’t happen," Carlisle said. "You can't hit a guy in the face when you shoot the jump shot. Intentional or not intentional that happened and that’s one of the things that sort of set things in motion there. Look, it's playoff basketball and there’s going to be chippiness and there’s going to be contact and there’s going to be hits, and we've just got to make sure our disposition is where it needs to be on the one hand. On the other hand, our poise and composure has to be very strong."

The Mavericks clinched the franchise's record 12th consecutive playoff berth with Houston's loss to New Orleans on Thursday night.

THE GOOD: Los Angeles Clippers (currently No. 4)

How they have played: The Mavs are 1-2 against the Clips, who won the first matchup at home, 91-89, without Chris Paul. But Dirk Nowitzki shot horribly, Mo Williams went off for 26 points and Chauncey Billups (out for the season) hit a game-winning buzzer-beater. The Mavs took the second game at home, 96-92, with both teams healthy with the exception of Billups. Dirk didn't shoot well again, but went 11-of-15 from the line. The third game might have been the Mavs' most disappointing performance of the year. They failed to show up, shot 39 percent and were embarrassed on the boards in a 94-75 home loss.

How Dirk has played: Nowitzki shot just 38 percent in the three games, but he's getting to the foul line a lot. Blake Griffin's athleticism always creates a tough matchup and defensive specialist Kenyon Martin adds an edge the Mavs are quite familiar with from his Denver days. The numbers don't tell the whole story though. Only Nowitzki, Brendan Haywood and Shawn Marion started all three games against the Clips.

How the Mavs will fare: Most agree this is probably their most favorable matchup, but nothing is a lock for the defending champions. If Dallas wants to move into the second round, they'll have to be on their toes when it comes to transition defense and find a way to get others beside Nowitzki involved in the offense.

THE BAD: Los Angeles Lakers (currently No. 3)

How they have played: The Mavs are 0-4 against the Lakers, but three of those could have gone either way. Shawn Marion is as good as anyone in the league checking Kobe Bryant, but the Pau Gasol-Andrew Bynum connection has averaging 36.8 points a game Injuries skewed games for both teams. Bryant's best game, a 30-point performance in the 109-93 win in Dallas, came with Marion sitting out.

How Dirk has played: He's averaging a double-double with 24 points and 10.3 rebounds, but shooting just 30 percent from beyond the arc.

How the Mavs fare: This matchup heavily rides on the health of Kobe. Nothing will keep him out of the playoffs, and he is expected to return on Friday. But if his sore left shin continues be a problem, the Mavs might catch a break. If he comes back healthy and refreshed after averaging a whopping 38.5 minutes a game, don't count on much rust from the league's leading scorer. Even if he does struggle with his shot, Gasol and Bynum have played lights-out against Dallas.

THE UGLY: Oklahoma City Thunder (currently No. 2)

How they have played: The Mavs are 1-3 against the Thunder and the ugly fact that the youthful Thunder found ways to pull games out late is concerning considering the Mavs prided themselves on such heroics during their championship run, and especially so against OKC in the West Finals. Kevin Durant stole the first meeting with a 3-point buzzer-beater at OKC in third game of the season. The Mavs looked great in one of their best all-around wins of the season, 100-87, soon after in the second game at home. The Thunder returned to Dallas a month later and returned the favor. But the Mavs were severely shorthanded without Jason Kidd, Brendan Haywood and Lamar Odom. Durant and Russell Westbrook struggled in the season finale, but the Thunder defense shut down the Mavs in the final minutes to win at OKC.

How Dirk played: Nowitzki was solid if not spectacular against the Mavs' Red River rival. He shot 44 percent and averaged 22.5 points per game. We haven't seen him be "championship Dirk" consistently this season, but the German torched the Thunder for 32.2 points per game in last year's playoff series.

How they fare: The Thunder have struggled late in the season, and losing the top seed to San Antonio wouldn't be any help to their momentum. The Mavs have held Westbrook and Durant below their season averages in scoring. The problem is that no one but Dirk can score consistently against the Thunder.

THE UGLY II: San Antonio Spurs (currently No. 1)

How they have played: It's hard to imagine the Mavs are 2-2 against San Antonio because Dirk has not played well in three of the four games. The Spurs embarrassed Dallas 93-71 in the first game without Manu Ginobli and with a barrage of 3-pointers, which became a theme against Dallas. In the final game of the series, a shorthanded Spurs squad did it again to the Mavs by 17 points, playing without Tony Parker. The Mavs coughed up a huge lead in the second game at home and won in OT after Danny Green's buzzer-beater was reversed by replay and the game went to an extra five minutes.

How Dirk played: In the third game of the series, a 106-99 win, he had a team-high 27 points. In the other three games, he scored 10.6 points per game on an abysmal 13-of-46 shooting.

How they fare: The Spurs have successfully mixed young, athletic newcomers with the Big Three and have arguably been the most consistent team in the NBA. Jason Terry has been great against the Spurs this season, but they'll need Dirk to find his rhythm to get past this potential first-round foe.

Mavericks guard Jason Kidd complained about the referees and a lack of respect for the defending NBA champions Monday night.

Tuesday night it was the Knicks turn.

The Knicks were upset at two non-calls: A possible walk by Dirk Nowitzki, which drew a technical foul on Tyson Chandler for arguing, and Jason Kidd not getting whistled for a flagrant foul on Jeremy Lin.

In the fourth quarter with the Knicks down 86-78, Nowitzki made a six-foot fadeaway with 2:27 to play. After the basket, Chandler and Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni complained about the non-call.

"He traveled on that last shot by the way," Amare Stoudemire said. "I saw the replay."

D'Antoni said Nowitzki traveled at the start and end of his move to the basket.

The other call that bothered the Knicks came in the third quarter.

On a drive to the basket, Lin was knocked to the floor after taking a blow to the head by Kidd. A foul was called on Kidd, but D’Antoni picked up a technical for wanting a flagrant foul called.

"Anytime you just get clobbered in your face, they had to look at it," D’Antoni said, alluding to the referees' failure to look at a replay to determine if a flagrant foul should have been called. “I don’t even mind them looking at it and thinking maybe not. But to ignore it is kind of tough and I deserve the technical, and it’s probably one of those things where they didn’t see it. Maybe it was quick where they didn’t see it. I wanted to protect our guys."

The Nowitzki non-call might have upset the Knicks even more.

Nowitzki had a quiet first half, scoring just four points while going 1-of-8 from the field.

"I knew that wasn’t going to last," D’Antoni said.

Nowitzki scored 24 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, which included 11 in the fourth quarter as the Mavericks survived losing a 14-point fourth quarter lead to win, 95-85.

"It’s never really a shutdown when you’re playing a great player,” said Stoudemire, who led the Knicks with 26 points. “It’s always going to be a battle of two halves. In the first half, we did a great job of containing him. Second half he was able to get it going a little bit, a couple of open shots, a couple of touch shots, a couple of travel shots...he played well."

For the fifth and final time, the Dallas Mavericks will have a ring ceremony. This time it will involve one of the biggest pieces from their 2010-11 NBA championship -- Tyson Chandler. Chandler, the starting center on last year's team, will be presented with his ring prior to the Knicks-Mavericks game Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.

The Mavericks held ring ceremonies for the returning players from that title team and individual ones for Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson and Corey Brewer. Peja Stojakovic and J.J. Barea attended the team ceremony.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle will say a few words prior to tip-off and present Chandler is ring.

"It's been a moment I've been waiting for really since we won," Chandler said. "[Been] doing a lot of celebrating and looking forward for the hardware."

Monday was the first time Chandler had been in the AAC since the end of the ticker tape parade through downtown Dallas. The Knicks practiced on the Mavericks' practice court and it brought back some great memories for Chandler.

"Coming back in this gym was an amazing feeling, just remembering the practices we went thought to get to the championship," Chandler said. "It brought back a lot of memories and a lot of motivation again; it couldn’t have happened at a perfect time. It's given me motivation for the second half of the season to definitely get my team over the hump."

After that championship season, Chandler expressed a desire to re-sign with the Mavericks, but owner Mark Cuban elected not to bring him back. So Chandler signed a four-year deal with the Knicks to add to a front line that already had Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire.

Chandler said he's not upset to not be playing for the Mavericks and still stays in contact with several former teammates, including Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki and Shawn Marion.

"It was confusing at the time," Chandler said of how he left the Mavs for the Knicks. "Once I became a Knick, I let it all go. I never harbor any feelings. I understand this is a business at the end of the day. So you can't get frustrated or angry with somebody for making a business decision that they think ultimately is what’s best for their franchise, whether or not I think it's right or wrong."

Chandler, who is averaging 11.6 points and a team-leading 9.8 rebounds, is playing through a left wrist injury that requires him using a pad to minimize the force to his hand and also has his wrist taped. He's having difficulty grabbing the ball and fumbled a pass tossed to him by point guard Jeremy Lin during Sunday's overtime loss to the Boston Celtics.

He hasn't been a major force this season like he was in Dallas, but he's not second-guessing his decision to sign with the Knicks.

"No, I just understand [the business]," he said. "I know what it takes to win a championship. At this point, I'm not going back to the early days in my career where I sit around and I don’t voice my opinion. I'm going to push my teammates and myself and hopefully at the end of the day it makes us a contender."

With the returning members of the Dallas Mavericks smiling behind him and owner Mark Cuban to his left, President Barack Obama paid full credit to Cuban for making the traditional White House trip for the reigning champions happen.

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President Barack Obama congratulates the Dallas Mavericks on the franchise's first NBA Championship. Listen

"Not only did Mark help to put together an outstanding group of players and coaches, he was also responsible for making this event happen today. So we are thrilled to have you guys here," Obama said during Monday's ceremony. "It turns out that because of the lockout, Dallas wasn’t scheduled to play in Washington this season. That did not sit well with Mark. He knew his team had worked hard. He wanted them to get all the perks of a world championship, including a visit to the White House.

"It is tough to say no to Mark Cuban. And so they made a separate trip and he we are. And I’m glad it worked out because this is a special group."

Last week, Cuban, who Obama jokingly called the "shy and retiring owner of the Dallas Mavericks," said he was irked when the NBA released its 66-game schedule and did not have the Mavs playing at the Wizards, which would have been the ideal time to work out scheduling for the team to visit the White House. Ironically, the Wizards will play in Dallas in March.

Cuban said he then had team CEO Terdema Ussery call the White House to work out an alternative.

Cuban said the White House came up with today as the day and the rest is history. But, then the NBA league office jumped in to say that it had actually discovered that Obama had availability today, and that it took the lead in the scheduling.

Not that it really matters in the end, but Obama certainly made it a point to recognize Cuban's efforts to get the champs to the White House.

DALLAS -- Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban had every right to be enraged at the league for not scheduling the 2010-11 NBA champions to play in Washington this season so they could make the traditional trip to the White House.

Instead, the league managed to schedule the Washington Wizards to play in Dallas on March 13. Cuban said he took matters into his own hands and had club CEO Terdeema Ussery call the White House and try to work out a visit. The White House, Cuban said, was receptive and the Mavs will visit President Barack Obama on Monday before a two-game road trip to Detroit and Boston.

The league, however, tells a bit of a different story about how Monday's visit came to be arranged. Tim Frank, the NBA's senior vice president for basketball communications, said the league learned of the president's availability and worked with the Mavs to make it happen.

"Our jurisdiction doesn't extend to scheduling the president, and scheduling the Mavericks against the Wizards would have been no guarantee that the president would be in town and available," Frank said. "We learned that he would be available on Jan. 9 and began working with the Mavericks to accommodate that availability and the Mavericks' schedule. Fortunately, we were able to make it work."

Teams typically work in visits to the White House around playing in the area, so without a scheduled game in D.C., the Mavs were faced with missing out on one of the great traditions in American sport and one that dates back more than 100 years, according to some historians. Cuban on Monday night called the league "stupid" for not making this happen and, frankly, it's a trip the team needs to make for several reasons.

First is just the thrill of going to the White House and meeting the president, something few Americans ever get the opportunity to do. Then there's the fact that the NBA is a league predominantly made up of African-American players and a growing number of head coaches. When Obama, this country's first African-American president and an unabashed basketball fan, was elected, politics became a rare but proud topic in NBA locker rooms.

"My grandmother was born in 1923 in Georgia. It means a lot," said Lamar Odom, who has visited the White House twice after titles won with the Los Angles Lakers. "It's was pretty deep emotionally. It's not just having someone in that position, but having someone that's qualified and that the people picked. That means a lot to people who have had a lot of history in this country. It was emotional for my whole family to see that."

Whatever arena or other scheduling conflicts were involved in devising the compacted, 66-game schedule, Cuban argues that surely the league could have facilitated the game in D.C. Because of 16 fewer games being played due to the lockout, teams will not visit all of the other 29 NBA cities.

The nine remaining Mavs from the title team all won their first championship and expressed appreciation that they will visit the White House after all.

"It's going to be a great honor to meet the chief and maybe we'll even have a little time to play some one-on-one," guard Jason Kidd said. "We know he's going to get the benefit of the calls, and he has homecourt advantage. We'll just try to keep it close."

Jason Terry, who visited the White House more than a decade ago with the NCAA champion Arizona Wildcats, said he's looking forward to meeting "the first black president" and added that the trip is a "tribute to what we were able to accomplish. It's definitely going to be fun."

The Mavs' 7-foot German national, Dirk Nowitzki, might have summed it up the best, saying the Mavs deserve this rite of passage long granted to all champions.

"It's a huge honor and we didn't know if it was going to happen or not this season because we don't go to Washington at all, so we were disappointed initially, but it's very exciting," Nowitzki said. "Every championship team gets to go there and meet the president, so we're fired up about that. Hopefully, have a couple good games here until then and then really enjoy that day. We deserve it and it's going to be a great experience."

Part II of the Jeff Van Gundy interview from Monday's media teleconference focused on the compacted 66-game schedule. I asked him about the challenges facing Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, particularly in handling a mostly veteran roster and especially a point guard, Jason Kidd, that will turn 39 during a particularly brutal stretch of March.

Van Gundy was coach of the New York Knicks during the lockout-out shortened 1998-99 season. His club finished the regular season eighth in the Eastern Conference and advanced to the NBA Finals, eventually losing to the San Antonio Spurs, who got a big shot from the corner from a smallish guard named Avery Johnson.

Van Gundy, though, didn't stick to the script of talking about the rapid-fire schedule. No, he used it as a platform to rail on the NBA for starting free agency and training camps on the same day, basically assuring that teams wouldn't have their full rosters completed for several days into training camp, and for rushing to start the season on Christmas Day, less than two weeks from when the majority of teams would have a full roster.

Here's Van Gundy's take:

Think about it, we’re less than two weeks from playing and people are saying, "Who’s on my team?" This absolute hurry for this cut-off day of Christmas Day, it’s absurd. I’m thinking to myself, they should have just played all 82 games and just played day-night doubleheaders. No, seriously, like why not? Let’s just call it what it is, a total money grab, and let’s just get it all in. Let’s make the fans stay there for like 10 hours and watch two games.

But, I think Rick will do what’s in his best interests, or the team’s best interests, and they rested Kidd at times last year as well, but they could do that because they had quality behind him. You can’t play people in games and try to win and have homecourt advantage -- they had the first and third rounds with homecourt advantage [last postseason] -- so you want to have as much homecourt advantage as you can, but you also have to have your team healthy and energetic for the playoffs. He’ll tiptoe around it like he did last year. I thought he did a marvelous job last year.

Van Gundy and ESPN broadcast partner Mike Breen will be at the American Airlines Center on Christmas Day for the Mavs' season-opener against the Miami Heat. Both participated in a media teleconference on Monday.

With the heat turning up on the commissioner's controversial decision to squash a three-team trade that would have sent superstar New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Houston Rockets and Lamar Odom to the Hornets, David Stern on Friday released the following statement:

Since the NBA purchased the New Orleans Hornets, final responsibility for significant management decisions lies with the Commissioner's Office in consultation with team chairman Jac Sperling. All decisions are made on the basis of what is in the best interests of the Hornets. In the case of the trade proposal that was made to the Hornets for Chris Paul, we decided, free from the influence of other NBA owners, that the team was better served with Chris in a Hornets uniform than by the outcome of the terms of that trade.

Earlier in the day, Mavs owner Mark Cuban defended the league's stance on the "Ben and Skin Show" on 103.3 FM ESPN.

NBA commissioner David Stern offered a letter to fans shortly after the league released the 66-game regular-season schedule Tuesday night:

Dear Fans,

On behalf of the entire NBA family, I want to thank you for your patience and support over the past several months. The new collective bargaining agreement is designed to provide more competitive balance for our league, reward strong performances by our players, and strengthen our game by improving its economics. We believe this agreement will benefit our teams, players, and most importantly, fans by making the NBA stronger.

In the days and weeks ahead, all of us hope you will enjoy the run-up to the start of the season: free agency, training camp, and preseason games. Each NBA team will be hosting special events for fans, so be sure to check your favorite team's website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed for details. This season we look forward to bringing you more of everything you love about NBA basketball: incredible competition, tremendous excitement, and unending hard work and dedication by the world's best athletes.

Thank you for being an NBA fan. I hope you enjoy the season, which promises to be a most exciting one.

Sincerely,

David J. Stern

NBA Commissioner

Coming Christmas Day, an NBA Finals rematch featuring the Dallas Mavericks against the visiting Miami Heat.

The NBA announced the official lineup for Dec. 25, expected to be the opening day for the 2011-12 season assuming all goes as planned with the final stages of labor negotiations set to begin today and the tentative labor agreement is passed next week.

The opener is set for a 1:30 p.m. (CT) tip and will be televised on ABC.

Five games are slated for the day: The Boston Celtics play at the New York Knicks (11 a.m.,TNT), the Chicago Bulls are at the Los Angeles Lakers (4 p.m., ABC), the Oklahoma City Thunder play the Orlando Magic (7 p.m., ESPN) and the Los Angeles Clippers face the Golden State Warriors (9:30 p.m., ESPN).

The remainder of the 66-game, 2011-12 season is expected to be released on Tuesday.

Tickets for the preseason game against Oklahoma City on Dec. 18 and for regular-season games are expected to go on sale some time after the NBA releases the schedule.

The Celebrity All-Star Basketball Game, scheduled for Thursday night in Waco has been cancelled due to resolved conflicts in the NBA lockout. Players scheduled to play at the Ferrell Center are once again committed to their contractual obligations with their respective teams.

Fans who have already purchased tickets make take them to Baylor Athletic Ticket Office for a full refund. Tickets purchased online will be refunded automatically by Jan. 31.

FRISCO, Texas -- Sentiment might differ in other NBA locales, but fans around Big D seem to have dropped any animosity toward the league and its players and just seem genuinely happy to have their world champion Dallas Mavericks on the verge of returning to action.

The owners and players surprisingly reached a tentative labor agreement in the wee hours of Saturday morning and that afternoon at the Texas Legends' D-League opener, plenty of fans showed up wearing Mavs gear and smiles.

Surely much of the giddiness and lack of acrimony stems from last season's remarkable title run, and the Mavs will be happy to cash in on those good graces after a difficult labor battle that two weeks ago entered the court system and threatened to wipe out the entire season.

"He was so mad that there was not going to be an NBA season that he was having to watch high school games on TV to get his fix," Andrea Campbell said of her husband Anthony.

The Anthonys, Legends season-ticket holders, attended Saturday's game with their 3-year-old daughter August, who brought along her own pom-pom. They're a die-hard basketball family that, unlike many sports fans that were engrossed by the Texas Rangers throughout October and then rode the Cowboys' big run through November, actually missed the early NBA action.

"It was such a different Thanksgiving Day not to be watching basketball games with the family," Anthony said. "I told my wife I got my Christmas present [Saturday] morning when I woke up."

Debbie Gilliam of McKinney was at the Legends game with her son Trey, 15, and daughter, Holly, 8. She said that during the NBA Finals a different neighbor held a watching party for each game.

"My husband was getting a little upset," Debbie said. "Now that they're going to start playing, I think it's wonderful."

Tim and Lee Carlson of Frisco are Legends season-ticket holders and attend three or four Mavs games each season. Tim admitted that he was getting frustrated by the on-again, off-again nature of the negotiations and because he felt he was receiving more spin than information from the two sides.

"We had the Legends to fall back on," Tim said. "But, we really want the Mavs. It would have been disappointing if they canceled the season because we would have liked to have seen a repeat."

That opportunity will exist as long as the owners and players ratify the agreement as expected likely this week. The season is expected to start on Christmas Day with a nationally televised triple-header expected to include an NBA Finals rematch with the Miami Heat visiting the Mavs, who will receive their rings and raise the championship banner.

Training camps as well as the free agency period is expected to start on Dec. 9.

"My wife woke me up [Saturday morning] and said the Mavs are tentatively scheduled to play on Christmas Day against the Heat. We're excited," said Terry Bussard of Carrollton, a Mavs season-ticket holder since 1998, who attended the Legends game with his 5-year-old son Louis. "I was watching old, classic NBA games to get my fix.

"This will be good."

Back in the more innocent days of the NBA lockout, when it seemed every player in the NBA was fantasizing about a winter European vacation of sorts, even Dallas Mavericks reserve power forward Brian Cardinal supposedly entertained an overture from Poland.

"The Custodian" didn't have to think long about cleaning up overseas while the NBA remained in lockdown.

"My game doesn’t necessarily translate overseas. I’m not a scorer. I’m not going to put 20 points up on the board. I think that’s what a lot of the European teams are looking for," Cardinal said. "I don’t foresee them saying, 'You know what, we’ve got a guy that can score 25 points a game or we’ve got Brian Cardinal.' I’m not as sexy of a player as someone else that can put up 25 or 30 points. I’ll leave the overseas to the younger guys."

Instead, Cardinal recently returned to his alma mater, Purdue, serving an internship of sorts within the athletic department that is really more of a jumpstart on his post-basketball career.

But, what about other Mavs players now that the lockout has bled into the regular season and the players have decided to take the fight to the U.S. court system? Which players could go Euro?

Who is already there?

For the moment, this discussion starts and ends with Rudy Fernandez and Ian Mahinmi. We know the newest Mavs acquisition, Fernandez, has long had a deal in place with Real Madrid in Spain, and if the lockout wipes out the entire season it is possible, maybe probable, that Fernandez, whose NBA contract expires, won't come back. Fernandez, teammates with Oklahoma City Thunder forward/center Serge Ibaka, is averaging 15.5 points and 39.3 percent shooting from 3-point range in four games, according to the team's stats page.

Mahinmi is playing for STB Le Havre in the France Pro-A League. He is teammates with several Americans, including fomer Texas Longhorns forward Brian Boddicker. According to the team's stats page, Mahinmi has played in two games and is averaging 11.5 points and 13.0 rebounds.

Who could go?

Let's start with Dirk Nowitzki, who has returned to Germany after a few fun-filled weeks state-side. The NBA Finals MVP said as recently as his big day throwing out the first pitch at Game 3 of the World Series that a prolonged work stoppage would force him to look overseas simply to keep his body in shape and his game sharp. It still might be a tad early for him to seriously consider his options.

"If the lockout still stays strong then I've definitely got to look into something there in January, February," Nowitzki said last month.

J.J. Barea has said he will also strongly consider playing in Spain, although as recently as two weeks ago when he was playing for Puerto Rico in the Pan Am Games, Barea still had not cemented plans.

Small forward Corey Brewer had talks with two Spanish teams during the summer, but his agent Happy Walters said then that deals never materialized for a variety of reasons. If the lockout continues, it might serve Brewer well to play overseas and continue his development. He certainly won't get it playing sporadically in these recreational exhibition charity games with fellow NBAers. So, don't necessarily count him out.

Rodrigue Beaubois, who continues to rehab from offseason surgery to the same left foot that dogged him all of last season after the initial fracture in August 2010, will have a spot in France if he so chooses, according to his agent Bouna N'diaye.

Peja Stojakovic, obviously, is always a candidate to cross the pond if he so desires.

Haven't heard much on Dominique Jones, but it might not hurt the youngster to play competitively. Plus, he can show off his nifty title neck tattoo.

Who won't go?

These Mavs join Cardinal in saying no thanks: Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler and Shawn Marion.

Who probably wouldn't go?

Three players who have not publicly ruled it out, but would seem highly unlikely to play overseas are Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson and Brendan Haywood.

Now we know NBA players are getting really bored -- they're taking their talents to -- Waco?

No offense, Waco, of course.

Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant, who made one trip to Baylor during his lone season with the Texas Longhorns is returning with his pals LaMarcus Aldridge, Josh Howard, John Wall, Jason Terry, Tracy McGrady and others for what's being called the Celebrity All-Star Basketball Game, according to a release sent out by the Baylor Bears basketball media relations office.

The game is scheduled for Dec. 1 at the Ferrell Center, the home of the Big 12's Bears, who sent Ekpe Udoh to the NBA last season as a top-six pick (he's not on the list of players expected to participate) and this season boast future first-round pick in sophomore Perry Jones III.

The release was distributed on the same day the NBPA walked away from the owners' latest proposal, leaving the state of the 2011-12 season in limbo.

The participants are mostly the same that were in Dallas on Saturday night for a game organized by Howard.

Tickets, which can be purchased for as low as $14 each, are available at the Baylor athletic ticket office.

Proceeds from the game will be donated to the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and to Coach Carter’s Impact Academy.

For more information call 713-397-9618.