NBA vets in Terrific 12

MACAU – There are nine former NBA players enlisted as foreign imports in the Terrific 12 tournament here. They are Zhejiang’s Aaron Jackson, Blackwater’s Alex Stepheson, Liaoning’s Lance Stephenson and Salah Mejri, Seoul’s Jameel Warney, Shenzhen’s Shabazz Muhammad, TNT’s K. J. McDaniels, Ryukyu’s Jack Cooley and Shenzhen’s Pierre Jackson. Additionally, Japan’s first NBA player Yuta Tabuse is in the Utsonomiya lineup.

Mejri, 33, played 204 games for the Dallas Mavericks over four NBA seasons. The 7-2 center suited up at the recent World Cup and compiled 12 points and 12 rebounds in Tunisia’s 86-67 win over the Philippines. Another NBA veteran Brandon Bass was initially penciled to play for Liaoning but will instead join the team when the Chinese league begins. Mejri teamed up with Stephenson to dominate Group D, powering Liaoning to the semifinals. The other teams in Group D were TNT and Niigata Albirex.

Today is rest day in the Terrific 12. Tomorrow, the semifinals begin and on Sunday, it will be the playoff for third place and the final. 

Clearly, the import standout is Stephenson, a 6-5 guard who played for Indiana, Charlotte, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis, New Orleans, Minnesota and Los Angeles Lakers in a nine-year NBA career. He averaged 8.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 508 games, including 199 starts. Stephenson earned over $34.4 million in the NBA, peaking at $9 million in a year each with Charlotte in 2014-15 and Memphis in 2015-16. Last season, he bankrolled $4.4 million with the Lakers. Stephenson signed a one-year $4 million contract to play for Liaoning in the Chinese league this campaign.

Stephenson weighs about 230 pounds and measures within the height limit for imports in the PBA Governors Cup. China, however, beat whichever PBA team may have had an interest in Stephenson because of its princely offer. No PBA team would pay Stephenson anywhere close to what Liaoning is depositing in his bank account.

In the Terrific 12, Stephenson has been nothing short of terrific. He compiled 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 33;05 minutes to lead the Flying Leopards to a 96-91 win over TNT in his Macau debut last Tuesday. Salah delivered 22 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots in another strong performance. Then, Stephenson had 25 points, six rebounds and six assists as Liaoning formalized its entry into the semifinals with a 110-82 disposal of Niigata the next day. Salah scored 26 points.

Stephenson, who was Indiana’s second round pick in the 2010 NBA draft, is a showman on the court, occasionally punctuating a spectacular play with his patented “air guitar’ strumming jig. He’s easily the star attraction in the Terrific 12. Stephenson, 29, could’ve logged a few more years in the NBA as a role player but in China, he’s the main man. With either Mejri or Bass, Stephenson is tipped to tear the Chinese league apart.

Pierre Jackson, 28, is an unlikely NBA player because he’s only 5-11. But the human spitfire is a scorching flame thrower. In the Chinese league last season, he averaged 39.6 points and 9.3 assists with the Beijing Fly Dragons. Jackson was the Philadelphia 76ers’ second round pick in the 2013 draft from Baylor and played in the NBA, Croatia, Israel and France before landing in China. He had a brief eight-game stint with the Dallas Mavericks in 2016-17. Jackson wasn’t particularly explosive in his Terrific 12 debut with Shenzhen against San Miguel last Tuesday, finishing with 18 points, nine rebounds, three assists and seven turnovers.

Another Jackson, Aaron, suited up for one regular season game with the Houston Rockets in 2017-18 then played seven games in the playoffs. His short stay in the NBA was good for a salary of $4,608. The former Duquesne star, known as Ajax, averaged 24.3 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.3 assists in 43 games with the Beijing Ducks last season. He had only five points with Zhejiang in his first appearance in the Terrific 12 as the Guangsha Lions beat Jeonju KCC Egis, 88-67, last Tuesday. 

Muhammad, 26, sat out Shenzhen’s first game, a loss to San Miguel, then sizzled for 30 points to lead the Aviators to a 115-77 demolition of the defending champion Ryukyu Golden Kings last Wednesday. The 6-6 former UCLA star was Utah’s first round pick in 2013 and played five seasons for Minnesota and Milwaukee, earning $10.5 million. 

Warney, 25, is a 6-8 forward from Stony Brook University in New York and played three games for Dallas in 2017-18, picking up a $66,000 paycheck. Cooley 26, came from Notre Dame and played in 23 games with Utah and Sacramento in two seasons, earning $187,357. McDaniels, 26, was the Sixers’ second round choice in 2014 and suited up for Philadelphia, Houston and Brooklyn in 148 contests, including 16 starts, over three seasons, raking in $7.3 million. Stepheson, 32, was never drafted but managed to play eight games for the Clippers and Memphis in 2015-16, earning $92,664.

Because of their NBA resumes, the imports are highly marketable not only in Asia but in other parts of the world. Asia is a favorite destination because the pay is extremely competitive and players can juggle their schedules to sign contracts in the PBA and China or Korea or Japan. China starts its season in November while Japan and Korea begin within the first week of October. An import could play in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup from May to August then sign another contract in China, Korea or Japan.