[Dr.Zoidberg]

From nba.com:

Inside Report: DoJo in transition

By Earl K. Sneed, Mavs.com
Inside Report: DoJo in transition

Earl K. Sneed writes that while Mavericks rookie guard Dominique Jones is great at scoring in transition, making the transition from being a college star to becoming a pro is something that required an assist from the NBA and the Player's Association.

Dallas Mavericks rookie guard Dominique Jones is great in transition, on the court.

But now the former standout at South Florida has to transition from being a college star to becoming a first-year professional in the NBA. To help with his transition from the collegiate level to the pro ranks, Jones headed to New York last month to go through the league's Rookie Transition Program, designed to help young professionals succeed on and off the court.

"Just getting out, seeing how things are in the NBA and then back to Dallas to get better," Jones said.

"Nothing is more important than this period of time with the rookies, it's invaluable," NBA deputy commissioner and COO Adam Silver told NBA TV. "But I'll say this is just the beginning of the process. I mean, this is something that goes on through a player's career. We keep enforcing the same messages over and over."

Jones says while certain portions of the program would have normally lolled him to sleep, the comfort of knowing that the NBA is there to help him make the right decisions -- both in the game of basketball and in his personal life -- is what allowed him to take away the necessary skills needed to be a success story.

"They have certain points, you know, that kinda get you in the boring mode or about to fall asleep when they have certain people speaking. But for the most part, they had a lot of NBA guys come back...talk to us about how (their) experience was. So I think the Player's Association did a good job of trying to make it interesting for us."

While in the Big Apple, Jones was equipped with both basketball and financial knowledge that will help him be one of the top players in the league while also thriving away from the hardwood.

Jones also had a chance to connect with first-year studs from other teams, but the first-rounder made sure not to make too many friends. Instead, the 6-foot-5 combo guard chose to size up his competition for rookie of the year honors.

"I think everything is business," Jones explained. "The only friends I want to have is the players on the Mavs. I might have a couple of them that I knew through college or from high school But, you know, I feel like that I'm representing the Mavericks.

"So, when I see this person or this person, if we're in a certain environment, we might clown around. I don't go taking their numbers like, 'Hey, we should be cool,' because that's not where my mind is at right now."

With an all-business approach, Jones returned to Dallas to get prepared for the Mavericks' training camp which tips off on Sept. 28. But he didn't come back alone.

Jones came back to Big D with the NBA's logo tattooed on his left calf, a daily reminder of the hard work that he has put in to get to this point and motivation to help push him to become not just another player but a perennial All-Star.

"I feel like I'm a CEO of my own corporation...I work for the NBA, so I got the NBA on my leg. It's just something about me, I'm happy about the things that I'm doing. People say it was a gutsy move, but I just look at it as reality. I'm gonna be in the NBA until I choose not to," Jones said.

Now Jones' transition to NBA stardom begins.

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