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Dante Exum’s journey: No. 5 NBA pick, two overseas seasons, deep personal loss, fatherhood

On Wednesday night in American Airlines Center Exum will face the team that drafted him, Utah, for the first time.

The birth last Friday of Daria Lior Exum did not receive the level of fanfare as that of her kind-of Mavericks cousin, Gabriela Doncic, but the moment was no less profound for Daria’s speechless dad.

Dante Exum just as proudly shared his baby news to his 199,000 Instagram followers as did Luka Doncic to his IG audience of 8.5 million.

The Mavericks teammates’ respective rushes of emotion probably rivaled that of many fellow first-time fathers, but Exum’s feelings no doubt ran deeper than most.

Daria entered the world in Dante’s new city, Dallas, four months after the Mavericks signed 28-year-old Exum back into the NBA after he’d spent two seasons overseas.

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And would you believe it? After missing Mavericks games last Friday and Saturday to be with girlfriend Jessica Corey and their bundle of joy, Exum on Wednesday night will for the first time face Utah, the team that picked him No. 5 overall in the 2014 NBA draft.

It’s probably fortuitous that Exum has had a few days to process all of his thoughts, including those about his father, Cecil, who died on July 2, the same day Dante committed to sign with the Mavericks.

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“Obviously my dad played a huge part in where I am today,” Exum said Tuesday, his voice cracking with emotion. “Obviously that was one of the things I wanted to tell him. That was a goal of mine, to get back to the NBA. He was the first one I wanted to tell.

“That was definitely a hard process. It’s been hard having the baby, how he would have loved having her here. But I think he’s watching over me every day and enjoying what I’m doing.”

Exum has played in 16 of Dallas’ 19 games. His averages of 4.8 points and 2.3 rebounds and 10.6 minutes are modest, especially for a high lottery pick, but numbers don’t adequately explain his comeback story.

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In fact his scoring average is exactly the same as his rookie season of 2014-15, before he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in August 2015 while playing for his native Australia in, of all places, Doncic’s native Slovenia.

This season Exum is playing what coach Jason Kidd considers to be an ideal complementary role to Doncic and Kyrie Irving, usually guarding the opponent’s best perimeter scorer.

With Mavericks teammate and fellow Aussie Josh Green set to miss Wednesday’s game in American Airlines Center with a sprained right elbow, Exum’s role against his former team might be elevated.

The fact that Exum never played against the Jazz after they traded him to Cleveland on Dec. 23, 2019 is “actually kind of weird,” he says. The Cavaliers hosted Utah on March 2, 2020 and the following season, on Jan. 12, but Exum was on the inactive list both times.

He also has not been back in Salt Lake City since the trade, but that will change on New Year’s night, when the Mavericks face the Jazz in Delta Center.

“I enjoyed my time in Utah,” he said. “A lot’s changed there. There’s still few people, so I’m ready to see them and kind of take the challenge to go out there.

“I feel like Utah fans liked me when I was there and loved my family. So I can’t wait until tomorrow when we play them — and New Year’s Day, as well. I’m looking forward to going back to Utah.”

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It no doubt helps that he’s facing his old team with different perspectives, first of having spent the 2021-22 and 2022-23 season playing in EuroLeague, initially for Barcelona, then for Serbia’s Partizan Belgrade.

He averaged 8.6 points for Barcelona and 13.3 points while helping Partizan win the 14-team AdmiralBet ABA League title.

“I think it was really important,” Exum said of his time overseas. “A lot of my early years in the NBA was plagued with injuries, so I think going over there, finding a groove, staying on the court, finding out how my body works and just maturing, it’s a lot.

“Coming back here, I’ve been able to use that confidence that I built up over there to propel myself into the season.”

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It was during the celebratory moments after Partizan’s clinching Game 5 victory in the ABA title series on June 23, amid confetti on the court, that Jessica handed Dante an envelope — a poignant gender reveal that was tweeted throughout Europe.

A little more than a week later came the offer from Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison. By then, however, Cecil Exum, 60, had been in critical condition for several days in a Los Angeles hospital, fighting a serious lung ailment.

News of Cecil Exum’s passing jolted basketball fans in Europe, in Cecil’s home state of California, as well as in Australia.

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Cecil played for North Carolina from 1980 to 1984, including the 1982 national championship season, when he roomed with Michael Jordan.

Though he was selected by Denver in the ninth round of the 1984 NBA draft, Cecil spent most of his 10-year pro playing career in Australia.

Cecil became a naturalized Australian citizen, where he and wife Desiree had Jamaar in 1993 and twins Tierra and Dante in 1995.

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After Dante signed with the Mavericks, he and Jessica moved here in September, getting to know a new city, team and return to NBA life. On Media Day in late September, Exum expressed gratitude, though the subject of his father’s passing didn’t come up.

“This opportunity means the world to me,” he said that day. “Just the path I’ve gone down, the experiences I’ve gone through, being in the league, being a high draft pick and then going over to Europe. It’s tough. Not a lot of people come back.

“For me, I want to come back and show teams that I can be useful, that I can be a piece going forward. And I’ve actually been wondering, and you can answer this for me? What is MFFL?”

By now Exum knows all about Mavericks Fans For Life.

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And as he prepares to face his former team for the first time, a nine-year journey coming full circle in American Airlines Center, he has the perspective of being a new dad of a Dallas-born daughter.

Dante and Jessica arrived at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. and waited and waited in their room.

“It was crazy,” he said. “We just kind of waited the whole day and then, when it was ready to push, it just all happened so fast.

“It was an amazing experience. My respect for women and what they go through. It was amazing to see. The best experience ever.”

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Daria’s middle name, Lior, means “my light.”

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