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G League Rio Grande Valley Vipers

League High Eight Vipers Alumni on Opening Night NBA Rosters

October 26, 2010 - NBA G League (G League)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers News Release


MCALLEN, TEXAS - The NBA Development League Champion Rio Grande Valley Vipers announced today that they have a league best eight alumni who furthered their development with the Vipers during parts of the last three seasons on opening night NBA rosters in Aaron Brooks (Houston Rockets), Shannon Brown (Los Angeles Lakers), Joey Dorsey (Toronto Raptors), Steve Novak (Dallas Mavericks), Jermaine Taylor (Rockets), Garrett Temple (San Antonio Spurs), C.J. Watson (Chicago Bulls), Jawad Williams (Cleveland Cavaliers).

Brooks, Brown, Novak and Watson played for the Vipers during the 2007-08 season, Dorsey and Williams were with the team during the 2008-09 season, while Dorsey, Taylor and Temple played for the Vipers this past season.

They are eight of a record-tying 63 players with NBA Development League experience on NBA Opening Night rosters, meaning Vipers alumni makeup 12.7% of that total.

Brooks (6-0, 161, Oregon), who was assigned to the Vipers during the 2007-08 season, averaged 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in two contests, both at State Farm Arena. Brooks was named the NBA's most-improved player this season after averaging 19.6 points and 5.3 assists per game for the Rockets last season.

An NBA-assignee from the Cavaliers during the 2007-08 season, Brown (6-4, 210, Michigan State) averaged 20.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for the Vipers in five games. Brown was the first Vipers alum to ever win the NBA Championship, doing so with the Lakers in 2009 while averaging 4.9 points and 1.2 rebounds per game during the playoffs. He repeated in 2010 after averaging 5.1 points per game during the playoffs and connected on an alley-oop that was ranked #1 on Sportscenter's Top 10 Plays after Game 6 of the NBA Finals. He was also the first Vipers alum to take part in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. Brown averaged 8.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 20.7 minutes in 82 games (seven starts) for the Lakers last season.

Assigned to the Vipers by the Rockets at the start of NBA Development League Training Camp in 2009, Dorsey (6-8, 268, Memphis) averaged 14.9 points, 13.3 rebounds and 1.38 blocks in 16 games. He led the league in field goal percentage at the time of his recall at 64.7% and rebounds per 48 minutes at 20.2. Dorsey recorded nine double-doubles. Dorsey was recalled on January 13 and traded to the Kings on February 18. After getting waived on March 29, he signed with the Raptors on April 3. Dorsey averaged 1.5 points and 2.4 rebounds in 6.3 minutes over the course of 18 games in the NBA.

Novak (6-10, 240, Marquette) was assigned to the Vipers by the Rockets at the start of the Vipers' first training camp on November 11, 2007. In nine games with the Vipers, Novak averaged 18.2 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 46.1% from the field. In for NBA seasons, Novak is averaging 4.1 points and 1.1 rebounds in 195 games (four starts).

Taylor (6-4, 210, Central Florida) was assigned to the Vipers by the Rockets three times during the 2009-10 season, averaging 19.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks while shooting 48% from the field in eight games (four starts) with the Vipers. Taylor averaged 4.1 points pre game in 31 games (four starts) for the Rockets last year.

After playing for the Rockets during 2009 NBA Training Camp, Temple (6-6, 190, LSU) was allocated to the Vipers where he averaged 14.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.4 steals and 34.9 minutes in 30 games (all starts). The rookie earned a GATORADE Call-Up to the Rockets on February 8, and after two 10-day contracts, earned a GATORADE Call-Up to the Sacramento Kings. Following a 10-day contract there, Temple earned a GATORADE Call-Up to the Spurs, where he signed a 10-day contract before signing for the remainder of the season on March 23. In 27 NBA games (four starts), Temple averaged 5.0 points, 1.1 rebounds and 12.4 minutes while shooting 43.6% from the field.

The Vipers' first-ever draft pick in 2007, Watson was the Vipers' first-ever GATORADE Call-Up, joining the Golden State Warriors on January 8, 2008. In 16 games, Watson averaged 26.4 points (third in the NBA Development League), 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists (fifth in the league) and 1.4 steals while shooting 50.6% from the field and 40% from behind the arc. In three NBA seasons, Watson is averaging 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 174 games (33 starts). Last year, he averaged a career-high 10.3 points per game.

Williams (6-9, 218, North Carolina) was the Vipers' leading scorer during the 2008-09 season at 25.7 points per game in 19 contests. He led the team in three-point shooting (41.8%) while recording 4.2 rebounds per game. The NBA Development League Player of the Month for March 2009, Williams earned a GATORADE Call-Up on April 9, 2009. Williams averaged 4.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 13.7 minutes in 54 games (six starts) for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season.

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