Former Tokyo Apache center Jeremy Tyler¡¯s stint with the Atlanta Hawks lasted one game ¡ª a total of five minutes.
The Hawks released the 21-year-old center on Wednesday, the day they signed guard Shelvin Mack to a 10-day contract.
Now, his future in the NBA is a question mark.
¡°Jeremy simply must grow up and learn to be a better teammate,¡± former Apache and NBA bench boss Bob Hill told The Japan Times on Saturday. ¡°It¡¯s very difficult to establish yourself if maturity is an issue. It will be interesting to see now what his agents do with him.¡±
Atlanta coach Larry Drew said the team needed to shore up its backcourt depth. Guard Lou Williams sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and was lost for the season in January, and ex-Wake Forest guard Jeff Teague suffered a sprained left ankle earlier this week.
Mack, who attended Butler University, averaged 20.1 points per game (third-highest output) and 7.7 assists (No. 2) in 23 games for the NBA Development League¡¯s Maine Red Claws. He played in 64 games for the Washington Wizards last season.
After being traded to the Hawks on Feb. 21 in a salary-dump move by the Golden State Warriors, Tyler¡¯s only time off the bench came on Monday against the Denver Nuggets, and he finished with three rebounds.
Tyler played for the Apache, one of the bj-league¡¯s first six clubs, in the 2010-11 season. The bj-league team folded after that season.
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