Mavs been in Los Angeles seemingly forever

LOS ANGELES – In NBA terms, it’s been light years since the Dallas Mavericks last played a game.

And it’s certainly unusual for the Mavs to sit around in the same city while they wait to play another game.

The Mavs (1-1) will face the Los Angeles Lakers (0-2) on Sunday night at 8:30 at the STAPLES Center. It will be their first game since they played the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night at the STAPLES Center.

Right after they beat the Suns in Phoenix on Wednesday night, the Mavs flew to Los Angeles. And they won’t fly out of Los Angeles until Monday.

Thus, the Mavs will never have a longer stay in the same city for the rest of this season.

With all that free time on their hands in sunny Southern California, 14 members of the Mavs attended small forward Chandler Parsons’ shoe launching party Friday night at swanky Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. The only player who wasn’t there was forward Dirk Nowitzki, who flew to Phoenix to attend a prestigious Ring of Honor ceremony for his good friend and former teammate, Steve Nash.

"That was an awesome event and that was incredible that my entire team came out and supported me and some good friends of mine came and all you (media) guys,’’ Parsons said. "It was fun.

"It’s something I’m obviously very interested in and it’s awesome knowing my organization is backing me on that and supports me.’’

Assistant coach Kaleb Canales acknowledged the support Parsons received at a team-bonding type of event. Now, about those expensive shoes in Parsons’ shoe line?

"We had a great turnout with our team,’’ Canales said. "But I passed on those shoes last night.’’

Canales ran the Mavs practice session on Saturday. That’s because head coach Rick Carlisle and lead assistant coach Melvin Hunt were in Minnesota on Saturday attending the funeral services of former Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders.

Meanwhile, could all this free time between games be a hindrance to the Mavs when they conclude this three-game road trip against the Lakers?

"We have such a veteran group with great chemistry,’’ Canales said. "In terms of the waiting game, especially coming after a loss, I think if you had your preference you’d like to play the next day.

"But we had a good day of preparation today and got our weights in and our work in, and we’ll be ready to go tomorrow night.’’

By the way, Parsons said it was no big deal that Clippers forward Blake Griffin showed up at his shoe launching party – surrounded by Mavs players in a scene that looked awkward. Griffin flew off the launching pad for a game-high 26 points and 10 rebounds when the Clippers spanked the Mavs on Thursday, 104-88.

"The guys know I grew up with him, I’ve known him since I was 12,’’ Parsons said. "He’s one of my best friends.

"Our relationship goes beyond basketball. Obviously when we’re playing the Clippers I want him to do horrible and I want us to blast him, but off the court we’re still friends and that’s what friends are for.’’

Dwain Price can be heard every Wednesday from 3-4 p.m. on dfwiradio.com.

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Mavs been in Los Angeles seemingly forever."