David Lee is on a protein and vegetable diet

DALLAS – In the weeks leading up to being waived by the Boston Celtics, David Lee had a good hunch he was going to be changing teams.

So he started preparing for the moment when – upon arrival to his new team --- he could impress his new employers right away.

"I knew that something would happen -- either a trade at the trade deadline or a buyout, most likely, and I really changed my diet,’’ Lee said after Monday’s practice. "I stopped drinking completely.

"Not that I really drank that much during the season, but I stopped drinking completely and really went to a pretty much protein and vegetable diet.’’

Lee said he still ate properly and prepared as though Celtics coach Brad Stevens would put him in a game.

"But the most part I did two or three workouts a day on my own,’’ Lee said. "I give a lot of credit to the staff in Boston, not only the training staff, but the nutritionist.

"They challenged me for six weeks -- is basically what it was -- to get in the best shape of my life, and I tried to do that.’’

With conditioning not an issue, Lee was able to hit the ground running by the time the Dallas Mavericks signed him to a cap room exception prorated salary for the remainder of this season for $2.1 million on Feb. 22. And by the time Lee played his second game with the Mavs last Friday against Denver, he was able to contribute 14 points and 14 rebounds in the team’s 112-116 victory in overtime.

Lee followed that game up with 13 points and nine rebounds during the Mavs’ 128-101 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves this past Sunday. But Lee doesn’t’ want anyone thinking what he was able to accomplish the past two games was easy.

"I had to put in a lot of work learning the system and learning picking and choosing my spots to be aggressive, and also picking and choosing when I’m in there with Dirk (Nowitzki), finding a way to make him most effective and support him,’’ Lee said. "The biggest thing with me is just to continue to put the work in, and the fact that I’m in good shape makes this a lot easier.

"If I was in awful shape right now and trying to work myself back into shape and learn the system, then you’d be seeing a much longer process to be effective. I’m just happy that I came here in shape and happy that my teammates and the coaches have supported me as much as they have thus far and I’m just trying to make the most of it.’’

The Mavs have obviously been pleased with the contributions they’ve received so far from Lee, who has been used both as a center and power forward.

"He’s a smart and experienced player, and he’s got talent,’’ coach Rick Carlisle said. "He figured out pretty quickly how he fits into this equation.

"We’ve tried to keep things simple for him and he’s responded well and he’s helping us.’’

While it was clear Boston had hitched its wagon to its younger players, Lee said he told Celtics coaches he would do his job and come into a game for the first time with three minutes remaining in the game, but he would rather not play under those conditions.

"For me, I’ve been in this league a long time and there’s always going to be good situations and bad situations to come along,’’ Lee said. "For me, it’s about controlling what I can control, and that’s my effort and the work I put in every day, and also remaining positive.’’

Lee’s positive disposition was also up for grabs last year when he was a starter for the Golden State Warriors, but suffered a hamstring injury and subsequently lost his job to Draymond Green. The Warriors went on to win last season’s NBA title, and Lee was able to be a steady influence during the few times he was bale to play during the playoffs.

"I had a situation last year where I had some injuries and was able to keep my head up and stay positive, and then was able to contribute to winning a championship at the end,’’ Lee said. "Just learning from that, and kept things positive in Boston and was still a good teammate and still worked hard and prepared for the next situation.’’

For Lee, that next situation almost wasn’t with the Mavs. At the Feb. 18 trade deadline, Lee said he had no idea where his next playing destination would be.

"Believe it or not, a lot of it came down to what happened on the trade deadline,’’ Lee said. "For instance, Chicago had talked about trading Pau Gasol, in which case they would have been down a couple of bigs with Joakim Noah being out.

"Washington was another team that talked to us and then they ended up getting (Markieff) Morris on the trade deadline. And then there were several other teams that came to us late once they didn’t get what they wanted at the trade deadline.’’

Once all those chips played out, Lee knew where he would eventually wind up.

"I thought all along that this was the best situation,’’ he said, referring to the Mavs. "But you know, we still had to see there was a chance that Dallas would have done something at the trade deadline and it changes the whole makeup of their team.

"When nothing happened here on the trade deadline, I knew that this would be a strong possibility. And I spoke to coach and had a good conversation with him, and then made the decision.’’

As far as Lee’s other decision – the decision to go on that protein and vegetable diet – he had some challenges early on.

"The first four or five days I was miserable,’’ Lee said. "I had to sit across from some other guys on the plane.

"They were playing big minutes and eating pasta in front of me. It was a miserable thing, but once I got used to it my body has never felt better and I think that I’m much better because of it.’’

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

This story was originally published February 29, 2016 at 10:12 PM with the headline "David Lee is on a protein and vegetable diet."