Just like Steve Nash, Hakeem Olajuwon and a few others, Salah Mejri was not inclined to play basketball. He was introduced to the game at a later than normal age, but nevertheless managed to carve out a career that has taken him to Europe and now the United States of America, where he currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks. in the National Basketball Association.
6 things to know about Salah Mejri
Football was his first sport of choice
Growing up, Salah Mejri revealed that he played football at a somewhat competitive level before he had the chance to bounce a basketball. He noted that football is a more popular sport than basketball in his country and there are more people willing to play it than people willing to learn to play basketball. At the age of 20, however, he began his basketball career with local team Étoile Sportive du Sahel.
Liga ACB and EuroLeague career
Salah Mejri’s first team in La Liga ACB was Obradoiro CAB which he joined in August 2012 after spending two years with Antwerp Giants of the Belgian League. After his first year in Spain, Mejri was named the league’s Rising Star/Best Young Player. His performances caught the attention of Real Madrid who signed him in July 2013, making him the first Arab and Tunisian player to play for the club.
In the 2013-14 season; Mejri’s first year with the Spanish giant, he averaged 3.5 points and 2.9 assists per game in 26 EuroLeague appearances and won the Spanish King’s Cup and the Supercup. The following season, he helped his team retain those trophies and also added the Spanish League and EuroLeague to seal the triple crown before moving to the NBA.
NBA Career
Salah Mejri joined the Dallas Mavericks on July 30, 2015. On opening night of the 2015-16 season, he was already on the team’s roster but was only able to make his debut for three days. after the opening game, on October 28, 2015, becoming the first Tunisian to appear in an NBA game.
Mejri went on to feature in five of Maverick’s first eight games before he was repeatedly sent to G-League affiliate Texas Legends with his next NBA appearance on January 13, 2016. In his NBA rookie season, Mejri has just 6 starts from 34 games played, and averaged 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. In the 2016 playoffs, he averaged 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in 4 games.
Prior to the start of the 2016-17 season, Mejria underwent arthroscopic surgery for debridement of his right knee. He recovered in time for the start of the season where he managed to play a career-high 73 NBA regular season games, averaging 2.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. For the 2017-18 season, he averaged 3.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game in 61 appearances.
International career
Salah Mejri plays for the Tunisian national basketball team internationally and is the country’s most recognized player. He was part of the Tunisian team that won the bronze medal at the 2009 FIBA Africa Championships in Libya, which meant that his country was to attend the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2010 for the first time, the World Cup in Africa being reserved for candidates. continental tournament medalists.
In 2011, Mejri was named the Most Valuable Player at the 2011 FIBA Africa Championships won by his country. This victory again earned the country a place in a world showpiece event and this time it was the 2012 Olympics in London. Mejri recorded the most blocked shots despite only playing 5 games and losing them all in the summer competition.
Since then, Mejri won another gold medal at the 2015 African Championship held in his country.
Contract and salary
On August 3, 2018, Salah Mejri agreed to join the Dallas Mavericks for one more year after signing a contract worth $1.57 million. The amount, which corresponds to the minimum amount paid by the League to a player with three years of experience in the NBA, was agreed to by the two parties after the cessation of negotiations. the player who had been with them since 2015.
Body measurements
Salah Mejri is not the tallest person to ever play in the NBA even though he has a very impressive height of 7 feet 2 inches or 2.18m. His weight is further listed at 235 pounds 107 kg.