CLEAVES NAMED D-LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE MONTH

MATEEN CLEAVES NAMED D-LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE MONTH

NEW YORK – April 2, 2008 – Bakersfield Jam guard Mateen Cleaves was today named NBA Development League Player of the Month for games played in March. Cleaves, a D-League veteran from Michigan State, averaged 21.6 points, on 56.3 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range, along with 10.1 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 10 games during March.

Cleaves’ best outing came on March 22 against the Utah Flash, when he scored 43 points and dished out 10 assists, as the Jam defeated the Flash 109-108.

Originally selected in the first round (14th overall) of the 2000 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, Cleaves has seen NBA action with Detroit, Sacramento, and Cleveland. For his career, Cleaves owns averages of 3.6 points, 1.9 assists, 1.0 rebound and 11.2 minutes in 167 NBA games.

Cleaves joins C.J. Watson, who earned the honor in November and December, Elton Brown, who received the distinction for January, and Kasib Powell and Desmon Farmer who were honored in February as D-League Player of the Month honorees this season.

The NBA Development League is the NBA's official minor league, and the first-ever basketball league with direct affiliations to NBA teams. Now in its seventh season the D-League's goals are to provide affordable, NBA-caliber entertainment to fans of its 16 teams, as well as continue to develop players, coaches, referees and front-office personnel for the NBA. As the single source for in-season player "call-ups" to the NBA, fans of the D-League enjoy the highest caliber of basketball played outside the NBA. In fact, former D-League players represented 10 percent of NBA players on 2007-08 opening day rosters, numbering 44 in total. In addition, the D-League has produced 25 percent of current NBA referees and 17 current NBA coaches, including head coach Sam Vincent with the Charlotte Bobcats. The D-League is an innovative and rapidly growing sports property that also serves as an experimental testing ground for new initiatives like NBA Futurecast, which is the live web-streaming of all games available free to fans at d-league.com. The League also provides continuing education and professional development resources for its players, and is committed to serving its local communities through D-LEAGUE CARES and grassroots efforts.