When Nerlens Noel's mother, Dorcina, heard her son might get traded from Philadelphia to the Mavericks, she prayed that the rumor would become reality.
It had nothing to do with the fact that in 1992, two years after she immigrated to Massachusetts from Haiti, Dorcina named her second child Rodman, after her favorite basketball player and Dallas product Dennis.
Mostly, Dorcina was prayerful because Nerlens, 22, needed a fresh NBA start and because, from afar, Dallas always seemed to Dorcina like a dynamic city that exuded opportunity.
"When the trade happened, Nerlens was so happy; I was so happy," she said. "He said, 'Mom, please come with me.' I said, 'OK. You make me cry, baby.' "
Since his Feb. 25 arrival, Noel has won five of the six games he's played and was on the court when Dirk Nowitzki scored his 30,000th career point. And, last week, he hosted his mom at American Airlines Center for the first time, although he sat out against Brooklyn because of left knee soreness.
Dorcina, 47, came to help her son find a temporary apartment and to attend the Brooklyn game and Saturday's home game against Phoenix, which Nerlens also had to miss.
His decision to go the apartment route doesn't mean he expects a short stay in Dallas. Actually, it's the opposite.
Granted, he can become a restricted free agent this summer, but all signs point to Dallas keeping him, matching any offer he receives or, more likely, offering a significant multiyear increase from his current $4.38 million salary.
If that happens, he certainly will be able to afford a new house here, as well as one for Dorcina, maybe even nicer than the one he bought her in Wilmington, Del., 30 minutes outside Philadelphia, after he became a Sixer.
"I used to tell her that one day I'd be able to take care of her," Noel said. "Thankfully, that has worked out."
Though 6-foot-11, 220-pound Noel has been a Maverick long, the franchise and its fans have seen strong glimpses, causes for optimism that, health willing, he can blossom into the franchise's center of the future.
The explosive leaping. The 7-4 wingspan. The surprisingly quick hands and sixth-sense nose for the ball. Though he's far from polished offensively, Noel already has given Dallas a rim-protecting presence and shown signs of becoming the lob threat the franchise has lacked since Tyson Chandler's departure.
Such intangibles, however, are not the only reasons Noel confidently predicted during his introductory news conference that being a Maverick "will let me open up my wings and play freely."
On his way to becoming the No. 1-ranked high school recruit in the country in 2012, Noel resolved to make the most of the opportunities Dorcina paved for him and his older brothers Jim and Rodman and younger sister Nashdah.
Dorcina worked long hours as a nurse, often pulling double shifts. Usually the shifts would be 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Other times she worked 11 p.m.-to-6 a.m. shift and the one preceding or after it.
"It taught me the value of being humble and knowing where I came from," Nerlens said. "And valuing what you have. Small amounts. Big amounts.
"At the end of the day, you have what you have; that's what you work with. It's all from humble beginnings."
