BEIJING (AFP) — Former NBA small forward Bonzi Wells has sought to reassure fans he no longer deserves his bad boy image, after arriving in China to play with one of the domestic league's struggling teams.
Wells will team up with former US National Basketball Association coach Bob Weiss to boost Shanxi Zhongyu's chances of escaping the lower rungs of the league table, after they finished bottom last season.
The 32-year-old once played with Portland in the NBA, when the Trailblazers became known as the "Jailblazers" due to repeated bad behaviour by players and their frequent run-ins with the law.
However Wells, who arrived in China on Friday, insisted he had matured and he would fit in with his new teammates.
"I will not have any problems with the coaches. I am not a bad boy," the Basketball Pioneers newspaper on Monday quoted Wells as saying.
"When I was with Portland I had that image but I was young and didn't understand. At the time I was a little excessive."
Wells averaged 12.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists in his 10-year NBA career, during which he played for the Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and the Houston Rockets, as well as Portland.
His first game is likely to be on Friday, the Basketball Pioneers said. Shanxi are in ninth place in the 18-team Chinese Basketball Association league, with a 7-5 win-loss record.
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