Dallas, TX
Former Mavericks Prospect Opens Up on Struggles in Dallas
When Willie Cauley-Stein entered the NBA, some scouts saw him as a Tyson Chandler-like player who could patrol the paint as a shot-blocker and be an effective lob finisher on offense. That potential paired with an NBA-ready frame led him to be selected 6th overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2015 NBA Draft.
His last two seasons with the Kings were promising, averaging 12.3 PPG and 7.7 RPG while starting 139 games. Those seasons never led to the contract extension he thought would come and that started a downward spiral for the big man from Kentucky.
Cauley-Stein recently interviewed with Kyle Tucker of The Athletic (paywall) following his play in the Throwback Tournament, a reunion of sorts of former college stars. In this interview, he opens up on the struggles he faced while in the NBA in his personal life because he “could easily be dead.”
READ MORE: One Thing This Young Player Must Improve for the Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks traded for Cauley-Stein in January 2020, acquiring him from the Golden State Warriors for a second-round pick. At just 26 years old, the Mavs hoped they could unlock some of the talent hidden inside. He’d then sign a 2-year, $8.4 million contract with an option on the second year before the 2020-21 season but would be waived before the contract could expire after taking a “leave of absence.”
While on that leave of absence, Cauley-Stein was checked into an inpatient rehab center for substance abuse for 65 days. He had been buying fake pills, according to Cauley-Stein and Tucker. What he thought was Percocet was actually pills laced with fentanyl and he was “taking hundreds of them, for months and years.”
While he was with the Warriors following his Kings stint, three of his friends were shot and killed in his house in Sacramento, which started his downward mental health spiral and he turned to pills to cope. Soon after that, the grandmother who raised him was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer and he “could not bear to watch her wither away,” causing him to fall further into the pills.
He checked into rehab 6 days after her death and told Tucker “The team could tell I had no energy, no love, no personality, no nothing. The drugs took everything from me. I think I’m playing hard, balling, doing my thing, and then I hear, ‘He doesn’t look like he loves basketball.’”
Thanks to a newfound love of golf and wanting to do right by his three kids, Cauley-Stein is now clean and looking to return to the NBA. He performed well for La Familia in the Throwback Tournament, even winning Defensive Player of the Year. He most recently played for the Houston Rockets’ G-League affiliate in 2022-23 and in 20 games for an Italian Club last season, breaking the Europe Cup record for rebounds in a game.
For more on his journey to recovery and finding happiness again, it’s highly recommended to check out Kyle Tucker’s full-length piece on The Athletic.
READ MORE: Shrewd Move By Mavericks Led To Heavy Criticism For Rival Team
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Dallas, TX
2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule officially announced
Behold the 2026 Dallas Cowboys schedule.
We knew coming into Thursday that the Cowboys would be on the road to take on the New York Giants in the season opener on Sunday Night Football, that Dallas is “hosting” the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil in Week 3, and that the Philadelphia Eagles would be in town for Thanksgiving Day. Now we know it all.
Among the first things that jump to mind is that bye week is late. Dallas isn’t on bye until Week 14, the Sunday of that week is December 13th for full perspective.
The Cowboys also only play twice in their own building, thanks to the Brazil game, before November. Sometimes those weird quirks show up in schedules and this is certainly one of them.
It is interesting to see that the NFL gave Dallas the longest amount of rest possible after their Thanksgiving tilt. It hasn’t been uncommon for the league to have the Cowboys play on consecutive Thursdays, but perhaps that is a thing of the past.
Dallas, TX
Dallas Approves $180,500 for New Botham Jean Boulevard Street Signs
Flashit Photography
On Wednesday, the Dallas City Council approved funding that will replace highway exit signs and road signs marking Lamar Street with new signage honoring Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Dallas accountant who was fatally shot in his own apartment by an off-duty Dallas police officer in 2018.
The $180,500 in funding for 13 signs to be installed by the Texas Department of Transportation is the final step in the street renaming that was unanimously approved by the council in 2021. The new signs will be placed at exits along Interstate 45, State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175.
Already, Botham Jean Boulevard signs run along the road in the Cedars, where Jean lived before he was killed.
“This street on which he chose to live and the street on which he died can serve as a lasting memory of the upstanding resident who loved Dallas so much,” his mother, Allison Jean, told the council in 2021.
Jean was shot by Amber Guyger, a Dallas police officer, after she entered his apartment believing it was her own. A Dallas jury found Guyger guilty of murder in 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She has also been ordered to pay the Jean family nearly $100 million in a civil trial, which accused her of using excessive force.
The Jean family is seeking restitution from the city of Dallas because they argue that Dallas, as Guyger’s former employer, had a duty to defend Guyger and pay out claims brought against her. The Jean family filed suit against the city in April of this year.
On Wednesday, city council member Adam Bazaldua stated that the continued remembrance of Jean’s name is a reminder that “no one is above the law.”
“This has never simply been about changing street signs; it has always been about commemorating a life that was taken too soon,” said Bazaldua. “When driving down Botham Jean Boulevard, we are reminded of the thousands of lives lost across the country each year to senseless gun violence.”
Bazaldua said that once city leaders were made aware that some signs from the initial 2021 street name change had not materialized, the horseshoe took steps to correct the oversight “somewhat promptly.” But he acknowledged that Wednesday’s funding came on the heels of community advocacy urging the project’s completion.
Community leader Yafeuh Balogun said his organization, Community Movement Builders, began asking the city for the updated signs in September 2025. Addressing the council ahead of Wednesday’s vote, Balogun encouraged the horseshoe to vote in favor of the funds because it “would make no sense” to not follow through with the street renaming approved years ago.
“I think this is very powerful simply because driving here today, I still saw the Lamar Street Signs,” Balogun said. “I remember how powerful it was back in 2021 when the city council voted to rename Lamar Street to Botham Jean. I’d like to keep that legacy going.”
Dallas, TX
World Cup volunteers receive uniforms, new tickets released
We’re less than a month out from the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and North Texans volunteering in the event have received their uniforms. FOX 4’s Peyton Yager has more on that and the new hospitality tickets released today.
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