Dallas Mavericks guard Dante Exum celebrates a bittersweet Father’s Day during the NBA Finals

BOSTON – Father’s Day Sunday was bittersweet for Dallas Mavericks reserve guard Dante Exum.

The Australian celebrated his first Father’s Day – his daughter Daria Lior was born in December 2023. Exum’s girlfriend, Jessica Corey, and their daughter remained in Dallas as the Mavericks prepared for Game 5 of the do-or-die NBA Finals on Monday night (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). It was also the first Father’s Day for Exum without his father, Cecil, who died on July 2 at the age of 60.

“Obviously the biggest thing that sucks is being away from your family,” Exum, 28, told Andscape after Sunday’s practice at TD Garden. “But playing in the final is something I desired to do and I’m doing it for her. I just had a daughter, so it’s my first Father’s Day as a father and without my dad…

“He can be here every step of the way. And I feel that is what hurts the most. But I do know he’s proud.”

Before Exum played in the NBA and reached the Finals, his father, Cecil, was the first talented basketball player in the family.

Cecil Exum retired his highschool jersey from Southern Wayne High School in Dudley, North Carolina. He was named MVP after leading the school to the 1980 North Carolina 4A state title. He played with Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins and James Worthy on the University of North Carolina’s 1982 NCAA championship team.

Cecil Exum was a 6-foot-8 forward who averaged 1.5 points in 103 games for the Tar Heels from 1980 to 1984. The Denver Nuggets chosen Exum with the 194th pick in the 1984 NBA draft, but he suffered a serious knee injury before the end of camp.

“I haven’t been to Jordan very often,” Exum said. “But I saw him once after I was in Charlotte, and he loved my dad. My dad loved him and his competitiveness. My dad was a competitor too. That was a facet I at all times took away from him.

Cecil Exum played professionally for one season in Sweden in 1985, then played in the Australian National Basketball League from 1986-96. The 1989 NBL champion averaged 10.7 points and 6.9 rebounds in 197 profession games.

“There are similarities between me and him,” Exum said. “Coming out of school, he got injured. He was drafted to Denver in the later rounds and suffered a knee injury just before camp. He was someone who was in a position to help me throughout (my injury problems) because he had been through it himself. He managed to make a profession in Australia, fight and get to the top league there.

Exum’s parents, Cecil and Desiree, are from North Carolina and met in college. Exum said that after his birth on July 13, 1995, in Melbourne, Australia, his parents raised their three children in Australia “because they loved it there.” They loved Australia, an English-speaking country that “offered a lot of love,” Exum said.

Exum has American and Australian passports. He grew up playing basketball, Australian Rules Rules and competing in the 200m dash, 400m dash and long jump in Melbourne Athletics. With his father’s support, he decided to deal with basketball around the age of seven.

“It wasn’t something he was encouraging and trying to get through me,” Exum said. “There have been several times in my life after I desired to do various things. For him, it was either this or basketball. If I desired to quit basketball, he was completely satisfied to do it. Ultimately, I selected basketball.

“I did a bit of athletics and Australian rules football. There were a few early mornings and he said, “You can do it if you want, but you have to stop playing basketball.” So I chose basketball.”

It hurts Exum that his father couldn’t see him play in the NBA Finals. He missed his father’s support and advice during his tumultuous journey to, back to, and back from the NBA.

Exum was the fifth pick in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, beating out the likes of two-time All-Stars Julius Randle and Zach LaVine and 2022 Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart. As a rookie in the 2014-15 season, he averaged 4.8 points and a pair of.4 assists. Exum began fighting serious injuries after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during an Olympic qualifying match between Australia and Slovenia in August 2015.

Exum said the hardest a part of his profession was missing the entire 2015-16 season. After returning in the 2017-18 season, he played 66 games for the Jazz, but after suffering one other shoulder injury, he played in just 14 games. While playing for Utah and the Cleveland Cavaliers (2019-2021), he never played greater than 42 regular season games attributable to injuries.

“There is nothing that I regret or wish I had done differently,” Exum told Andscape on May 30. “Most of it was bad luck with injuries. I appreciate the work I even have to place in now and even the work I put in when I’m healthy.

“I put pressure on myself to perform (then). But in the situation I found myself in in Utah, I had a good understanding of where I was. There were too many ups and downs.”

Exum signed a non-guaranteed, three-year contract with the Houston Rockets for the 2021-22 season. However, the Rockets released him before the start of the regular season. Without a guaranteed NBA option, Exum was searching for another opportunity to “play and have fun.” Therefore, in 2021, he signed with European powerhouse FC Barcelona in Spain and won the Spanish Cup in 2022.

Exum rejuvenated his basketball profession, averaging 13.1 points in the 2022-2023 season with Partizan Belgrade, winning the Adriatic League title and earning all-league honors. Because he played in the NBA, Partizan viewed him as a leader and teacher along together with his teammates. Exum also performed well at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Australia, which boosted his hopes of returning to the NBA.

“At first I was worried about coming back to the NBA,” Exum said. “But once I got over it, I used to be ready to simply play and rejoice. I would not say it was humiliating because I used to be quite humble at that time. But I used it as motivation to prove that I slot in.

Although Exum flourished in Europe, he at all times believed he would return to the NBA, and his father also encouraged him.

“His advice was to just have fun,” Exum said. “Every father desires to see his son in the NBA. He knew I belonged in the NBA. He was with me after I first signed for Barcelona. He was excited and prepared for me to tackle the challenge.

“And he was there first with me. We shared a hotel room with him, and he snored, just before my first match at Real Madrid. It was just a little experience where he rode with me the whole way. “

Cecil Exum recurrently attended European matches, watching his son play for Real Madrid and Partizan. Looking back, Exum appreciates this special time together with his father.

“He was in Madrid with me and Serbia,” Exum said. He was going to follow as much of my basketball as possible. That’s why it sucks and hurts to observe him now because he can be traveling to each game.”

Cecil Exum was hospitalized in an intensive care unit in Los Angeles in 2023 attributable to pulmonary complications. Exum was at his father’s side in the hospital as he considered a two-year, $6.15 million contract with the Mavericks, which he quickly agreed to. Cecil Exum died on July 2, 2023 at the age of 60, before his son signed with Dallas. Cecil Harris’s memorial service and funeral took place on July 20 in Goldsboro, North Carolina.

Exum says he still hasn’t fully recovered from his father’s death.

“He just lived by example. He just showed love and support every day,” Exum said. “People talk over with me about him. There are some things he did for me that I didn’t even learn about. It was at all times about how much he loved his children. Me, my brother and my sister, he would do anything for us. I felt that when he was here…

“I do not think I’ll ever come to terms with it. I can sit here and say yes. But I still feel that when I am going back to Australia (his presence) might be there after I get back into a routine. Australia was home. So I am going back to different places and I expect to see him, and that might be the hardest thing.

Exum delivered his best playoff performance when Dallas needed it most. With Dallas facing elimination in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, he scored 10 points and made two three-pointers off the bench in the Mavericks’ 122-84 victory over the Celtics. In the best-of-seven series, the Mavericks lose to the Celtics 3-1. No NBA team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the NBA Finals.

Exum said the “only way” the Mavs can take a look at their predicament now’s to take a look at themselves one game at a time.

“If we lose, we go home,” he said. We need to make certain we win every quarter and each possession. I feel that is the way of pondering. Make every possession count. If we will try this, we will win.”

Because of his ties to America and Australia, Exum looks forward to celebrating Father’s Day twice a 12 months. Father’s Day is widely known in the United States every third Sunday in June. Father’s Day in Australia is widely known yearly on the first Sunday in September.

“I always joked with my dad that wherever he was, it was his Father’s Day,” Exum said. “It’s the little things that make you laugh. But I kind of regret making such jokes. I just want to go out there and make him proud and I feel like I did that. Let’s hope we can win.”