Doug Christie was waived by the Dallas Mavericks

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MIAMI (AP) -- Doug Christie was waived by the Dallas Mavericks on Friday, a move that could be a precursor to the veteran guard's retirement.

The 35-year-old Christie left the team, which was in Miami to play the Heat on Friday night, last week to have his surgically repaired left ankle examined by a personal physician. The team signed Christie to a three-year contract this past offseason, but only $3.15 million in salary was guaranteed.

"We appreciate the effort Doug gave us," Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Friday by e-mail. "He went through a lot to get back. Unfortunately, it didn't work out."

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Christie's agent, Bradley Marshall, did not immediately comment after the team announced its move. "Got to call you back," Marshall said before hanging up abruptly when reached on his cell phone.

Cuban said the team hasn't made any decision yet about replacing Christie on the roster.

"We have nothing planned right now," Cuban said.

Christie averaged 3.7 points and 2.0 assists in seven games, all starts, this season for Dallas. He joined the team after Orlando waived him in August.

"It was a situation where it just didn't work," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "It was just good for everybody to have a chance to move on. Doug came in with the intentions that it was going to work, but it just didn't work and in a lot of different ways."

Christie missed the final 24 games of last season after having bone spurs removed from the ankle. He averaged only 6.6 points in 52 games with Sacramento and Orlando -- his lowest scoring average since being a reserve for the New York Knicks in 1995-96.

He's averaged 11.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists in parts of 14 NBA seasons. Christie played at Pepperdine before being drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1992, was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team following the 2002-03 season and the defensive second team in three other seasons.

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"It was a situation where it just didn't work," Mavericks coach Avery Johnson said. "It was just good for everybody to have a chance to move on. Doug came in with the intentions that it was going to work, but it just didn't work and in a lot of different ways."

translation=
"we arn't dropping Doug per se so much as we are dropping his wife."