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Chinese forward He Tianju begins practicing with Pelicans summer team today

The subject of considerable attention this month from a nation of 1.3 billion people, Chinese 6-foot-9 forward He Tianju begins practicing Monday afternoon with the New Orleans Pelicans’ summer league team in Metairie. Befitting of a player with a large spotlight on him, He’s trip to the United States is being documented by a film crew from his pro team, Liaoning Jeibo.

He, who shot 42 percent from three-point range with Liaoning during the 2014-15 season, will join his Pelicans summer teammates for daily practices this week, prior to traveling to Las Vegas on Thursday afternoon. New Orleans will face the Milwaukee Bucks’ summer league squad Friday in the opening game of the entire 2015 NBA Summer League schedule. Pelicans-Bucks will tip off at 5 p.m. Central (3 p.m. Pacific).

Each of the Pelicans’ three pool-play games will be available live on NBA.com, through the site’s NBA Summer League Live package ($14.99 covers all summer games, including those played in the Orlando and Utah leagues). Those opening-round games will also be shown on tape delay by NBA TV, usually during the morning hours of the following day. After pool play, New Orleans will participate in Las Vegas’ 24-team, single-elimination tournament format. Broadcast information for those Pelicans games – there will be a minimum of two, with July 17 set aside as a consolation round – is to be determined.