Update:
This story was updated in July 2024 to reflect Dinwiddie's return to the Mavericks.
10 things to know about Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie upon his return to Dallas
Dinwiddie, who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the deal for Kyrie Irving, finished last season with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Spencer Dinwiddie is set to return to the Dallas Mavericks, according to reports Monday.
The free agent guard is returning to the Mavericks on a one-year deal, a person familiar with the situation told The Dallas Morning News.
Here are 10 things to know about Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie, including his multiple business ventures and the reason behind his No. 26 jersey.
1. The basics
Name: Spencer Dinwiddie
Born: April, 6, 1993, in Los Angeles
Height: 6-5
Weight: 215 pounds
College: Colorado
2. Undersized and once overlooked
At 5-7 and 117 pounds as a freshman at William Howard Taft in Los Angeles, Dinwiddie realized he was no longer on the neighborhood basketball court. This was LA, one of the premiere hubs for top recruits, but he didn’t let that discourage him. By his senior year at Taft, Dinwiddie grew to become a 6-4, 165-pound prospect ranked 146th overall in the class of 2011.
He would need that mindset years later as he accumulated DNPs with the Detroit Pistons, despite being healthy during his stint there.
“I wasn’t hurt, they just thought I wasn’t good enough,” the guard said at Mavericks media day before the 2022 season.
3. Colorado over Harvard
The three-star recruit was not a McDonald’s All-American or a blue blood magnet, but he was recruited by UCLA and other Pac-12 programs. Dinwiddie chose to prove he was an NBA-caliber player at Colorado, but could have taken his talents to Harvard. While both schools recruited him heavily, Dinwiddie wanted to stay closer to home on the West Coast and wanted to test himself against the competition in the Pac-12.
4. Harvard, here he comes
Dinwiddie followed the path of other NBA players by enrolling in the Harvard Business School’s Crossover Into Business program. The program gives athletes the opportunity to learn more about the industry and prepares them for entrepreneurial endeavors off the court.
5. Lottery aspirations
During his junior year of college, Dinwiddie was projected to be a lottery pick in the 2014 draft, but a torn left ACL derailed his odds. Nevertheless, Dinwiddie’s confidence in his recovery led to him declaring for the draft anyway and being taken 38th overall by the Detroit Pistons.
6. Jersey number change
Dinwiddie was one of the first players to change his number following Bryant’s untimely death. His new number, 26, is taken from the sum of Kobe’s 24 and his late daughter Gianna’s 2. In addition, Dinwiddie’s son was born on April 20, while Dinwiddie himself was born on April 6.
7. Nomad life
Dinwiddie spent two seasons with Detroit and five with Brooklyn before being traded to the Washington Wizards and then the Mavericks in the 2021-22 season. After parts of two seasons in Dallas, he returned to the Nets as part of the deal to acquire Kyrie Irving. Last season, Brooklyn traded Dinwiddie to the Toronto Raptors, who waived him, and he signed a contract with his hometown Los Angeles Lakers.
Dinwiddie appeared to harbor no hard feelings when he left Dallas. He posted on Twitter to thank Mavericks fans, call his one-year tenure “immaculate vibes” and joke that his 4-year-old son, Elijah, was eager to move back to Brooklyn.
During his first stop in Dallas, Dinwiddie temporarily lived out of hotels because of the Mavericks’ road schedule and because teams can pay for 45 hotel nights for a player after a midseason trade. Dinwiddie estimated he’d use 25 to finish the regular season and 20 in the playoffs. He kept two suitcases with him on the road and three in Dallas, split between his lockers at American Airlines Center and the Design District practice facility.
8. Contract to crypto
Despite much confusion and protest by the NBA, Dinwiddie was able to tokenize his first big contract with the Brooklyn Nets. He created a debt offering called SD26 and sold nine tokens at $150,000 each. Essentially, people invested in Dinwiddie by buying his token, which was backed by business assets. While the project raised only $1.35 million in tokens — which was 10% of his initial target — it was the first time anyone had attempted such an ambitious venture with an NBA contract.
9. Own shoe brand
Unlike most other signature shoes, Dinwiddie created his shoe completely separate from the big labels such as Nike and Adidas. Dinwiddie partnered with Project Dream to help with the manufacturing infrastructure and sketched the design himself. Dinwiddie named the brand K8iros, and he used the proceeds from auctioning off his game sneakers to help pay for the educational opportunities of low-income students.
10. A new Calaxy
After his contract idea, Dinwiddie created a token-based app called Calaxy that allows creators and celebrities to raise money with tokens and allows fans to interact with those creators on the platform. While this transaction could be done through conventional money, the app is meant to provide fans with the perception that they are getting a “piece” of the celebrity through purchasing the token that has the potential to create a profit or a loss.
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