It’s been over five years since Dirk Nowitzki last walked off a basketball court in a Mavericks uniform, and if you ask the Hall of Famer, he’ll tell you himself: He’s not exactly missing it.
The Dallas Mavericks legend recently appeared on “The Hardline” on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 AM The Ticket (KTCK-AM) where he admitted that he still gets a little “itchy” when his team plays in the bigger games, but made it clear he in no way misses the grind of training camp, preseason and early schedule games. He pointed out that the Mavericks 119-99 win over the Bulls on Wednesday would’ve been “a tough one to get up for.”
No, these days Dirk Nowitzki is much more of a basketball watcher than a basketball player, and it sounds like he likes it that way. He told “The Hardline” that he was in attendance for the Mavs’ 2024 NBA Finals home games against the Boston Celtics, where he marveled at the depth of the Celtics and credited their multitude of scorers and playmakers on the way to their NBA championship.
So, has Nowitzki seen any improvement in the Mavs’ depth? After all, that was a primary offseason goal for Nico Harrison and crew.
Nowitzki was asked what he liked about the Mavericks lineup this season. Here was his response.
”I liked the Klay [Thompson] signing from the get-go,” Nowitzki said. “I think we saw it in the Finals, we needed somebody that can make some shots on the wing. I think some of our guys were incredible getting to the Finals, and then we ran a little cold and we needed somebody to make some shots on the weak side. And who better than Klay? One of the all-time greatest shooters we’ve ever seen in this league.
“I think he’s got plenty left in the tank. He’s 34. He moves great, looks great early on, still got that quick release. So guys will always be worried about him on the weak side standing there. So obviously with Kyrie and Luka, should get plenty of good looks and it’ll be fun to watch all year long.
“I like the big guy combo. Last year adding [Daniel] Gafford and [Derrick] Lively, as as good of a lob threat/rim protection combo as you can have in this league. I like the [Naji] Marshall kid coming off the bench as a tough defender. [Quentin] Grimes has been looking good, he can defend and play, make a shot on the offensive end.
“So I think we’ve got lots of players at every position. It should be a fun year, but there’s still gonna be some ups and downs. There’s always gonna be some knick-knacks, some injuries here and there. It’s gonna be a long grind, but hopefully when it comes down the stretch they’re gonna be heathy in April and May, and play their best basketball like they did last year. Anything’s possible with that team.”
To listen to the full interview, click here.
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