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"I am dying to know how Amazon year one went on the media side. Did you love it? Are you like, I am in this for a long time? How was the media side full-time?" Dirk Nowitzki: "It was hard at the beginning. I've been out obviously seven years out of the league, and so at the beginning, it was just trying to catch up. The players have turned over, the front offices, the coaching, and the style is all different. I played catch-up there for the first couple of weeks. I wanted to know all the teams that were on, so I was watching a lot of hoops and going back the next day and trying to analyze. I was freaking myself out a little bit there in the first couple of weeks."
Dirk Nowitzki on Jalen Brunson: "I got to say I was skeptic when he went to New York as a franchise player there in that market. He's a quiet guy, shy guy to go to that market, in that media market. I was a little worried, but man, has he been unbelievable on and off the floor and really carrying this franchise and so well-deserved to win the championship, bring the championship back there after 50-something years. Finals MVP, it's been an incredible run. I didn't see that development coming from him. I knew he was super solid already in his rookie year, he's smart, he knows how to get to his spots, but I didn't think he's going to have a franchise player type ceiling in him."
Dirk Nowitzki: "Everybody knows that I pulled back there for a while. There were some things done that I didn't agree with and I kind of just pulled back from the franchise. But I know Masai for a long, long time. We've already had some discussions on what's going to transpire in the future and he obviously wants me to be a part of the Mavericks. But all these things are very early and very soon. Of course, I have my job as an analyst and with FIBA I'm on the board, so I travel a ton. There's nothing really imminent here in the near future, but I'll always, as we know, a Maverick for life."
Dirk Nowitzki reflects on the passing of Don Nelson: "That was a tough one, you know, and and I had just seen him when we gave him the lifetime achievement award in June and he looked good and and he held a little speech and he was funny. That hit me hard that he went downhill so fast now. Every time something like this happens, you go down memory lane a little bit and look at old photos and watch old films with him. He meant so much to me in my career. He's helped me with his system that when I came, it was perfect for me and he always gave me the confidence to play my game. He just saw the game a little different than most coaches and he really was a vital key piece for me to find my confidence, find my game, let me shoot threes, let me bring the ball up. It was perfect."
“We'll have to wait and see how they all come together, obviously, with the new coach, with a new system, and a new coach. How is he going to transition? I've heard great things about him; about his leadership, about his work ethic, about how he approaches and talks to the guys. I think he'll be loved by the players,” Nowitzki said. “But it'll be interesting to see. What kind of plays is he running? What kind of system is he establishing — how does he want to play? But the big thing is, obviously, Kyrie coming back after a whole year off. “I've seen some clips on social media in the last few weeks. He looks great. He looks shifty. He still looks explosive. To see Kyrie with Coop sharing the court will be super, super exciting. He kept some veterans around. He got some new players. You need to have Lively healthy, obviously; that's a big key. But I think they got some nice pieces. If they execute well with Kyrie and Coop on the court, that could be a dangerous combo.”
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In an interview with DLLS Mavs, Nowitzki shared that he had discussions with Ujiri on a potential comeback to the franchise. "Everybody knows that I pulled back there for a while, there was some things done that I didn't agree with and I kind of just pulled back from the franchise. But I know Masai for a long time. We've already had some discussions on what's going to transpire in the future and he obviously wants me to be a part of the Mavericks," Nowitzki detailed.
NBA Courtside: Draymond Green says the real argument is a championship for a number one option as big as winning the regular season MVP: “That’s the actual argument. Not, oh, is it 11 or 12th men on the team. That’s not the argument. And no one’s trying to argue that. That’s bullsh*t. But a first option, Allah Jalen Brunson or MVP. I would love to know Dirk who won one championship and won MVP. I would love to know which one he loves most. Which one gave him the higher sense of accomplishment? One thing’s for certain, I know people talk about Dirk’s championship in 2011 far more than they talk about Dirk’s MVP in 07.”
Tomer Azarly: If you could go back and team up with any player in NBA history all-time, who would it be? Can you even pick just one? Chet Holmgren: Ooh, that's a tough one. Yeah, I don't know. Can I maybe give a starting five? Obviously Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, I'd say like OKC Kevin Durant, and one more. I'd say 2011 Dirk Nowitzki.
Heat Central: Rick Carlisle explains how the Mavericks beat the the Big 3 Heat in the finals in 2011: “A picture from the finals where Kidd was picking up full court against LeBron James. We were going to be full court, make nothing easy, and be persistent. Always going to be there. We had a zone defense we developed during the previous summer to prepare for that season. — We knew our zone would have to help us in that series because the matchups weren’t there. We were going to be in attack mode, play fast, play random for great opportunities… We had great chemistry. Nowitzki showed that year and in those finals how great he was.” (Via @DraymondShow)
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He will become the 13th player in NBA history to reach a 20th season, joining LeBron James, Vince Carter, Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Willis, Robert Parish, Kyle Lowry, Udonis Haslem, Jamal Crawford, Kobe Bryant and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "I knew a few off the top of my head, but I hadn't seen the list," Al Horford told ESPN. "It's hard to believe. It's something that, for me, I'm very grateful. It's just so hard to be in this league for that amount of years. There's a lot of commitment, a lot of sacrifice and time. I still feel like I'm able to contribute and have an impact on a team."
“I don’t think I’ve seen a player at his age handle the platform and pressure that he’s been able to, with the grace that he’s been able to,” said veteran Spurs forward Harrison Barnes, who won a ring with Curry in Golden State in 2015 and played alongside Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas. “He feels very natural in those moments,” Barnes said. “I think, coming into (Monday) night, in 14 years, that was one of the craziest atmospheres I’ve seen for a playoff game. Especially a finals game. I feel like he was extremely comfortable in that moment, just to embrace that and be who he was.”
Nick Van Exel: "I've been around some incredible workers. I played with Manu Ginobili. I played with Dirk Nowitzki. Those guys were among the hardest workers I've ever seen in basketball. But Kobe Bryant was on another level. When it came to work ethic, he ran laps around people. It wasn't even close. That's not disrespect toward Manu or Dirk. It's a compliment to Kobe. His commitment was extreme. His attention to detail was obsessive. Even as an 18-year-old, he approached improvement differently from everyone else. Most players work hard. Kobe seemed driven by something deeper. He wasn't just trying to stay good. He was chasing mastery. Every drill, every workout, every repetition had a purpose. Looking back, it's easier to understand why he became who he became. The work was already there long before the championships arrived."
Nowitzki racked up a whopping 591 wins in the regular season without an All-Star teammate, the most in league history. That was while the big German made 14 All-Star appearances himself, as well as 12 All-NBA Teams (four as a 1st Teamer and five as a 2nd Teamer).