Photo Credit: AP Photo/Ron Jenkins
Mark Cuban: Dirk Can Do Whatever He Wants, He’s Earned It. I don’t care!
Dirk Nowitzki is one of the realest dudes in this league!
He currently is in his 21st NBA season, and has spent every single NBA career minute played with the Dallas Mavericks. He transformed a lottery team into one of the best teams of this milleniumn, took the franchise to the Finals (2006) for the first time in history, and eventually brought home the Mavs’ first title in 2011. Nowitzki made it clear from the start, that he didn’t have any intention of playing for another team – ever.
Over these last 20 years, Dirk Nowitzki and Mavericks’ owner Mark Cuban have become good friends. Whenever Dirk was a free agent, he was wating for free agency to be almost over, in order to set his salary accordingly. He sacrificed a lot of money, simply because he wanted to play with a competitive roster. 2006’s most valuable player was basically paying other players’ salaries (Parsons, Chandler etc…) out of his own pocket.
The bond and trust Cuban and Dirk share is something we might never see again in the NBA. But being such a devoted player, gives Dirk the permission to say and do stuff nobody else would be allowed to. It also gives him the permission to choose whatever job he wants within the organization.
In an interview with 105.3 The Fan, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was now asked about the possibility of Dirk working with the franchise after his active career has come to an end. Cuban said following words:
“We haven’t discussed it. He’s trying to decide if he’s going to take some time off or not. But he can do whatever he wants. He’s earned it. I don’t care. Whatever he wants to do, Dirk can do … the answer’s yes.”
While we don’t have Dirk’s confirmation yet, it seems like he’s in the midst of his final NBA season as a player. But then again, with the Mavs trading for a legitimate successor of him, in Kristaps Porzingis, Nowitzki may want to stick around for one more year, to teach the fellow European big.
