Dirk Nowitzki is off to a slow start this season, with most of his numbers at their lowest mark since his rookie year. However, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN that he’s hopeful this won’t be Nowitzki’s last season suiting up for the Mavs.
“I hope so,” Cuban said when asked if he thinks Nowitzki will return for the 2018/19 season. “I think there’s a really good chance he is [coming back], because he wants to break the record for years with one team and be that one guy. Not many people have that opportunity. … He’s still having fun.”
In more than 1,400 career NBA regular season games, Nowitzki has averaged an impressive 21.6 PPG and 7.8 RPG with a .473/.381/.879 shooting line. So far this season, his averages have dipped to 10.1 PPG and 5.1 RPG with a .414 FG%, though he’s still making nearly 40% of his three-point attempts.
While Nowitzki acknowledged that his health and the state of his body will dictate when he retires, the 39-year-old expressed a desire to play one more year after 2017/18, noting that the Mavericks’ place in the standings wouldn’t affect his decision, MacMahon writes. Dallas is 2-12 so far this season, matching the Hawks for the NBA’s worst record.
Nowitzki is currently in his 20th season with the Mavs, tying Kobe Bryant‘s record for most seasons with a single NBA franchise. If he can return for the ’18/19 season, the German big man would hold that record on his own.
This is Dirk’s last season
Because you say so? Dirk will leave on his own terms, whenever that may be..
Have you watched a Mavs game? Dirk can barely move out there. He’s so unselfish that I can see him telling Cuban that he’s just holding the team back by continuing to play at the end of this season
Dirk is a legend… Hope he comes back next year too – with a competitive team around him to send him off properly.
Dirk going to the Warriors this offseason
No he won’t. He will retire or come back to the Mavs
Warriors broski
Lol the whole point of coming back would be to set the record for years spent with one team and love of the game.. If he wanted to chase rings he would have left after 2014
War-riors!
He ain’t even a top 100 all time great anyways