Dirk Nowitzki will set a new NBA record this fall when he officially enters his 21th season with a single franchise. But even after making history as a Maverick, Nowitzki isn’t ready to assume he’ll call it a career after the 2018/19 campaign. Speaking at a kids’ summer camp event on Wednesday, Nowitzki said he remains unsure whether next season will be his last, as Dwain Price of Mavs.com details.
“I’m going to make that decision (about retirement), I guess, once obviously I see how the season goes,” Nowitzki said.
As the veteran big man points out, he had a very healthy year in 2017/18, appearing in 77 games and remaining productive for the Mavericks. As he enters his age-40 season, there’s no guarantee he’ll continue to be able to stay on the court that often going forward, but if he stays injury-free again, he’ll want to consider all his options in the summer of 2019.
“If next year is going to go sort of the same (in terms of health), then hey, maybe, and we’ll leave the door open and I’m going to play another (season),” Nowitzki said, per Price. “But I want to approach this as if there is no tomorrow and then just hopefully have a great year. I’m going to try to be efficient again as I’ve often tried my entire career. We’ll just go from there, but hopefully it’s going to be a lot more fun than last year.”
The Mavericks’ win totals have slipped from 50 to 42 to 33 to 24 over the last four seasons, but Nowitzki is confident that this year’s roster has the talent necessary to reverse that trend. The longtime Mav called DeAndre Jordan one of the NBA’s most effective two-way centers and said that No. 3 overall pick Luka Doncic has “all the tools” to succeed in the NBA.
“I think we should be a lot better than last year,” Nowitzki said. “That’s not a secret.”
Cuban won’t be able to handle it if Dirk retires. He acts Dirk is still in his prime.
Does he? His pay and role don’t really dictate that.
Ze German Moses. One of the GOATs
I’d really like to see this guy retire already. I can’t be the only person who feels this way. Don’t get me wrong, not a Mavs fan but I’ve always been a fan of this guy, actually a big fan of his and he’s had such a great career but it’s just time to move on and I’m over hearing about if it’s his last season or not.
Right. He’s productive, efficient, a great leader, still capable of starting games. He’s having fun. He’s not just riding the bench for games or trying to convince people he still has something in the can. He seems genuinely surprised and grateful for being able to play this well for this long. Its actually really interesting watching his career extend so far. It’s not an easy thing to play for this long at a level he does.
Mmmm I think you’re the only one, my dude.
You’re a big fan of his but you want him to retire solely because of other people writing articles about if he’ll retire?
LordBababa…you point is? Yea I’m a fan. Only time I’ve ever wished the guy to no do good is when he plays my team but other than that I really am a fan of the guy but I’m just tired of this wondering if he’s gonna play. He just needs to come out and say I’m playing one year or two more years and stick to it already because it’s really annoying hearing about if it’s he’s going to play again next year every year. My opinion, dont care if you or anyone else agrees with my opinion or not. I know people on here love to jump on people for speaking how they feel about things on here but that won’t change how I feel about it. I’d like to see the guy give us a date when he’s going to retire and stick to it so I can stop hearing about it already. Plain and simple.
I just can’t believe you let it bother you so much. Lol
Aversion to old folks could cause that. Dirk’s a reminder that age gets us all, when a delusion of youth is more comfortable.
Are you that dense? Reporters are asking him, he’s not scheduling press conferences to announce his uncertainty. SMH…
Totally agree with the dude. He is still much better than a lot of guys in the league, so why retire? I hope he keeps on playing while he can contribute, if it is 1 or 2 or 3 years, whatever… as long as he can he is walking legend, always loved the way he played great fun, loved his 2o years in the league.
Man, how rare is it for ANYBODY to stay in the same job for 21 years… ESPECIALLY an athlete!
He’s saying that he’ll play if he remains effective and stays healthy. That seems a lot more honest and valid than something like, “I’m retiring on May 16, 2019.” When he retires, we never get to see one of the GOAT play again, and that’s sad. My respect for him actually went up for his comments in this article.
WazBazbo I agree