Today in exit interviews, Dirk Nowitzki said two things Mavs fans were probably worried they’d have to wait months to hear: first, that he’s not retiring, and second, that the only way he’d leave the Mavericks is if they really embraced tanking.
While most people assumed the second, there’s a subtle difference between what he said today –that they’d have to really aggressively tank for him to leave – and what seemed like it might be the case, which is that he might consider leaving even if the Mavs merely weren’t able to build a more competitive team. Since it seems like Dirk not wanting the Mavs to actively tank is plenty of reason for the Mavs not to actively tank, it’s looking pretty safe to assume he’ll be back with the Mavericks next year.
And I, for one, couldn’t be happier. Some people seem to think that great players “deserve” great teams and are somehow being served unfairly if they aren’t. Dirk, obviously, “deserves” whatever he wants at this point but if that’s to be on a reasonably competitive Mavericks team who am I to argue?
Those of us who are nervous by nature will obviously wait untl the paper work is official before exhaling, but this is good news no matter what the Mavs look like next year: another year to watch Dirk Nowitzki go to work in the right uniform.
