He’s five years into retirement from the NBA and, if it’s possible, Dirk Nowitzki is a bigger fan of the Mavericks now than he’s ever been.
He’s like a lot of us – captivated by the magic that Luka Dončić generates with regularity. And he’s bullish on the Mavericks as they head into the first round of the NBA playoffs Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“I’m looking forward to the playoffs,” Nowitzki said. “We’re playing our best basketball at the right time.
“The Clippers are tough, though. The Clippers are always tough against us. They have a lot of length on the perimeter. They have a lot of guys to throw at Luka, so it’ll be a fun series. We’ve never really had an answer for Kawhi (Leonard).
“So it’ll be fun, but I do think Mavs in six.”
That comment drew unbridled applause from a crowd of more than 200 at Echo Lounge as Nowitzki took part in the Top Shelf podcast, hosted by Devin Harris and presented by Hennessy.
The hourlong podcast, the fourth from Harris, will be posted on the Mavericks’ YouTube channel. It featured insights from Nowitzki about everything from his humble beginnings on a basketball court to shuttling his kids around to various athletic activities – a modern day soccer dad.
“I’m usually at some random soccer field around town,” Nowitzki said about his weekends. “My kids are at a great age and watching them start their own sports journey is incredible. And it’s also a lot. The weekends are a beast – from one thing to the next. But it’s super-joyful.”
That, and a lot of traveling around the world, is a dominant aspect of Nowitzki’s life these days.
But he’s also staying as connected as he can to basketball. He tries to catch as many Maverick games as he can.
And he’s a big Luka fan as Dirk said that the new one-name face of the franchise is probably his favorite player to watch.
“My last year was his first season,” Nowitzki said. “I mean, what a talent, what a player.
“I never thought he would be this good. It seems like he’s getting better year to year. How is he doing it? You always think you’ve seen it all and this kid does something once a game and you’re like: what? What is he doing? The creativity and IQ and how he reads the game, and then has the skill to pull that off, that’s unbelievable.”
Nowitzki told a lot of stories on the podcast, some old, some not as familiar. He was welcomed with chants of “MVP, MVP, MVP,” as the crowd gave him a standing ovation upon arrival.
Mostly, there were a lot of laughs.
Nowitzki detailed what it was like when he was coming to America and trying to decide whether to go to college, enter the NBA draft or return to Germany.
He clearly made the right choice, but not before being tempted by a certain influential NBA legend named Charles Barkley.
It was Barkley who tried to get Nowitzki to go to Auburn University, Barkley’s college.
“We didn’t get to the money, but I’m sure I could have gotten an Escalade out of it or something,” Nowitzki said.
The subject of Steve Nash came up and Nowitzki couldn’t help himself. He recalled a film session under then-coach Avery Johnson after the Mavericks had lost Game 4 against Nash and the Phoenix Suns in 2006.
“I had this rebound and Steve just grabbed me and threw me down and takes the rebound and the ref swallows his whistle,” Nowitzki said. “(At the next day’s film session), Avery ran that play back about 10 times. ‘You let this 5-foot-7 guy throw you around?’ It was classic. His message was he (Nash) stole your MVP trophy and you got to win this series for us. And it worked.”
Indeed, the Mavericks won the series to reach the NBA finals.
Nowitzki now is getting to watch Luka and this new edition of the Mavericks carve out their legacy. He’s having a blast watching it.
“We’re rolling,” Nowitzki said. “It’s been fun to watch. I’m not around all the time, not in the locker room. The chemistry looks good, but you don’t really know until you’re around the team every day. But it seems like everything is going great.
“So I’m happy for them and how they’re playing. The key acquisitions around the trade deadline were amazing. We needed another big center who could roll and now we have a two-headed master (with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II).”
He also is impressed with how well Dončić and Irving work together.
“After last year, Kyrie and Luka understanding each other better, playing off each other better, knowing when to be aggressive, when to defer,” he said. “They have a better understanding of each other.”
And that’s a major reason why Nowitzki has made his pick of Mavericks in six games against the Clippers.
X: @ESefko
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