You never want to hear about an Achilles injury with an NBA player, but you most definitely don’t want to hear it with regards to a 38-year-old Dirk Nowitzki who has clearly had trouble moving on defense over the last few years.
And yet, here we are.
Nowitzki hasn’t played since November 25th while dealing with Achilles soreness, and he has only five appearances to his name overall. Worse, it doesn’t sound like he will be returning anytime soon, per Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com:
Rick Carlisle says to his understanding Dirk Nowitzki is making gradual progress with his right Achilles strain, but "it's going slowly."
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) December 15, 2016
Rick Carlisle says he's optimistic that Dirk Nowitzki will make a return this season.
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) December 15, 2016
On the bright side, the Dallas Mavericks really aren’t in any rush. They are competing for the worst record in the NBA right now, and a healthy Nowitzki only adversely impacts their lottery chances. That’s not the way the Mavericks, a perennial playoff contender, think of course, but it’s truth.
As far as we know, Nowitzki plans to play next year anyway. If he ends up missing most or all of this season, whatever. That’s one less chance for us to watch a living legend before he retires, but if that’s what it takes for him to get right in time for next year, when the Mavericks are presumably more relevant, then so be it.
