Well for all of you that were mentally and emotionally preparing yourself for the final month and a half of getting to watch the greatest European basketball player in NBA history lumber around a court with his beautiful golden locks and hit off-balance, one-legged jumpers at will, you can exhale, it appears as though Dirk Nowitzki plans to return for a 20th NBA season.
Dirk on returning next season: "I think so… unless something drastic changes here in the next few weeks." #MFFL https://t.co/bLa27mM59E
— Michael Lark (@Michael_Lark) March 3, 2017
Dirk broke the news in a sit down interview with ESPN’s Marc Stein. It comes as somewhat of a surprise considering he told a German media site a few months back that he originally planned to play 20 seasons but felt this season may be it for him after dealing with Achilles issues.
Apparently Dirk is feeling better and is cautiously optimistic about completing his initial goal of 20 NBA seasons which is a pretty incredible accomplishment.
Dirk can vault himself even further into the legend stratosphere with a 20th NBA season to add to his first-ball hall of fame resume. He is currently only 48 points shy of joining the 30,000 points club, becoming the sixth member.
Playing 20 seasons with the same team and tying Kobe Bryant’s record means a lot to Dirk as he mentioned in this quote to Stein:
“Twenty is a great number,” Nowitzki said. “I think 20 seasons also with one team, like I’m trying to do it — I think only Kobe has done it — that’s another great accomplishment. So I kinda want to make the 20 fold. Plus that summer I’m turning 40. I think that’s also a good number to be in the league … from 20 to 40. That’s what I’m looking at.?”
Dirk is still an effective offensive player and I think this is great news for any fan of basketball.
Hopefully the Mavericks can have a reboot and allow us to see one more glimpse of Dirk in the playoffs next season.
