“Dirk Nowitzki Was Always Just a Sarcastic Prick”: Chandler Parsons Hated Sitting Next to Mavs Icon on Planes

Talking trash is a crucial part of the game and can be used as a weapon against the opposition. But the problem with elite trash talkers is that they sometimes don’t know how to switch it off. Chandler Parsons was a victim of the same when he played with Dirk Nowitzki for the Dallas Mavericks.

On Run It Back, the 36-year-old was asked about his flight experiences sitting beside different teammates during his decade-long career. While former teammates like Vince Carter and James Harden were the best to sit beside for Parsons, Nowitzki was his “worst” seatmate on planes.

Parsons said, “You know, Dirk was always just a sarcastic prick all the time.”

Although he played card games with the 14-time All-Star, tolerating him on a journey was a tough task because of his caustic remarks.

“He would play the card games but he would just talk so much sh*t…sitting next to him was also pretty miserable,” Parsons added.

Parsons’ comments were obviously in jest as he shares a solid relationship with Nowitzki. However, it’s undeniable that the German superstar was a great trash-talker back in the day.

. @chandlerparsons got to play cards with Vince Carter and James Harden 🃏

…and received sarcasm from Dirk Nowitzki during his NBA travels.😅🛫 pic.twitter.com/UTT4s3EFfu

— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) January 25, 2025

On an episode of Road Trippin’, Channing Frye recalled being on the receiving end of Nowtizki’s verbal onslaught. He said, “Dirk Nowitzki was the trash talker where like, I couldn’t do nothing with it. He was like, ‘Give me the burger.’”

Frye referred to that as an example of trash talk that has stuck with him over the years.

Dirk Nowitzki was Parsons’s childhood idol

Few athletes get to realize their dream of playing alongside their idols. Parsons is one of the lucky ones. In 2012, while playing for the Rockets, he got his first opportunity to share the court with Nowitzki. When he saw his name next to his idol on the board as a starter, he couldn’t help but click a picture to boast among his friends.

“I swear I think I snuck a picture of it and sent it to my friends and was like, ‘Dude, I kid you not, I’m starting on Nowitzki!’” Parsons said at the time in an interview with ESPN.

Two years later, he joined the Mavericks and was sharing a locker room with his idol.

Parsons was committed to being a “sponge” to soak as much basketball wisdom as he could from the NBA legend.

When Nowitzki took a pay cut to ensure he stays in Dallas, CP said to 777 Score, “I’m very humbled and glad that he did that, because I wanted to be here and I wanted to play here, and I wanted to play with him. That just shows you how much he wants to win. He’ll take that big of a pay cut to try to bring a guy like me to try to help him win a championship.”

He wanted to bring another championship to Dallas, but unfortunately, that couldn’t happen.