Dirk Nowitzki went to the All The Smoke podcast and discussed about his last season with the Dallas Mavericks. He revealed that the end of his career wasn’t pretty and the Mavs struggled throughout the 2018-19 season. He also stated that he was initially skeptical of Luka Doncic and didn’t think he was the answer to turn around the franchise.
Advertisement
As per Dirk, when he saw Doncic for the first time in the training facility, he doubted his quickness and athleticism. The former Mavs forward wasn’t sure if he would pan into the player he is today. Dirk also talked about how he wasn’t the only Doncic skeptic. Other members of the squad also tested him during the training camp and roughed him up now and then.
After watching him soak all the pressure and put on a show with his flashy passes and ability to finish through contact, the team started believing in him. Eventually, he formed a closer bond with Doncic, even after stepping away from the court. He stated, ”My role with him, I guess we’re friends, we’re cool. When I’m in town, we got to dinner.”
“The end of my career wasn’t pretty… We needed a little spark plug. I didn’t think it was going to be [Luka Doncic]… There were plenty of doubts from everybody on the team.”
Dirk Nowitzki was skeptical of Luka at first
(via @shobasketball)
pic.twitter.com/DzDcDU0mX8— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) December 4, 2023
The 2011 NBA champion said that he doesn’t consider himself the mentor of the incredible talent. The former power forward believes that Luka is so talented that he doesn’t need one. Nowitzki feels “super happy” for the Slovenian who has become a perennial MVP candidate.
Despite these comments by Nowitzki, Luka Doncic felt playfully hurt by the “I guess we’re friends” statement. As per Doncic’s reaction, he was sure that he was friends with the 2011 NBA Finals MVP, so why this “guess” at the start? Doncic took to his Twitter and sarcastically called out this statement while putting the crying emojis.
@swish41 you guess we are friends? https://t.co/m7VkwGNeDu
— Luka Doncic (@luka7doncic) December 4, 2023
This is just a part of the usual banter between the two who have immense respect for each other.
Luka Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki have repeatedly shown love for each other
Doncic immensely treasures his single-season experience with Nowitzki. After beating the Orlando Magic last month, he stated, ”I was lucky enough to play with him one season. The things he has done for Dallas are unbelievable, not just as a player but as a person he did a lot.”
Meanwhile, the 2007 MVP also gave a lot of love back to the Mavs Guard. He has also spoken glowingly about his only season with Doncic. In 2022, Dirk spoke to The Mom Game podcast and stated, ”I was glad I was there for his first year, we didn’t really interact that much, I was hurt for the first 30 games and I didn’t travel for a while.”
“It was still awesome for me to play with him for a year and help him if I can for a little bit, but he was so wise already at a young age.”, he added. No doubt, Luka is carrying forward the legacy set by Dirk, as an elite shooter of the game, and Dirk has nothing but love and support for the young guard.
