Dirk Nowitzki isn’t going to retire, he’s made that clear.
He confirmed Monday he will opt out of his contract, but it doesn’t sound like the former NBA Finals MVP has any intention of leaving the Dallas Mavericks.
“We had one more year on the contract, but I think this is the right thing to do,” Nowitzki said on 1310 The Ticket in Dallas, via ESPN Dallas’ Tim MacMahon. “We’re going to sit with (Mavs owner Mark Cuban)Â and (general manager Donnie Nelson), obviously over the next few weeks and figure out how to improve this franchise again. Ever since after the championship, we’ve been basically a first-round exit. We’ve been a seven, eight seed.
“We’ve only won a few playoff games, and obviously the goal was to compete at the highest level in my last couple of years, so there is some moving to do, some thinking, some putting our heads together the next few weeks heading into free agency, heading into the draft. So this is just one move that hopefully starts a chain reaction for us to get better again, to compete really at a high level. We’ll see how it goes.”
Nowitzki has spent his entire 17-year career with the Mavericks, and he led them to their only championship in team history in 2006.
Opting out of his contract could give Dallas a little more flexibility in the offseason, while Cuban remains extremely competitive and unafraid to spend money to win.
Nowitzki isn’t a top-10 NBA player anymore, but he still averaged 18.3 points and 5.6 rebounds in 75 games this season. Not bad for a 37-year-old.
Thumbnail photo via Thomas B. Shea/USA TODAY Sports Images
