DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki is often seen attending Dallas Mavericks games. He is a franchise legend who led Dallas to an NBA championship in 2011. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd addressed the impact on the current team of having a legend like Nowitzki attend games.
“It's great,” Kidd said on Tuesday after practice. “You're talking about the best player to ever put on a Mavs jersey. We get to drive by that statue (the Dirk Nowitzki statue outside of the American Airlines Center) every home game. So it's great that he's in town to be able to come to the games and hangout.”
I then asked Kidd if having Nowitzki watch the games gives the young Mavericks players any extra motivation.
“That's a question for them, they might not know who he is,” Kidd said as his comment was met by laughter from reporters. “Unless he stands up. That's a question for them. Dirk is a special human being. It's great for him to be around the Mavs. Hopefully he's around the Mavs a little bit more as we go forward.”
Jason Kidd has respect for Dirk Nowitzki
With all jokes aside, Kidd has much respect for Nowitzki. The two played together in Dallas. Kidd witnessed Dirk lead the Mavericks to a championship.
Nowitzki spent his entire career in Dallas. In addition to winning a championship, Dirk also earned the 2006-07 NBA MVP Award. He made 14 All-Star teams during the course of his career as well.
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Karl-Anthony Towns has said that he is the greatest shooting big man of all-time. With the Mavericks set to play the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals, Kidd was asked about the topic given the fact that many Mavs fans consider Dirk to hold that title.
“Everyone has a right to their opinion,” Kidd said. “He can shoot it, he can definitely shoot it. You look at KAT (Towns), he's a very confident young man. He's one of the best bigs in this league. He can shoot the three at a high rate… Dirk was one of the first to start that. So I think Dirk would definitely have something to say but I think Dirk opened the door for a lot of the bigs to become shooters.”
Dirk was one of the first big men who consistently found success from beyond the arc. He shot an impressive 38 percent from three-point range during his career.
Mavericks preparing for Timberwolves series
The Mavs will face a difficult test in this series. Minnesota is playing with no shortage of confidence at the moment. Dallas may not be the favorite heading into the series, but they also believe in their ability to upset the odds.
Game 1 is scheduled for Wednesday night at 8:30 PM EST in Minnesota.
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