Upon his retirement from the game, Dallas Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki has experienced a wave of free agent movement unlike any that he's ever seen throughout his 21-year NBA career. The Mavs 7-foot legend has found it tough to keep track of all the deals that have rained down since July 30 but says that amount of player movement will be great for the competition.
“It's definitely crazy. I was very surprised,” Nowitzki, who played in a charity football match in his homeland last weekend, told Omnisport.
“I've been in Europe for three weeks now and every day when I've switched on my phone there's been another announcement that someone had joined another team.”
The fluid nature of free agent signings, sign-and-trades, waivers and pick-ups has been unlike any other, with many old faces in different places — even players who were at one point the representation of a franchise. It is this way that the NBA has marketed itself from an eight-month a year league to an around-the-clock, 24/7, 365-days-a-year league.
“I can't remember a time in my 20-year career when so many top players have changed teams. It was a crazy summer, but it's good for the business.
“There's been a lot of media coverage and it will be a crazy season. There's a lot going on.”
Nowitzki played with the Mavericks all 21 years of his career — a feat that seems nearly impossible to achieve in today's NBA, given the constant allure of finding a new destination at some point in a player's career.
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