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When Dirk Nowitzki signed up to play his last potential season with the Dallas Mavericks, he knew a stint off the bench was eventually coming his way. While he clung to the starting power forward spot in his last two seasons, the Mavs' rebuilding process has sped up considerably with the drafting of Luka Doncic, leaving him to do most of his mentoring from the bench.
“I'm not going to play 30 minutes anymore,” Nowitzki told ESPN‘s Tim McMahon. “Maybe get a couple of stints here and there and see how it goes.”
Having come to that full realization, the 40-year-old knows that coming back from a near-eight-month absence will be his greatest challenge yet.
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“Rhythm will be tough,” Nowitzki said recently. “The last game I played was the end of March. Nobody just takes seven months, eight months off and comes out balling. It's going to be a process for me playing against NBA players, [especially] the speed of the game these days. It will take me probably a couple of games to get used to it, but we'll see how it goes.”
Nowitzki's main contribution will be to keep supporting Doncic, who has gone from a hopeful contributor to looking like the next face of the franchise after an early-season run that has him looking like a strong choice for Rookie of the Year.
The German international could orchestrate the ultimate passing of the baton, from one European great to another, leaving the franchise in great hands after a new record 21 seasons in Mavs' blue.
