Dirk Nowitzki has one of the most impressive careers to look back on. He is an NBA Finals MVP that overcame a super-team to become champion, a former MVP, one of the all-time leaders in scoring, and holds the record for most consecutive years played for a single franchise in NBA history for his 21-year stint with the Dallas Mavericks.
Nowitzki is still working with the Mavericks as an advisor and has been interacting with today’s team that has old teammates in Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson, and Dorian Finney-Smith on the floor, with Jason Kidd on the bench coaching them.
Finney-Smith is the defensive standout of today’s Mavericks, always taking on the best scorer of the opposing team to try and slow them down. It’s a well-known fact that Nowitzki was an offensive player and was an average to an above-average defender throughout his career.
While speaking to reporters, Finney-Smith spoke about how Dirk’s offense was his defense, a sentiment that Jason Kidd wholeheartedly agreed with.
A funny thing happened after today's practice. We interviewed Dorian Finney-Smith and he talked about Dirk's offense being Dirk's defense. A few minutes later we interviewed Jason Kidd and Kidd talked about Dirk's offense being Dirk's defense. Kidd: "We're all on the same page." pic.twitter.com/EMY0nKwmox
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) March 28, 2022
Dirk’s impact on the current Mavericks franchise is incredible. He has had such a long-standing career with the team that he joined the team before Mark Cuban bought them. In addition, he has former teammates working all over the franchise. Michael Finley is an advisor alongside Dirk, while 2011 teammate Jason Kidd is the head coach.
Out of the current Mavericks on the team, seven of them were a part of Dirk’s final season in 2018-19. It was the rookie season for Jalen Brunson and Luka Doncic. Tim Hardaway Jr. joined the team at the 2019 trade deadline in the Kristaps Porzingis trade. DFS, Dwight Powell, Maxi Kleber, and Boban Marjanovic were teammates with Dirk for more than one season.
This team admires Nowitzki and it is great he is there to guide them and share his input on their performances. Considering Dirk took this position this season and the Mavericks are headed towards a 50+ win record, something seems to be working with this partnership.
