Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant are the only players to have played 20 or more NBA seasons. Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki will join that prestigious club next season:
Dirk Nowitzki says he will return for a 20th season with the @dallasmavs.
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) April 13, 2017
Nowitzki may be 38 years old, but the seven-footer is still capable of producing. This season for the Mavs, Dirk has averaged 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game on .437/.378/.875.
Dirk Nowitzki: "I think my body will tell me when it's time. … I'm going to play next year as hard as I can."
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) April 13, 2017
Nowitzki is a shell of his former self, but a shell of Dirk Nowitzki is a more dangerous offensive threat than many younger NBA players.
Nerlens Noel: "I love Dallas. In my short time here, I really enjoyed it."
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) April 13, 2017
Nerlens Noel: "I think this is a big offseason for me. I'll be looking to spend a lot of time with coach Carlisle."
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) April 13, 2017
Nowitzki is 1,159 points away from passing Wilt Chamberlain for fifth on the all-time NBA scoring list, but he isn’t concerned with chasing that record:
Dirk on chasing Wilt on the scoring list: "I always said basketball is supposed to be fun. I'm not going to keep going to chase a record."
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) April 13, 2017
Dirk Nowitzki: "If my body tells me next year just to go, I'm not going to play another year just to move up the scoring list."
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) April 13, 2017
This season, Nowitzki became the sixth player (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Byant, Michael Jordan, Chamberlain) in NBA history to score over 30,000 points in his career.
Dirk: "It's still amazing for me to be in the 30K club with all those amazing names. That was my emotional highlight for the season."
— Earl K. Sneed (@EarlKSneed) April 13, 2017
