Dirk Nowitzki RUMORS & NEWS

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki isn’t exactly an eternal optimist. He deals in reality. So why is he smiling about the Mavericks’ chances in free agency this summer? Why does he think the Lakers’ Dwight Howard and/or the Clippers’ Chris Paul are realistic possibilities to join him in Dallas for his twilight..." May 18

Dallas Morning News "Kevin Durant’s season ended early in large part because he got the Dirk Nowitzki treatment. And he didn’t have enough help around him to compensate. When Russell Westbrook injured his knee in the first round against Houston, it meant Durant was destined for major multi-player coverages on..." May 18

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki said he had an MRI on his left knee Thursday. He said the knee hasn’t given him any difficulties, but given that he had to have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in October, he wants to make sure the left one is sound. Nowitzki said he won’t know the results of that MRI until..." April 19

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki had two reasons to celebrate Sunday night. The first was reaching 25,000 career points in the first half. The second was shaving. Within moments after Dallas’ 107-89 victory over New Orleans on Sunday night, Nowitzki made a beeline to the locker room to shave that awful mess that..." April 15

Dallas Morning News "On a jumper with 6:44 remaining in the second quarter Sunday, Dirk Nowitzki scored his 10th and 11th points of the game — and, more importantly, the 25,000th and 25,001th points of his illustrious Mavericks career. Nowitzki became the 17th player in NBA history to reach the 25,000-point..." April 14

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t want it to end like this. Slugging it out for the eighth seed — or more likely missing the playoffs — is bad enough once. Or twice. In the autumn of his NBA career, he wants more. And while he has no problem putting pressure on ownership to find some high-quality..." April 09

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "The idea of the Dallas Mavericks shaving their beards once they reach the .500 mark is a story that recently made the national circuit. But as far as Dirk Nowitzki is concerned, he wants the Mavs to focus on something much more tangible than simply ridding themselves of some wild-looking facial..." April 09

ESPN.com "Dirk Nowitzki did not play in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks’ win over Portland due to a foot injury. “At this point, it’s not considered serious,” coach Rick Carlisle told reporters. “But you don’t mess around with something like that.” Nowitzki scored only six points – his fewest..." April 08

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki is a creature of habit. For a dozen seasons, he did things the same way. He worked out in the summer at the same times and usually played his best basketball when the stakes grew late in seasons and in the playoffs. Then the lockout happened last season, and the first knee..." April 08

USA Today "There is no bitter expression hidden underneath Dirk Nowitzki's mangy beard. No covert biting of the tongue, either. The Dallas Mavericks star may have been critical of his owner's approach in the past, back when the wounds of Mark Cuban's cold and calculated roster-building ways were still..." April 08

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki has twisted and sprained his ankles dozens of times. But what happened Sunday night in Portland was different. He said he came down funny after jumping for a rebound in the second quarter. The ankle stiffened up at halftime, when he had it re-taped. He was ineffective in the third..." April 08

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki is proof that greatness loves a challenge. Any challenge, as it turns out. “If we were playing for the 12th seed, it probably would be different,” Nowitzki said. “But this way, there’s still something to play for. Obviously, it’s fun to play for something.” Playing for..." April 01

Dallas Morning News "As reporters interviewed Celtics guard Jason Terry after Friday night’s game, a female reporter from China broke in with what seemed to be headline news about Terry’s former Mavericks teammate, Dirk Nowitzki. “So, Dirk is going to be a father this summer,” she told Terry, himself a father of..." March 23

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki hit on a great point in the Mavericks’ postgame locker room after they overwhelmed the tired and injury-ravaged Timberwolves 100-77. He was talking about Vince Carter and Elton Brand and the bench that carried the Mavericks much of the night, when he had terrific moment of..." March 11

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki got just eight shots against the Rockets Sunday night. That’s not enough, obviously, for the Mavericks’ best players and while he was quick to mention that he needed to be more aggressive early in the game (he had just one shot in the first quarter), the real culprit for his..." March 04

Dallas Morning News "The Mavericks on Friday night will get their first look at Deron Williams since the point guard elected to stay with the Nets in free agency last summer rather than bolt to the Mavericks. While Williams has been good this season, and the Nets are 34-24, his averages of 17.3 points and 7.7..." March 01

Dallas Morning News "Tuesday night’s 95-90 loss to Milwaukee was the Mavericks’ second straight at home, piggybacking Sunday’s 103-99 defeat to the Lakers. It also was a lousy way to conclude a stretch of eight games in which Dallas had seven home games. The Mavericks went 5-3. Not nearly good enough. Now they..." February 27

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "If the Dallas Mavericks still have designs on making the playoffs, they’re going to have to do it the hard way. The really, really hard way. Like picking up the phone and calling in all of their security people for extra help. In desperate need of a win, the Mavs went out Tuesday night and..." February 27

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "The major plus for the Dallas Mavericks that evolved from Sunday’s disappointing 103-99 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was the superb performance turned in by forward Dirk Nowitzki. In his best game this season, Nowitzki finished with season highs in points (30), rebounds (13) and 3-pointers..." February 26

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki was upset with himself for missing a free throw with 1:04 left that could have made it a 99-98 game. He also was frustrated not to be able to get a few more shots down the stretch. “Metta World Peace had me in a bear hug for the last couple of minutes, so it was kind of tough..." February 25

Dallas Morning News "As he said in Germany during the Mavericks’ preseason European trip, Dirk Nowitzki still plans to sign another contract after his current deal expires after the 2013-14 season. Not that there weren’t some antsy moments for him when he was struggling earlier this season. “I had some doubts..." February 25

Dallas Morning News "For the first time in his NBA career, an All-Star Weekend is taking place without Dirk Nowitzki. At first, he was a 3-point flinger in the Saturday contest in 2000 at Oakland and 2001 in Philadelphia. Since then, he’s been an All-Star Game participant for 11 seasons. That run ends Sunday,..." February 17

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki was just 3-for-11 shooting Monday against the Thunder, but the good news is that he looked healthy in his first game after missing a pair with a strained leg muscle. “His shooting numbers weren’t good,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. “But I thought he moved well. We came up..." February 06

Mavs Moneyball "Hooray! Dirk is back tonight against the Thunder. Eventually, Dallas is going to have to beat an elite team at some point before the trade deadline to give any indication that they are legit playoff contenders. It feels like ages since Dallas beat a team that was ahead of it in the standings...." February 04

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki said today that expects to play Monday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder if he doesn't have any setbacks to his right adductor muscle after a rigorous practice on Sunday. He will take part in the morning shootaround and said if that goes well, he'll be in the lineup after..." February 04

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki has a connection with Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, who is a big Nowitzki fan. The two have exchanged jerseys. So it's no surprise who Nowitzki is going with in the Super Bowl pitting the Ravens against the 49ers. "Well, the Cowboys aren't in it, I guess," Nowitzki..." February 03

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki will miss tonight's game against the Golden State Warriors with a strained right adductor. It is not known whether the Mavs' 11-time All-Star will be healthy enough and ready to play in Friday's game in Phoenix. Also, center Chris Kaman flew home after..." February 01

Dallas Morning News "After the Mavericks' hard-luck loss to Golden State early Friday morning Dallas time, Dirk Nowitzki didn't sound real optimistic about his chances of playing in Phoenix less than 20 hours later. Nowitzki missed the game because of a strained right adductor. The good news is he said it doesn't..." February 01

Dallas Morning News "As most of the Mavericks started filtering toward the locker room to get ready for their long flight to Portland, Dirk Nowitzki was hitched up to thick bungee cords and going through a series of jumps. He had to go up and grab the rim while the cords were anchored taut to the floor to provide..." January 29

Dallas Morning News "In every nasty storm – and they don't get much scarier than what the Mavericks are going through right now – there can be found some good news. Dirk Nowitzki provided a shred of uplifting information after the Mavericks' 99-93 loss to the Clippers Wednesday night. He was asked about the..." January 10

Dallas Morning News "Before Saturday's loss, Dirk Nowitzki theorized that the reason he and Chris Kaman haven't played many minutes together since Nowitzki's return "is that Chris and myself both can't guard nobody." Nowitzki and Kaman started on the front line against New Orleans, with Shawn Marion moving over to..." January 07

Dallas Morning News "The time is drawing closer for Dirk Nowitzki to be in the Mavericks' starting lineup. It probably won't happen Saturday when New Orleans visits American Airlines Center, but you never know. Most certainly, it's getting closer on the horizon after Nowitzki knocked in 19 points in under 30..." January 03

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki didn't play long against Washington. But he did play well in those 17 minutes. The step-back jumper? Check. The post-up punctuated by a one-legged fadeaway? Check. The 3-pointer? Yep, got that, too. Nowitzki had his smoothest-looking night of the season since returning..." January 02

Mavs Moneyball "Dirk Nowitzki told the Dallas Morning news that the projected mid December return isn't looking good at all right now. "It (the knee) is better," Nowitzki said. "But now, obviously, not doing anything for six weeks, there's a lot of strength that you lose. Your quad muscle gets weak. And so..." December 06

Dallas Morning News "The Mavericks entered Wednesday's game against the Knicks with five losses in their last seven games. Cuban said he wasn't alarmed by the slide, pointing out that that Mavericks have played without Nowitzki in past seasons and had losing streaks while transitioning in new players. "The good..." November 22

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki has bumped up his workout regimen as he continues to recover from his right knee arthroscopic surgery. "I haven't seen him on the court, but I've seen him working harder and harder on all the machinery, so that's a good sign," owner Mark Cuban said. The Mavericks intend to make..." November 20

Mavs Moneyball "In the last 24 hours, I've had a handful of people text me that they are worried about Dirk Nowitzki's rehab. I was a little surprised till I saw all the stories. Folks, there's nothing wrong with our big, efficient German. He's just going through the norms of a routine knee..." November 14

Dallas Morning News "While he's going to be patient during his rehab, Dirk Nowitzki said he has no doubt he will return as strong as ever. "If I would have had reconstructive knee surgery, then probably, yeah," he said about being concerned whether he could perform at the same level. "But I don't think this was..." October 24

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki said he has had conversations with a couple of players who have gone through similar surgeries — former Maverick Michael Finley and teammate Shawn Marion. "Yeah, a lot of the guys have had it done," he said. "I talked to Marion a little bit. He had it actually really early in his..." October 24

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "Dirk Nowitzki walked into the Dallas Mavericks' locker room after Monday's game against Houston and said he plans to forgo having surgery on his right knee as long as possible. Nowitzki, 34, has experienced swelling and soreness in the knee for almost the entire training camp to the point it..." October 16

Dallas Morning News "After two games on another continent with European opponents and iffy results, the Mavericks soon can find out if their new style will fly against NBA competition. Fans won't get an official peek at the new Mavericks until Monday, when they play their first true preseason game against the..." October 12

Mavs Moneyball "The recovery time for arthroscopic surgery is 4-6 weeks. You remember Jeremy Lin wasn't able to show up in week 5 of his rehab but, then, that would have been from zero to playoff basketball. Dirk heals from ankle injuries in the time you and I heal from paper cuts, but he's getting older. So..." October 10

Dallas Morning News "Dirk Nowitzki doesn't want to sound any alarms, but he also wants to be realistic. For the second training camp in a row, his right knee is sore and swollen. Last season, it took nearly two months to get right. Now, it's back and Nowitzki would not duck the issue about what will happen if..." October 10

Pro Basketball Talk "The new fines for flopping announced by the league are not very popular in Dallas. First Mavericks owner Mark Cuban questioned the impact of the fines and what the fallout would be, and now Dirk Nowitzki has come out and questioned how the league will enforce the rules. From the Dallas Morning..." October 04

Dallas Morning News "On the heels of his best season in the NBA, things couldn't have gone much worse for Dirk Nowitzki in 2011-12. The forward showed up out of shape after a lengthy NBA lockout, and a Mavericks roster that was ravaged by free agency couldn't do much in trying to defend its first-ever NBA title,..." October 02

Mavs Moneyball "I have always felt that Dirk was born just a smidge too late for the statistical revolution. In terms of things like PER, win-shares, and all that, mid-career Dirk was an absolute beast, but it caught on only as he got a little bit older. Not only that, of course, but especially in Dirk's later..." August 27

Dallas Morning News "On where Dirk Nowitzki is mentally: Fraley: "He's very loyal to this franchise. That loyalty was rewarded last year with a ring, but I have to wonder if I'm him if I see what I went through last year where I had a chance to repeat but decisions were made by the front office. Now, it looks like..." August 14

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "Don't kick any dirt on Dirk Nowitzki's contract just yet. The belief in many circles is the Dallas Mavericks must take full advantage of Nowitzki's current contract, which ends after the 2013-14 season, by fielding a contender. In other words, don't waste the final two years of the career of..." July 19

Fort Worth Star-Telegram "Two players who have been instrumental in Dirk Nowitzki's life may be going in opposite directions. Point guard Steve Nash is among a list of players on the Mavericks' backup plan free-agent list if they can't sign Deron Williams. And if the Mavs are able to secure Williams, that could signal..." July 01