For 17 NBA seasons, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has been a model of ageless German grace. Those exquisite one-legged fadeaways, those sublime rainbow three-pointers, those regal pick-and-pops that should be set on an everlasting loop to the sweet sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach. But if even God had to rest on the seventh day, Dallas should probably consider lessening Nowitzki’s workload as heads into his age-37 season. And that’s just what they are going to do according to owner Mark Cuban.
“He’ll start and play his minutes,” Cuban said of Nowitzki in a story on Sunday by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “He’s not going to play as many minutes, so you want him warm and ready to go. I think his rotation will be similar to last year, but I’ll leave that up to Coach [Rick Carlisle].”
“Dirk’s biggest challenge is that he thinks he’s old,” the billionaire owner continued. “Dirk takes such good care of his body and his mind that he’s got the body of someone five years younger — he’s just got to have the confidence to play like that. I’ve never seen anybody in any field as disciplined as Dirk and willing to work as hard in terms of what he needs, how he works out and taking advantage of the new technology we have. The guy is amazing still, and he can still shoot that rock.”
The 13-time NBA All-Star did see a bit of age-related regression last season. Nowitzki averaged 17.3 points per game, a very conservative amount by his standards, and posted a true shooting percentage of 56.0, his lowest mark since his rookie season. He had an uncharacteristically low conversion rate on catch-and-shoot attempts last season (43.6 percent) and on jumpers as a whole, he hit an extremely un-Dirk-like 41.1 percent.
While Nowitzki’s mid-post and perimeter-oriented game ages well on paper, the Mavericks are well-justified in cutting down on the wear and tear of their superstar as he moves into the twilight of his career, especially with the team looking like a longshot for playoff contention next season.
With generational counterpart Tim Duncan averaging 29.0 minutes per game over the last five regular seasons (as opposed to 32.3 per game for Nowitzki), the Mavericks understand the benefits of bridging that gap and will now look to preserve Dirk in these last few seasons of his NBA existence.
*Stats courtesy of NBA.com*
