Dirk Nowitzki had one of the best careers in the NBA. He spent 21 seasons playing for one franchise, the Dallas Mavericks. Fans adore the German icon because of the length of his career and his devotion to a single team. In a recent interview, he revealed that he wanted to have a retirement similar to one of his on-court rivals, Tim Duncan.
Similar to Nowitzki, Duncan spent his entire career with one franchise, the San Antonio Spurs. The five-time NBA champion retired from the league in 2016, ending his 19-year run with the Texas-based team. After he retired, the former star forward stayed away from the spotlight.
While Dirk Nowitzki tried to step away from the attention, he couldn’t turn down the offer to become an NBA analyst. This season, he debuted as a commentator for Amazon. He’s joined by Dwyane Wade, Brent Barry, Steve Nash, Blake Griffin and Candace Parker.
“I thought I was going to go the Tim Duncan route, and you’ll never see me again,” Nowitzki said. “But I’ve felt like I took a nice break here for six years. I thought originally that I’m going to go help the Mavs, obviously, in a front office-type role after I’m retired, and the more I’ve been out and traveling and young children, that wasn’t really in the cards.
Dirk Nowitzki, now part of Amazon's @NBAonPrime coverage, initially thought he would take the Tim Duncan route and disappear from the NBA space after playing 21 years with the Dallas Mavericks, per @TomerAzarly.
"I thought I was going to go the Tim Duncan route, and you'll never…
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 14, 2025
“For me, while I played, I never thought I’d be in the media space one day. If you would’ve asked me 10 years ago if I would be a TV analyst, I would have said, ‘you’re absolutely out of your mind.’ I never saw this coming, but this was a great opportunity.”
Dirk Nowitzki suggested that the Mavericks should’ve fired Nico Harrison last summer
Dirk Nowitzki is loyal to the team that honed him into a legend. Which is why he was surprised when the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic last season to the Los Angeles Lakers. Doncic was supposed to be the successor of the German icon. But things changed when former general manager Nico Harrison pulled the plug.
On Friday’s episode of “NBA on Prime,” Nowitzki suggested that the Mavericks should’ve fired Harrison last summer.
“This move should have probably happened this summer, honestly. I didn’t want this negative energy and this black cloud over the Cooper Flagg era. But here we are now,” Nowitzki said.
"It's time to move on now."
Dirk Nowitzki on the Mavs firing GM Nico Harrison. pic.twitter.com/8J9MvksVdm
— NBA on Prime (@NBAonPrime) November 14, 2025
“But now, I think it’s time to move on. It’s time to move on now, focus on this team, on this franchise. This definitely set the franchise back. But now it’s about building it back up.”
The Mavericks are now focused on building a future with Cooper Flagg.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
