It’s been an interesting few years for Dirk Nowitzki and his relationship with the only franchise he’s ever known: the Dallas Mavericks.
It seems Nowitzki and former general manager Nico Harrison didn’t really see eye-to-eye, understandably, and that pushed Nowitzki away from the franchise. Once Harrison sent former head athletic trainer Casey Smith away and then traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, Nowitzki separated himself from all of it.
Harrison was unsurprisingly fired in November, replaced by Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz this offseason.
Everyone has been wondering if that means Nowitzki will get back in the fold.
“It’s hard to predict, especially with the Amazon gig. We do a lot of traveling for that,” Nowitzki revealed to Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News. “I was gone for weeks at a time. It’s going to be hard to be full-time, but Masai and I have exchanged numerous texts over the summer. We have some history, so I’m sure as time goes on here, we’re gonna meet up and talk relationship, talk Mavs, and when the time is right, I’m sure we’re going to start that conversation, but as of now, we just exchanged some texts, and that’s really that.”
Nowitzki was brought onto the Amazon Prime studio show last year, which saw a lot of success in its first season. There was a lot of natural humor and basketball knowledge from him and Blake Griffin, and it should only get better now that they’re more comfortable for next year.
Mavericks fans would obviously love to have Nowitzki back in the fold. They were a PR nightmare for nearly a year, and while ownership has started to see the error in their ways, getting Nowitzki back would be massive in repairing the relationship with the fans.
Dec 13, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; NBA on Amazon studio analyst Dirk Nowitzki during the NBA Cup semifinals at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Bring Dirk Nowitzki Back
It goes without saying that the Mavericks need to find a way to repair this relationship. Having Masai Ujiri as the one in charge is great because of the respect he has from everyone around the NBA, and it seems he already has a history with Nowitzki.
It doesn’t have to be a major role. He can be a consultant or an advisor, or they can even make up a title for him, but this has to be something fixed.
Nowitzki is too important to the history of the franchise and the fanbase for him to not be involved somehow.
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