Dirk Turns Down Nets Assistant Coaching Job, Doesn’t Want to Be Anywhere Except Dallas
If you're building at Mount Rushmore for Dallas sports icons. Dirk Nowitzki must be on EVERY single person's list.
It's very rare when you have a player spend two decades with one organization. Dirk Nowitzki played his entire 21 year career with the Dallas Mavericks. Sadly, all careers must come to an end and Dirk retired in 2019. Dirk seems to be enjoying retirement, but it looks a job offer recently came down from a former teammate.
Steve Nash who spent time with Dirk on the Mavericks from 1998-2004 recently became the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. He apparently offered Dirk an assistant coach position with the team. Dirk turned the offer down for two reasons, which he recently discussed in an interview.
"First of all, I don't know if I could do it anywhere but here. Second, I just think the timing is not right. I love being with the family. I'm so over basketball at this point that it wasn't even a thought for me." Dirk is enjoying life right now and is beloved here in Dallas. I don't think any fan would ever be mad at him for taking a coaching job somewhere else, since his entire playing career was here in Dallas.
Mark Cuban has said Dirk has standing offer from the Mavericks to come back to the team in any capacity. Which I think would be awesome. I would love him on commentary just once a month during the season. When he was injured one year, they gave him a mic on the bench and it was one of my favorite games to watch. You can see it in the video above. Sorry about the video being choppy, the audio is all you need to hear.
Dirk also gave praise to his former teammate in his new coaching position. "To me, he was one of the most positive teammates I've ever been around. I think he's going to be great. He'll learn more about the timeout situations, play-calling and stuff like that, but he already has what it takes to be a natural leader to me." We will see how Nash transitions into coaching in the upcoming season.