If Dirk Nowitzki wanted to, he could have made a lot of money this offseason. Because according to ESPN's Marc Stein, both the Lakers and the Rockets offered the Mavericks superstar max deals. But Nowitzki turned both of those teams down in order to sign a new three-year deal with Dallas worth about $25 million over three years. And the $25 million is actually significantly less than the $30 million deal that was reported last week, meaning Nowitzki is taking a bit of a pay cut right now just to stay in Dallas.
The truth of the matter is that Nowitzki isn't going to be hard up for cash anytime soon, so he probably won't ever regret turning down max deals this summer. But it's crazy to think that he's going to be making way less than he potentially could simply to stay with a team that might not even be good enough to win a single playoff series next season. We'll just have to wait and see if his gamble—and his loyalty to the Mavs—pays off in the years to come.
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[via SB Nation]
