Dirk Notwitzki isn't calling it a career like Kobe Bryant is after this season, but we all know the future Hall of Famer's time is winding down. And with that in mind, Sports Illustrated recently did a big profile on the Mavericks' sharpshooter that's well worth the read. But the magazine couldn't fit everything it wanted into the original story so there were plenty of leftover tidbits from the writer Chris Ballard's notebook that was emptied Monday including Nowitzki's reverence for Bryant, the prospects he'll have a Jeter/Bryant farewell tour, how he's secretly a G at tennis, and whether coaching is in his future.
When asked about his contemporaries, Nowitzki called Bryant the "greatest player of my time."
In the middle of his 18th year in the NBA, all with Dallas, Nowitzki is signed through this season and has a player option for next which he will likely exercise. Will the 6th leading scorer in NBA history be cool with the kind of farewell tour that Bryant and baseball legend Derek Jeter have enjoyed? Mavs owner Mark Cuban thinks so.
Teammate Chandler Parsons told SI that Nowitzki, who was ranked as a junior tennis player in his native Germany, has a killer serve.
As for what the future holds when he finally walks away, it won't be in coaching. Nowitzki said he's not cut out for it.
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