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"He meant so much to our franchise," Nowitzki said. "Not only on the court, where, to me, he's one of the best clutch shooters I ever played with, but also off the court. He was a great community man. Every other day, he was doing something, appearances left and right. He's just a guy with a huge heart. I wish him all the best this season and hopefully he gets the ovation that he deserves." Terry said he's gotten past the disappointment of the title team not being kept together, but he said it's been tough to watch his former team fight just to try to get to .500. He said his only emotions Friday night will be joyful. "I shed tears when I had to leave," Terry said, "so I don't think I've got any more left." ESPN.com

Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry 

”I feel bad for the kid,” said Dirk Nowitzki. “It’s sad. So many injuries. He’s been here for four years and he’s missed a lot of action. He broke his foot twice, dislocated numerous fingers and finally breaks his hand. It’s tough. We feel bad for him. But he’s a good kid. Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Rodrigue Beaubois, Injuries 

The whole package has raised the possibility that Wright might very well be a keeper for the Mavericks in this season of transition. “He’s been great,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “Obviously, he’s very athletic and uses his length and athleticism. He gets blocks and big rebounds. He runs the court very well. If there’s a fast break, he’s always one of the first ones down there. He’s been great for us the last couple weeks. Hopefully, he can keep it up.” Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Brandan Wright 

"Gotta say that I think LeBron's job is probably a little harder," Nowitzki said. "Messi can hide sometimes and only needs one genius touch to look good. LeBron can never hide. Eyes are always on him. But he's just such a better athlete than anyone we've ever seen. He just makes the game look easy." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, FC Barcelona, Spain, Lionel Messi 

Dirk Nowitzki, one of those three current Mavs who was on the championship team, still believes Jones has a legitimate shot to stick in the NBA if he can find the right situation. "I like Dominique, he was my man,'' Nowitzki told the Star-Telegram after Sunday morning's shoot around at the Target Center. "It's unfortunate. "I think he's got an NBA body, he's got the NBA strength. Hopefully he'll be able to find a job next year and he'll be able to play.'' Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Dominique Jones 

For those, and other personal reasons, Nowitzki, 34, would like to see all that repeated one more time before he hangs up his sneakers for good. "Once you win it all it's such a great feeling to see the excitement of the city and everything with the franchise,'' Nowitzki told the Star-Telegram after Friday morning's shoot around at The Palace of Auburn Hills. "It was an amazing feeling and I'd love to compete for it for the rest of my career.'' Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki 

"I think everybody accepted that and we moved forward and made the best out of it, we went for a free agent and didn't get it and we'll see what we do with the cap space this summer around. But we definitely need to make something happen to be up there again in the West.'' Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Free Agency, Dirk Nowitzki 

However, the Mavs were somewhat perturbed when Fisher signed his contract with the Thunder. The Mavs wanted to know what happened to the "I miss my family'' story Fisher told the Mavs? "If a guy says he misses his kids and his family, that’s really not much you can say,'' said Nowitkzi, who gave Fisher the benefit of the doubt. "And now it's already later in the season where he’s probably only away for a couple of months. "A man got to make a decision for himself sometimes, and that’s what he did.’’ Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Oklahoma City Thunder, Derek Fisher, Dirk Nowitzki 

Earl K. Sneed: Dirk: "It's not pretty, but there is some pride in this locker room. I've never quit in my career, and I'm not going to start now." Twitter @EarlKSneed

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki 

The Mavericks have made a habit of not looking backward for anything, and they don’t make an exception for Deron Williams. When the free agent from The Colony spurned the home-town team last summer to stay in Brooklyn with the Nets, the Mavericks refused to play the what-if game. “In free agency, we can’t always get what we want,” Dirk Nowitzki said. “It’s not a Wish concert. It didn’t go the way we wanted so we have to move on as a franchise.” As for wondering what might have happened if Williams had come home to the Mavericks, it’s not worth the mental effort. “It was over in July,” Nowitzki said. “We kept our cap space and we’ll see what happens this year.” Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Free Agency, Dirk Nowitzki 

Really, the question is, how much of a paycut is Nowitzki willing to take to help Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson try to construct a contender-quality roster? "Well, I think it's a little too early to look, honestly," Nowitzki said. "Basically the last couple of times, there was not much negotiating going on. It was, 'Give me money and I'll stay,' right? I gave him a little discount last time. "The CBA's changed. We'll talk about that when it gets to that point. I've still got this year and the full next year. We'll see what happens and where this franchise is. It all depends on a big summer. This is a big summer." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki 

After his most dominant performance of a frustrating season, Dirk Nowitzki declared he has no doubt he'll play for the Dallas Mavericks at least through the 2015-16 season. "When my [current] contract's up, I'm 36 and I'll definitely sign a couple more years," Nowitzki said after recording season highs of 30 points and 13 rebounds in Sunday's loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. "It's still fun, but I don't know if I'll play until 40. But when I'm 36, definitely sign one more deal, maybe two or three years." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki 

"Honestly, I had some doubts here when I came back," Nowitzki said. "It took so long. Is it ever going to come back? It was a tough stretch for me coming back from the surgery, but the way I feel now, I still think I can play a couple of years." ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki 

“They should have listened to Cuban and amnestied him this morning,” Dirk Nowitzki kidded after his 30-point, 13-rebound performance was overshadowed by a Kobe classic. Oh, Kobe did throw one verbal jab at Cuban after his dominant performance in Dallas. “We've always kind of marched to the beat of our own drum, but I'm sure if [Cuban] wants to amnesty Dirk, that's something we'll entertain,” Kobe said, essentially offering his fellow future Hall of Famer a spot on the Lakers’ roster next season. ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Mark Cuban 

Kevin Ding: Kobe also said postgame about @Mark Cuban: "I'm sure if he wants to amnesty Dirk, that's something that we'll entertain." Twitter @KevinDing

Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Mark Cuban 

“Once they (allowed zone defenses), they took a lot of the (one-on-on) game out, which was boring to watch. One guy would dribble five or six times on one side. I love Charles (Barkley), but he was backing up for 10 seconds until he was a foot from the basket. I don’t think that was a style people wanted to see. They put the zone in, which makes the iso(lation) and one-on-one game harder. Now it’s back to five-on-five. It’s more of the European game, passing game, all teams run motion now. All teams are passing and cutting and playing off each other. “It’s a fun way to play. Push the ball up and open guys got to be able to shoot the ball. These days, even the four and five men are shooting the ball. That’s where the league is going.” Barkley, of course, was the first to suggest last season that Nowitzki was entering the twilight of his career, mentioning that Father Time is undefeated. Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki, Charles Barkley 

Jordan plays his new favorite trivia game, asking which current players could be nearly as successful in his era. "Our era," he says over and over again, calling modern players soft, coddled and ill-prepared for the highest level of the game. This is personal to him, since he'll be compared to this generation, and since he has to build a franchise with this generation's players. "I'll give you a hint," he says. "I can only come up with four." He lists them: LeBron, Kobe, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki. As he's making his point, Yvette walks into the living room area and, in a tone of voice familiar to every husband who argues sports with his buddies, asks, "You guys need anything?" ESPN.com

LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Tim Duncan 

So as a shot artist, what other shots do you admire around the league? I’m not talking about something as general as Ray Allen’s jumper. I’m talking specific shots. Dirk Nowitzki: I'm such a dork, still. This is my 15th year and I still sit, when my wife's asleep, I sit there and watch League Pass. I do it from sometimes 9 p.m. till 12:30 a.m., until the West Coast games are over. I was always a huge fan of Kobe. Obviously, he's now on the declining end, like most of us older guys, but the stuff he does … They are never out of a game. When I get home, at like 11 p.m., I know the fourth quarter will just be starting in L.A., and I'll sit down and watch him basically will his team to win with some incredible shots. Grantland

Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki 

Kobe’s footwork in the post is obviously legendary. Oh yeah. The athleticism, the balance in the air, the lefty shots. He made a 3 on us one year in the corner. The shot clock was winding down, and he had to spin around and just shoot it lefty. To me, he's the no. 1 player over the 15 years I've been in this league. Grantland

Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki 

People write all the time about how your emergence as a jump-shooting big man — and your team’s success — literally changed the NBA. Do you ever think about your career in terms like that? I don't really think that way. Honestly, when I first got in the league, it was a lot of back-to-the-basket pounding. Charles [Barkley] would back the ball in for 15 seconds. Over the years, the game has changed, with me spreading the floor, and now almost every team has to have a spread [power forward]. Almost no one plays with two bigs anymore. And obviously they changed the rules — they put in the five-second back-down rule, and you can play zone. The game changed. There's more movement and teams playing together instead of just one-on-one pounding. There is still some of that, but the game has become European again. More five guys, more movement. Grantland

Dallas Mavericks, Dirk Nowitzki