Dirk Nowitzki Steps Back From Europe Comments

Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki reversed course Tuesday on a statement he made saying he would play professionally in Germany should a lockout occur in the NBA.

Speaking with The Dallas Morning News, Nowitzki said, If it's a long lockout, we all have to check over all our options.You don't want to lose a whole year. But that's a long, long way away. We don't know what's going to happen with the collective-bargaining and even then, there are a lot of other things that go into it. This was mainly just a bunch of speculation.

Nowitzki had previously stated he would seek to play in his homeland of Germany or elsewhere in Europe rather than sit out of competive basketball during an NBA lockout, which many are predicting as likely when the league's current collective bargaining agreement expires July 1.

Under NBA and FIBA bylaws, players who are under contract with an NBA team are prohibited from accepting a contract with a European or Asian league team, however it is likely that players union lawyers would argue that NBA contracts are not valid during a work stoppage.