Will Dirk Nowitzki Retire In 2019? Dallas Mavericks Star Reveals His Mindset

Dallas Mavericks veteran Dirk Nowitzki will make a decision on retirement dependent on how the upcoming 2018/19 season goes.

Nowitzki, 40, will be entering his 21st year in the upcoming season and even though he has naturally declined as the years have gone by, the future Hall of Famer and arguably best European player of all time still features for the Dallas side.

The German averaged 12.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game in the 77 games he played in last season in what was an ultimately forgettable campaign for the Mavericks, who finished the regular season with a 28-54 record.

But with the Dallas franchise signing DeAndre Jordan, as well as drafting the likes of Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson, things are looking promising next season and Nowitzki, who had surgery in the offseason, may continue playing on if he is able to feature consistently like last season.

"I’m going to make that decision [about retirement], I guess, once obviously I see how the season goes,” Nowitzki said, as per Mavs.com. "I almost played the entire season last year, was healthy and obviously could have played almost every game."

"I decided to have surgery early, but if next year is going to go sort of the same, then hey, maybe, and we’ll leave the door open and I’m going to play another (season). But I want to approach this as if there is no tomorrow and then just hopefully have a great year. I’m going to try to be efficient again as I’ve often tried my entire career. We’ll just go from there, but hopefully it’s going to be a lot more fun than last year," he added.

Not that Nowitzki needed it, but he cemented himself as a Mavericks legend when he helped the city to a first-ever championship when they defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.

However, the Mavericks have missed the playoffs in three of the last six seasons, and have not gotten past the first round since their triumph in 2011.

If they fail to make the playoffs this year, it will mark the first time since their barren run in the nineties that they have not made the postseason for three consecutive years. What should they do differently this season to make sure that's not the case?

"The key is, I guess, for us to have a better start," Nowitzki explained. "I think for us that was a little tough last year to kind of have a tough schedule in November last year and then to pile the losses up on a younger team, so that was just a little frustrating."

"So hopefully we can get a little energy going and get everybody excited and positive about the team and then hopefully play well."

The Mavericks open up their regular season campaign against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 17.