Dirk Nowitzki set another NBA record Monday after the Mavericks announced he's re-signed with the team for his 21st season in Dallas.
The signing, Nowitzki's 13th re-signing, makes him the only player in NBA history to suit up for a single franchise for 21 seasons.
He was previously tied for 20 seasons with Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavericks have not confirmed the details of the deal, but The Dallas Morning News reports it's a 1 year deal worth about $5 million.
"It's the same amount of money he would have been guaranteed had the Mavericks picked up the second year of the contract Nowitzki signed in 2017. However, for salary cap purposes, they needed to renounce that deal to free up money in free agency. It turned out they didn't need that cash to acquire DeAndre Jordan, so they re-signed Nowitzki to essentially the same deal," the paper said.
The Dallas Mavericks are celebrating another season of their superstar with the Golden Dirk Bobblehunt - a 10-week interactive scavenger hunt.
The Dallas Mavericks, in their news release confirming Nowitzki's re-signing, included a list of highlights from Dirk's illustrious 20-year NBA career. That list is below.
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He has guided the Mavericks toward many of the team’s greatest achievements. Nowitzki led Dallas to its first-ever 60-win season in 2002-03, first NBA Finals appearance in 2006, a franchise-high 67 wins in 2006-07 and to the organization’s first World Championship when the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals.
Nowitzki (7-0, 245), the most decorated Maverick in franchise history, is a 13-time NBA All-Star, earned All-NBA Team honors 12 consecutive years (2000-12), was named Most Valuable Player of the 2006-07 season and was MVP of the 2011 NBA Finals. He is a six-time Western Conference Player of the Month, a 16-time Western Conference Player of the Week, has competed in the All-Star Saturday Night Three-Point Contest four times, was the 2014 Magic Johnson Award recipient and was named the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year in 2017.
The career Maverick holds averages of 21.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 34.4 minutes in 1,471 games (1,440 starts) and holds the franchise’s top-spot in several categories including points, rebounds, field goals, three-point field goals, free throws, blocks, games, starts and minutes.
In the NBA Playoffs, Nowitzki’s game elevates to average 25.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 40.6 minutes in 145 postseason games (145 starts). He has led the Mavericks to three Western Conference Finals and two NBA Finals while moving into first place in several of the franchise’s postseason categories including points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, field goals, free throws and games.
On March 17, 2017, Nowitzki became just the sixth player in NBA history and first international player to register 30,000 career points. He currently sits at 31,187 career points, just 232 points behind the great Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) for fifth place on the all-time scoring list. Among other all-time NBA lists, he ranks 27th in rebounds, eighth in field goals, 11th in three-point field goals, sixth in free throws, fifth in games and third in minutes.
Nowitzki has also served as a pioneer for European players becoming the first European-born player to earn First Team All-NBA (04-05), start an All-Star Game (2007, Las Vegas) and be named the MVP (06-07).
The Wurzburg, Germany, native was the ninth overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft and was acquired through a draft day trade with the Milwaukee Bucks. Nowitzki re-signed with the Mavericks on Oct. 22, 2001. He then signed a contract extension with Dallas on Sept. 26, 2006, re-signed on July 9, 2010, re-signed again on July 15, 2014, re-signed again on July 27, 2016 and re-signed once more on July 6, 2017.
