The fourth annual Dirk Nowitzki Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic was at SMU Sunday. The retired NBA star and some of his famous friends hit the court to raise money for children's charities of the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation.
Nowitzki may be retired, but he's still receiving cheers from the North Texas community.
"We are thrilled to do this event again and have the support from celebs who fly in from across the country," Nowitzki said.
"All the effort and goodwill and kindness that he's shown, it's important for me to support that," Nowitzki's former teammate Steve Nash said.
Nash was not the only one who felt that way. Mavs' superstar Luke Doncic also swung the racket. Professional tennis player John Isner was on hand to lend his support, though the commute to SMU for the Dallas resident was not nearly as long as it was for some of the other competitors.
"I had to come all but a half of a mile to participate," Isner said. "This is where I practice most of the time at SMU, so last year during the event my daughter was born on that day so I couldn't make it. Wife would get mad at me if I did."
It was a hot day at SMU, so the air-conditioned suite was the perfect place for tennis lovers to come cool off. It also gave them a chance to check out another cool sporting event going on at the exact same time: the Cowboys-Redskins football game.
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"We were debating, should we put a couple of screens up inside and have the game on," Nowitzki said. "But then nobody would come out and watch us play some bad tennis."
Nothing is bad when it's for such a good cause.
