If anyone knows what it takes to become a superstar in Dallas, it is Dirk Nowitzski. The NBA Hall of Famer spent his entire 21-year career playing for the Mavericks, winning a NBA championship (2011) and MVP (2017).
Trying to become a Maverick superstar himself, Cooper Flagg is set to make his NBA debut on Oct. 22 against the San Antonio Spurs. The former Duke star and No. 1 overall pick is being hyped as the next big thing in the NBA, so a lot of people will be there to give him advice.
Nowitzski is one of those guys.
“I’m not quite sure I can help him with advice,” he said per SI. “The only thing is keep your eyes and ears open. Keep learning from your veterans. He’s got some incredible players on the team now with Kyrie, obviously Klay. AD’s been around forever. There’s so much knowledge there that he can tap into and learn from.
“Ask questions. How are their pregame routines? What do they eat? How do they prepare for events? What do they do with appearances? How do they interact with the media? That was key for me at the beginning, watching Michael Finley, who was a true pro. Steve Nash, learning from them.”
Those are words that Flagg should probably listen to consider how Nowitzski’s career panned out.