{"id":549076,"date":"2026-01-20T15:33:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/549076\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T15:33:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:33:23","slug":"dirk-nowitzki-on-why-he-wont-be-the-mavericks-next-gm-i-like-my-life-the-way-it-is-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/549076\/","title":{"rendered":"Dirk Nowitzki on why he won’t be the Mavericks\u2019 next GM: “I like my life the way it is right now”"},"content":{"rendered":"

After Nico Harrison\u2019s highly publicized departure as general manager of the Dallas Mavericks<\/a>, many fans argued who could potentially take his place.<\/p>\n

The most popular choice by far is Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki<\/a>. The Hall of Famer spent his illustrious 21-year career in Dallas and is undoubtedly the franchise\u2019s greatest player.<\/p>\n

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It wouldn\u2019t be that much of a surprise for Dallas to offer Nowitzki the full-time general manager position, given that he already served as the team\u2019s special consultant in the past. The organization also currently employs a former Maverick, Michael Finley, as the team\u2019s interim general manager alongside longtime assistant general manager Matt Riccardi.<\/p>\n

But in an interview with Sports Illustrated, Nowitzki put all the talk to rest, declaring that, at this point, he has no intention of managing the Mavericks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t think the GM role is something I’m considering right now,\u201d he stated<\/a>. \u201dI always thought that when I retired, I’d immediately move into management with the Mavericks. However, the longer I was out of the business after my playing career ended, the less interesting it became to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not on Nowitzki\u2019s radar for now<\/p>\n

Nowitzki already has his hands full. He has served as an analyst for Amazon Prime\u2019s NBA broadcasts since the start of the season and has been leading the FIBA Players\u2019 Commission since 2019.<\/p>\n

The rigorous responsibilities of a general manager, including drafting, trading and signing players, are just too much for Nowitzki to take on right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s an incredibly intense job, 24\/7, all year round,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s an absolute full-time job that I couldn’t imagine doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ultimately, after a long career in the NBA, Nowitzki is still enjoying retirement and prioritizing more time for his family and other responsibilities. Despite this, he did not completely rule out the possibility of a change of heart at some point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like my life the way it is right now. I enjoy having things going on with my roles at Prime and the FIBA \u200b\u200bPlayers’ Committee, but I also still have plenty of time for my family and children. That’s why I don’t see a GM role in my immediate future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Related: “He threw me a $1,000 chip. I played $500, and put the other $500 in my pocket” – Dwyane Wade recalls first meeting Allen Iverson at a casino<\/a><\/p>\n

Nowitzki\u2019s role as an analyst<\/p>\n

Nowitzki can be seen regularly on Prime alongside a rotation of fellow former players, including Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade, John Wall and Udonis Haslem, analyzing the games and news from around the league.<\/p>\n

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The show has received praise for its balance of witty commentary and thorough basketball analysis. It is also seen by basketball purists as a breath of fresh air compared to other basketball shows, thanks to how Nowitzki and his fellow hosts approach it: passion and analysis are at the forefront, not hot-topic discussions.<\/p>\n

And while basketball knowledge is not a problem for Nowitzki, he admits that after being out of the league for almost seven years, he needed a refresher on the league today.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe challenge is finding a balance between criticism, analysiscand celebrating the game. And: Since I ended my career, basketball has changed dramatically. So I had to get back into it, researching teams and players. But it’s all incredibly fun,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Whether or not Nowitzki becomes the Mavericks\u2019 general manager, his name will surely remain in the conversation. After all, it\u2019s hard to imagine him doing a worse job than the person who traded the franchise\u2019s generational talent, Luka Doncic.<\/p>\n

Related: “There were times going into a series that I hated Dirk” – Kevin Durant reminisces on battles vs. Dirk Nowitzki after scoring milestone<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Basketball Network<\/a> on Jan 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News<\/a> section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After Nico Harrison\u2019s highly publicized departure as general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, many fans argued who could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,2545,686,149,4057,1105,572,178,1916,368,166,13147,6,490,4785],"class_list":["post-549076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-mavericks","tag-basketball","tag-blake-griffin","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dallasmavericks","tag-dirk-nowitzki","tag-dwyane-wade","tag-ja-morant","tag-john-wall","tag-luka-doncic","tag-mavericks","tag-michael-finley","tag-nba","tag-the-mavericks","tag-udonis-haslem"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115928157610313151","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}