Dirk Nowitzki was also present at Luka Doncic’s return to Dallas to support his friend. But the German basketball legend was mainly noticed for another reason.
Exactly six years ago, Dirk Nowitzki played his last home game for the Dallas Mavericks and this time the evening had something final about it. Luka Doncic played in Dallas for the first time since his trade in early February – but this time for the Lakers and Nowitzki was back at the American Airlines Center after a long time.
The Würzburg native was also present in Los Angeles for Doncic’s debut for the Lakers, and Nowitzki did not want to miss the return of the prodigal son either. The 46-year-old had recently been quite critical of the direction of the Mavericks, but on this evening the former big man had fun.
During the game, the camera caught Nowitzki, who was present with his wife, having fun with his new colleague Taylor Rooks. Rooks will start working as an Amazon presenter next season, with Nowitzki sitting alongside her as an expert in the studio in Los Angeles.
Nowitzki with hand grenade gesture
Rooks mimicked Ja Morant, who was recently first reprimanded and then fined by the NBA for making gun gestures. Nowitzki responded by making a hand gesture that was supposed to represent throwing a hand grenade. Morant, who has already been suspended twice by the NBA for showing a weapon in public, had also recently attracted attention with this gesture.
On the sidelines of the game, Nowitzki did not talk about Doncic. Instead, the German stayed in a box and did not sit on the sidelines, as was previously the case. Most recently, Nowitzki had admitted that he was hardly involved at all since the change of ownership, although he worked for the Mavericks as an external consultant after his career.
