[外電] Nowitzki ready to get on court
Source: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nba/news/story?id=4510003
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Nowitzki ready to get on court
Updated: September 28, 2009, 3:20 AM ET / By Marc Stein
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Dirk Nowitzki played less basketball this offseason than he ever has in his
life, which is one of the reasons he thought it might be the longest
offseason of his life.
He was happily proven wrong.
Nowitzki returned to the United States on Friday after some four months away
feeling refreshed and excited about training camp for the first time he can
remember. Insisting that he's "doing fine" as he moves past the off-court
turmoil in his life, Nowitzki described himself as "fired up" as he steps
into his 12th NBA season, clearly antsy after taking a break from
national-team duty.
In a phone interview shortly before he flew back to Dallas, Nowitzki
confessed to ESPN.com that he thought it was "going to be a tough summer"
following the arrest of his ex-fiancee at his home in May during the Dallas
Mavericks' second-round playoff series and the subsequent claims by Crista
Taylor -- which have since proven to be unfounded -- that she was carrying
Nowitzki's child.
"But I think everybody who's seen me recently knows I'm doing fine and knows
that I had a pretty decent summer," Nowitzki told ESPN.com. "I did some fun
things, did a little traveling. It was not as bad as I thought. And I'm
actually excited about camp, which the last 10-11 years I haven't been
because I always played [for Germany] in the summer.
"When it all first happened during the playoffs, I thought I would really be
thinking about it all the time, all day, every day. But I came home [in late
May] and took a great vacation [to Crete, Greece] with my family. In tough
times, I think my family has always been there for me and they were again
this year. They took my mind off all this stuff. I got to enjoy [sister
Silke's two] kids and I was already doing a lot better after that. It just
got better and better and got to the point where I didn't even think about
[the situation] for long periods of time."
Nowitzki was on a league-sponsored Basketball Without Borders trip in South
Africa in September with fellow stars Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh and a few
other players when he found out that a pregnancy test given to Taylor --
which had been sought by Nowitzki's legal team through a court order -- had
been confirmed as negative.
"A little weight came off the shoulders," Nowitzki said. "I was [mostly]
worried about that because the situation for the kid wouldn't have been the
best, so it's the best situation now that she's not pregnant.
"But if she would have been pregnant, I think I would have managed, too. I'm
31 years old. I would have taken the responsibility and I would have handled
it."
Asked how he reacted to the news in August that Taylor received a five-year
prison sentence for violating terms of her probation in Missouri from a
decade-old forgery and felony theft case, Nowitzki said: "It is what it is.
Those are things she did way before I ever knew her. ... For me, it's over.
I'm ready to move on."
Nowitzki acknowledged that he knows he'll get some questions about Taylor at
the Mavericks' annual media day Monday, since the bulk of his interviews on
the subject have been in his native Germany in recent weeks. He repeatedly
deflected personal questions during Dallas' five-game series with the
Nuggets. But he said he also plans to tell the assembled media that "this is
going to be my last time talking about it."
"I just want to move on and play," Nowitzki said. "Let's get the season
going. I really miss playing basketball on a high level. This was the first
time in the summer that I didn't compete on a high level and I miss
competing.
"I'm really looking forward to meeting all the new guys because we made some
good moves. Obviously I think [Shawn] Marion can help us on both ends of the
floor, address some [of Dallas' lack of] athletic ability. I think [Quinton]
Ross is going to be able to guard some scoring 2s that have given us trouble.
I think [Drew] Gooden is a nice piece. Tim Thomas gives us more shooting,
which we need.
"I'm fired up. I'm ready to get this whole thing started. I'm ready to focus
on having a great season."
The Mavericks are similarly optimistic about Nowitzki's mindset and freshness
after a joint decision by Nowitzki and owner Mark Cuban for the 7-footer to
skip the recent European Championships in Poland. Coupled with nine
completely basketball-free weeks at the start of the summer, withdrawing from
the national team gave Nowitzki an unprecedented amount of recovery time
after he produced huge numbers against Denver -- averaging 34.4 points and
11.6 rebounds -- in spite of the public nature of the drama in his personal
life.
"It was tough for me to watch [Germany play] on TV, knowing I could have
helped, but I think mentally it was a great decision to get away and not
always be under pressure in the summer and kind of relax," Nowitzki said. "It
was great for the mental state of my game, so I can start fresh when I get
back, mentally and physically."
Asked about the Mavericks' outlook as a group, Nowitzki said: "It's very
important for us to keep Josh [Howard] healthy. When he was healthy last
year, we were pretty good, so hopefully with this [ankle] surgery that he had
he's going to be able to stay healthy. When he's out there, I think we're a
different team.
"I still think we can be a dangerous team. We can play big with [Erick
Dampier] at the 5. We can go really small with me at the 5 and Marion at the
4. Now we're so long, we should actually be a pretty decent defensive team. I
think we can do a lot of things once we're all healthy.
"But I also understand that the West is still a beast. I like all the moves,
but all the good teams got even better, so I'm kind of curious to see where
we fit in in the West."
It's also a big season for Nowitzki because he has the option to opt out of
the final year of his contract and join the free agent class of 2010. Team
sources say that the Mavericks' intent is to sign Nowitzki to an extension
before he ever hits the open market, but those talks might actually be put
off until next summer because Nowitzki continues to suggest that he won't opt
out and instead play out the 2010-11 season with Dallas at $21.5 million.
Cuban likewise gives the impression that he expects Nowitzki to complete his
current deal, telling ESPN.com: "I foresee not talking about [Nowitzki's
contract situation] with the media at all during the year and we have all
next summer to discuss."
Nowitzki described his relationship with Cuban as "stronger than ever" when
his withdrawal from the national team was announced in August. He reiterated
this week that he doesn't intend to give the opt-out issue deep consideration
until after the playoffs.
"I still haven't really thought about it that much," Nowitzki said. "I always
said I wanted to finish my career in Dallas and nothing that happened the
last two years has changed that. As far as I'm concerned, I'm thinking about
playing this contract to the end and we'll go from there. We all know, in
this business, things can change in a heartbeat. But as of now, I don't plan
on opting out. I plan on finishing my career in Dallas."
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