Dirk Nowitzki: 6 Signs We're Seeing the Beginning of the End

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki reached the pinnacle of his NBA career when he led the Mavs to an NBA championship.

Things haven't gone according to plan though as Nowitzki began his 14th NBA season.

His numbers are down, his knees are killing him, and the team hasn't got off to the best start in the world.

Nowitzki will be 34 years old in June and while he's still a productive player, we could be witnessing the beginning of the end of his great career.

That's not to say that he won't come back and have success, but eventually he's going to have to begin to slow down.

Here's a look a few reasons why that time could be approaching quickly.

His Knees

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

While his current knee problems aren't serious, it's not a good sign for a player his age to start to develop knee pain.

There's been a lot of mileage on those knees throughout his lengthy career so it would be understandable if they started to slow him down.

Motivation

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

He has his ring.

He's accomplished almost everything else a player can accomplish.

If Dallas isn't in the championship hunt in the next year or two, what motivation will Nowitzki have to keep going?

He doesn't strike me as a player that would play just for a pay check, even a really big one.

Scoring

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The 17.5 points Nowitzki is averaging is his lowest total since the 1999-00 season, his second in the league.

If he's not scoring effectively, he's usually a guy that can help out in other areas, but not this year.

Overall Production

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

His overall numbers are down across the board as well, especially when it comes to rebounding and assists when he's hit career lows since his first year as a starter in 1999-00.

He's only averaging 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per night and across the board, the numbers aren't Nowitzki-like.

Production is what it's all about and if the numbers keep falling, then we very well could be looking at the end being very close.

Shooting

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

I wanted to separate the shooting numbers from the rest of his production because they tell a story of their own.

Nowitzki is the best shooting big man of all time and right now he just can't shoot the ball consistently.

That's likely related to the knees and conditioning, but if his stroke doesn't come back then he's half the player he once was.

He's connecting from the floor at a .456 rate, which is the worst number he's put up since his rookie season of 1998-99. In comparison, Nowitzki made nearly 52 percent of his attempts a season ago.

Even worse is the 23 percent he's connecting on from behind the arc. That's close to a 17 percent drop off from last season. He's a guy that has knocked the three down at a 38 percent clip throughout his career and he looks bad shooting it right now.

Pride

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Nowitzki is a proud guy. If he isn't performing at a level that meets his expectations, which are likely higher then anyone else's, it would be hard to imagine him hanging around too long as a mediocre player.

He could get healthy and start lighting things up again, but if he continues to struggle then the end could be closer then anyone thinks.