Dirk Nowitzki Says He Plans to Return to Mavericks for 20th Season

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki said Friday that he intends to return in 2017-18 for his 20th NBA season.

Nowitzki revealed the news to ESPN's Marc Stein on the TrueHoop Conversations podcast (h/t ESPN.com) when asked if playing next season is a lock: "I think so ... unless something drastic changes here in the next few weeks or the last few weeks of the season, which I don't anticipate. I said last summer: I signed a two-year deal [and] that obviously meant I want to play for two more. I want to complete that deal."

The Germany native will be 39 years old at the start of the 2017-18 campaign.

Nowitzki also admitted playing 20 seasons with the same team is a motivating factor in his likely return: 

"

Twenty is a great number. I think 20 seasons also with one team, like I'm trying to do it—I think only Kobe [Bryant] has done it—that's another great accomplishment. So I kinda want to make the 20 fold. Plus that summer I'm turning 40. I think that's also a good number to be in the league ... from 20 to 40. That's what I'm looking at.‎ Hopefully I'll finish this season out strong, and then have a decent year, hopefully not as [many] injuries next year.

"

The 13-time All-Star has appeared in only 34 games this season due largely to an Achilles injury.

That has led to his worst production since his rookie season in 1998-99, as he is averaging 13.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.

The 7-footer is still an effective player when healthy, though, as he put up 18.3 points per game in 75 contests last season, and averaged 20.4 points per game for the Mavs in the playoffs.

Nowitzki is a surefire future Hall of Famer with an NBA championship, NBA Finals MVP and NBA regular-season MVP on his resume.

He also ranks sixth in NBA history with nearly 30,000 points scored.

Dallas is 3.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference at 24-36, which puts it in danger of missing the postseason for just the second time in this millennium.

The Mavericks have gone younger by moving on from veterans Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut this season, but Nowitzki remains the unquestioned face of the franchise.

Provided Nowitzki can get healthy for the 2017-18 campaign to combine with the likes of Harrison Barnes, Wesley Matthews, Nerlens Noel, Yogi Ferrell and Seth Curry, the Mavericks have enough talent to give him one more playoff run.