NBA Free Agent Confessionals: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks

(Editor’s note: due to a surprisingly excessive amount of German profanity, this journal entry has been translated and censored for our younger audiences)

Dear Journal,

Ugh.

No amount of tequila can wash the taste of defeat from my mouth.

When is my chance going to come?

I’ve been there. I’ve been to the Finals.

If it wasn’t for Dwyane and his “free T-Mobile for six years” side-deal that he had with the refs, I’d be a champion.

I’m already an MVP, but that one final piece eludes me.

Honestly, this seemed like it could have been the year.

Granted, had we beaten San Antonio, our road to the Finals would have gone through Los Angeles, but who is to say that we couldn’t have competed?

We were the second seed, after all.

But now “The Jasons,” Caron, and I find ourselves on the outside looking in as my old teammate and fellow foreigner Stevie duels with Kobe in the Western Conference finals, leaving me to wallow in my own dismay and contemplate my future in this league.

While it is being slightly overshadowed by some other guy in Cleveland that is due to become a free agent, I do have a player option for next season.

But should I pick it up?

That’s what I can’t decide.

It sure is tempting, though...$21.5 million. That could easily buy enough Jose Cuervo to get me through the summer.

But I’ve called Dallas home for 12 years now and haven’t got any rings on my fingers.

It might be time to move on to somewhere that I can all but guarantee a championship.

The options are certainly out there.

I could follow the Benjamins and go to whoever could offer the most financial compensation, but with a stricter salary cap in a year in which teams are cost-cutting, just how much higher than my potential top-five salary can I get?

Kobe only made $23 million this year, so I can’t expect to top that (remember, there’s a reason he gets paid what he does. He has the rings, the MVPs, and the Nike commercials).

So I don’t think I can really make my decision based on money. Regardless of where I end up, I’ll be getting paid pretty well. Besides, it has never really been what I’m about, anyway,

In fact, don’t tell Mark, but I’d even play for a heck of a lot less than I’m making right now.

I’ve just been super consistent, productive, and somehow injury-proof and he just kept handing me money.

My father was a professional handball player in Germany. You think I was used to this luxurious lifestyle growing up?

But I will admit, I do like it.

Anyway, like I said—not about the money.

So how I determine where I end up will clearly have to be based solely on where I am most likely to win it all.

Look at how great Steve is doing this year. The Suns are down 2-0, but still. He’s one step away from the Finals!

And plenty of nay-sayers didn’t even think they’d make the playoffs this season.

I sure do miss playing with him.

I wonder if they’d consider taking me on.

Amar’e is likely out of there after this season, so I could just slip right into his role. Sure, it would completely change the dynamic of a winning team, but Phoenix is a team that relies on three-pointers.

And I don’t see Amar’e taking a whole lot of threes.

It’s a much less competitive division, as well. No Duncan, no Chris Paul, no Yao.

Just Kobe and..uhh..Baron Davis.

I’m kind of on the fence, though.

I could always try to wait and see how things play out with other free agents, too.

It’ll be a tough adjustment for me to be second-in-command on another squad, but if playing with LeBron, Dwyane, or Chris Bosh will get me what I have been working towards, I’m all for it.

Frankly, the group of free agents that is going to be out there this summer is stacked beyond belief.

It might be wisest if I were to buddy up with one, or maybe even two of them if I get lucky.

But should I wait to see where the big fish land or should I try to reel them in here?

Do I really want to pick up and move on at this point in my career?

Is it really all that unthinkable that I can’t win in Dallas?

Am I crazy for asking myself this many questions in journal-form?

The jury is still out on that one, but I should at least try to make up my mind about my future.

It seems as if Cuban has the pull to draw at least one of these big names in.  Even though the popular choice seems to be Chicago right now, there are still rumblings and mumblings of LeBron possibly coming to Dallas.

You know, as awkward as it is to picture him in a Mavs uniform, this might make sense.

We could easily complement each other. I could be the Pao to his Kobe. I can stay out of the lane to let him do his thing. If he’s having an off night, I can pick up the slack. This could work.

Plus, Cuban could market him like no other owner possibly could, which is definitely something that LeBron is looking for.

LeBron would be in town just in time for him and Mark to get a TV show together to headline the fall prime time season.

And I promise it would be nothing like “The Benefactor.”

The more I think about it, it’s all coming together.

I already have a legacy here; I wouldn’t want to tarnish it like LeBron is about to do when he leaves Cleveland.

I do feel like I deserve a championship, but the Dallas fans deserve it even more. They’ve been patiently waiting for me to bring it to them.

So all signals point toward staying here. I’m not sure what is missing from our lineup, but I’m sure Mark intends to find it this summer from a deep free-agent and draft class.

I can even help out by talking to some of these guys to woo them.

Time to start making some phone calls.

Thanks for listening.

-Dirk