NBA: Nowitzki interview:”Gives you a lot if you can do good things.”

Dirk Nowitzki is ahead of his 20th birthday at the Dallas Mavericks.NBA season.SPOX spoke to the living legend about his summer, the expectations of Dennis Smith and Maxi Kleber – and the social responsibility of famous athletes.

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SPOX: Dirk, let’s start with, have you been following the EM?How do you rate the achievements of the Germans, especially Dennis Schröder?Did the good result surprise you?

Dirk Nowitzki: Unfortunately, I couldn’t see a complete game.Most of the games took place when we were in the training hall.Of course, I was able to follow it on Twitter and online anyway.I was really glad they played well.The quarter-finals are a good result.According to what I have heard and read, they also had a good chemistry and even against Spain it looked pretty good up to the halfway point.I think not only Dennis, but also the other young players who were there showed a good performance.You don’t have to worry about German basketball.

SPOX: And what about you?How do your legs feel before the age of 20?Season?Since when are you going to be in competition again?

Nowitzki: I am very well.The summer was very long, because we were not in the playoffs.I have therefore spent a lot of holidays with my family, and since mid-September I have been back in training here again.It’s a slightly different feeling from 19 years ago, when you were bursting with energy, but I still have a lot of fun and hope to help the team.

SPOX: How has the off-season changed for you over the years?Since they started a family, the priorities have certainly shifted a bit?

Nowitzki: Sure, it’s such a mixture of both.This year I was able to start basketball a little earlier than last year when I had Achilles tendon problems.I started throwing and running again in June, last year I didn’t start that until August.I’ve always tried to do something, both in the gym and in the gym.But time with the family should not be missed out either.We have been on holiday in Europe and Africa – that was almost six weeks altogether.We also had a lot of experiences away from basketball.This was certainly different in the past.

SPOX: You were first in summer as a holidaymaker in Africa, then as part of the NBA at the Africa Game.What do you get out of it?What was the experience of visiting a township?

Nowitzki: It was a unique experience.First I was with the family in Kenya, a really breathtaking country, and then we went on to South Africa.It was great that we not only played basketball and introduced the locals to the sport, but also the community service there meant a lot to me.It is depressing to see how many people live in poverty.There’s a lot to do if you can do them good.You should never forget how privileged you live your life and that others were not so lucky.Then, of course, we had the game that we won.All in all, it was an experience I will never forget.

SPOX: The southern part of the USA, especially Texas, has now been hit by several hurricanes, you quickly announced that you would donate.What do such disasters do to a region?Does this also show the special role of athletes?NFL star J. J.Watt, for example, raised over $30 million in donations in Houston.

Nowitzki: It’s madness, of course, what happens there.When you see the pictures, you can hardly believe that nature can have such a destructive force, which has caused a lot of misery among people.It is therefore important that actors and athletes use their roles in this way.In such disasters, famous people can use their status to collect donations – I think that is their responsibility.For us “celebrities” it is easy to reach as many people as possible via Twitter or other social media.I got J. J.I never thought it would explode like this.I’m sure he did a great job.

SPOX: Let’s take a look at the coming season.What do you expect from Dennis Smith?

Nowitzki: Dennis is a fantastic athlete, who will give us and the fans a lot of pleasure.I’ve seen some of his stuff in training that hasn’t been shown here in my 20 years as a Point Guard.He’s so explosive and so fast, that’s insane.He also makes really good decisions in the field for his age.Of course, for a rookie, this will all be a bit too much for a rookie, if you want to direct the game, but I will help him with the conversion.I think he can have a long and successful career and become the franchise player here.Everything is possible for him – he reminds me a bit of Russell Westbrook.

Page 1: Nowitzki on the EM, its summer and social responsibility

Site 2: Nowitzki about Noel, Kleber and the goals of the Mavs