The Mavericks have not moved on from Dirk Nowitzki. But he’s passively moved on. The Dunking Deutschman remains a Dallas resident, participates in the local community, and supports his team. However, a regular presence in the team he is not. Nowitzki is turning his focus to Los Angeles. No, not Luka Doncic. No rift with the Mavs as the rumors made it out to be, either. He’s just shifting gears to his new career as a sportscaster. And it’s a move that will put some distance between himself and his old team.

While sitting down with the Dallas-based WFAA, Nowitzki admitted his new career will take priority over his past role with the Mavs. “I’ll be obviously a phone call away if ever needed, but of course I’m gonna concentrate on the Amazon Prime gig, looking forward to that,“ he shared. This explains why he has not been a regular presence on a day-to-day basis the last two years, a situation he says won’t be changing.

The 2025-26 NBA season will bring new things for Nowitzki, who will be a headliner for Prime‘s new NBA media. With Amazon Prime in the new media landscape, the shift to streaming is going to be a huge adjustment not only for fans but also for the former players now in this new dynamic. Nowitzki is excited for it, even though it will take some spare time away from the Mavs.

Dirk will return to a life of traveling for NBA games and being more involved in the sport in real time, instead of lending expertise in an undefined front office-like role (the special advisor duties were never specified, like Udonis Haslem’s player development role at the Miami Heat). He has the added advantage of being able to spend more time with his family while still enjoying a scaled-down NBA lifestyle.

He’s given the Mavs open season on the Bat Signal (or Dirk Signal if you will). But they just moved a little lower on Dirk’s list of priorities.

What “getting back in the mix” looks like for Dirk Nowitzki

Dallas is Dirk Nowitzki’s home, and that won’t change. It’s only the Mavericks he’s putting in the backseat so he can look ahead to his new career.

He is one of the headliners of Prime’s new NBA media with Blake Griffin, Dwyane Wade, and Udonis Haslem. While D-Wade and Griffin already reside in LA, Dirk and UD are going to travel there at least once a week to record the live broadcast. It’s obviously going to consume a lot of Dirk’s time.

“You know, gotta go to LA almost once a week, almost the entire season,” he told WFAA. “I’m looking forward to following the, you know, I’ve watched obviously some Mavs games the last few years, but I haven’t really followed that league that closely, so it’s time to really get back in the mix again, watch more games, and really get immersed again in the whole NBA life. So, looking forward to it.”

Of course, the Mavs aren’t totally in the rearview. When he said he’s a phone call away, it was quite literal. Dirk Nowitzki revealed he’s had a few text exchanges with Cooper Flagg and offered helpful advice to him. This kind of connection to the team seems a better fit for the franchise legend than creating a role for him.

The vague distance created a publicity nightmare for the Mavs after the recent Luka Doncic trade. Nowitzki had a close connection with Doncic and even supported him by attending Lakers games. A narrative spun that Dirk is distancing himself from the team because of Nico Harrison’s decisions. However, he admitted he had stepped back from the team a long time ago.

In a past role as “special advisor” to the team in 2021, he attended his first training camp, made notes, and passed them along to the staff, but realized he wasn’t cut out for that kind of hands-on, day-to-day role. He admitted he wasn’t watching that much of the NBA either, let alone Mavs games, as he was navigating the post-NBA emptiness.