The Dallas Mavericks are in a state of transition. After firing general manager Nico Harrison earlier this season, the team’s front office is being restructured to build around rookie #1 pick Cooper Flagg. Now, fans believe a familiar comfort is needed to truly build a sense of stability around the franchise, and there’s no better move than to bring back franchise legend Dirk Nowitzki. Now, he has given his own verdict.

“I don’t think the GM role is something I’m considering right now,” Nowitzki told an interviewer before the NBA’s Berlin game between the Orlando Magic and the Memphis Grizzlies.

He continued, “I always thought that when I retired, I’d immediately move into management with the Mavericks. However, the longer I was out of the business after my playing career ended, the less interesting it became to me.”

Unfortunately, his answer wasn’t the one Mavs fans were hoping for. With a few quick words, Nowitzki shut down any speculation about a reunion, adding that time away from the grind has changed his perspective on it. His reasoning was solid.

Being a general manager is a relentless job. You have to be active 24/7 that stretches even beyond the NBA season, and work only intensifies in the offseason, when players and coaches can finally exhale. The constant pressure of draft prep, free agency, trade deadlines, and cap management without an off-switch is too much for most people.

“I like my life the way it is right now,” the 47-year-old added. “I enjoy having things going on with my roles at Prime and the FIBA ​​Players’ Committee, but I also still have plenty of time for my family and children.”

Of course, this might not be the only reason the man with a statue outside American Airlines Arena has decided to return.

The Luka Doncic Trade Changed Everything Between Dallas and Dirk Nowitzki

The reason the topic of taking a job with the Mavs was approached so gingerly with Nowitzki was due to his recent relationship with the franchise. The same team that he spent 21 seasons with has fractured their relationship with him, perhaps permanently, after they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers at the last trade deadline.

Doncic was viewed as Dirk’s successor around the league, a new generation of European superstar meant to carry the organization forward, and the reaction both within and outside Dallas’ camp was disbelief. For Nowitzki, it was personal.

By most accounts, the decision hit him extremely hard, and reports from the time indicate that Nowitzki felt excluded from the process and completely blindsided as the franchise severed his emotional throughline. In the aftermath, Nowitzki publicly criticized the team and showed up at Lakers home games to support his former teammate.

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However, things seem to be changing, however slowly the process might move. According to recent reporting, team owner Patrick Dumont has reached out to him in an effort to “begin repairing that relationship,” and Nowitzki is more “open-minded” to returning to the team.

With the current front office including former Nowitzki teammate Michael Finley in a leading position, maybe the two sides will be reunited at some point down the line, but likely not in the same capacity that fans had hoped after Harrison’s firing.