Dirk Nowitzki's Celebrity Tennis Classic draws Mavs, non-Mavs alike
DALLAS — Five months removed from his last NBA game, Dirk Nowitzki still draws a crowd.
Nowitzki’s fourth annual Pro-Celebrity Tennis Classic benefited from his star power, as a sweltering Sunday morning took hold at Southern Methodist University. The event, benefiting the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation, had a fund-raising event Saturday evening that drew its largest crowd ever and featured singer and pianist Bruce Hornsby as the entertainment.
Nowitzki wasn’t the only Mav or former Mav in attendance, but he was certainly the biggest draw for a crowd looking to get an autograph as much as watch the 7-footer play tennis again.
“It’s that time of the year again, to play some bad tennis,” Nowitzki said before the event.
The tennis wasn’t that bad, actually. Nowitzki managed to lure in some tennis players with heavyweight credentials like current pro, John Isner, former No. 2 in the world Tommy Haas and former No. 1 world doubles player Mark Knowles.
He also had current and former Mavs in tow. Current forward Dwight Powell, current guard J.J. Barea and reigning rookie of the year Luka Doncic attended, with Doncic intimating that he had to do some “Instagram begging” to get an invite from Nowitzki. Powell took an opportunity to inform Nowitzki that he was pretty sure he’d be able to outrun the Dirk fadeaway silhouette set to debut on the Mavs’ home court this fall.
Meanwhile, former Mavs guard Devin Harris took a seat right next to Nowitzki during the pre-match press conference, admitting that he wasn’t sure why he was there and joking that Nowitzki had tried to “trade him twice.”
“For whatever reason, I keep coming back,” Harris said while Nowitzki laughed. “I don’t know why. But like I said, he can say anything to me and (as long as he says) ‘That’s my guy,’ it goes well.”
In other words, it was business as usual with these guys. Nowitzki ribbing them and the rest of them giving it right back to Nowitzki.
Also in attendance was former Mavs guard and two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash, who told reporters that his tennis game was a work in progress. Well, he’s been making fast work of it. His first match with Nowitzki in the morning featured a win for Nash and his partner, some good-natured ribbing of Nowitzki and dealing an ace to his host.
As for Doncic, Knowles paid him perhaps the best compliment he could after one match, saying that Doncic was a “far better tennis player” than former Mavs forward Harrison Barnes, who endured Nowitzki’s good-natured ribbing about his game during the first event but, to Barnes’ credit, kept coming back to help Nowitzki’s charity.
But exactly how did Doncic get his invite? Shouldn’t that have just been a formality from the Mavs GOAT to the GOAT in waiting?
“I put a comment on Dirk’s Instagram page asking why I wasn’t invited,” Doncic said. “That’s why I got invited, so… But I don’t know how good I am (as a player).”
The day was all about charity, of course, but there was one bit of actual Mavs news to pass along. Barea, about nine months removed from blowing out his Achilles tendon played on Sunday and, frankly, moved around like a player ready to hit the floor. He even reported that’s resumed some basketball activities in the past two weeks.
“I’m feeling great,” Barea said. “I’ve been moving a little bit the last couple of weeks, started playing some basketball, so we’ll see how it goes in tennis.”
Next up for Nowitzki? Enjoying retirement and continued work with his charity. Next up for the Mavs? Training camp. It’s just a couple of weeks away.
