The One Big Factor That will Make Dirk Nowitzki Stay for Two More Years

Two More Seasons for Dirk: Why Not?

Health will be a big factor for Nowitzki

We might be able to see more of Dirk for two more seasons

There's no doubt in everyone's minds that Dallas Mavericks superstar, Dirk Nowtizki is one of the greatest international players to play in the NBA. At the age of 39, everyone thought he should be retired by now. After all, he has achieved every feat an NBA player would want to achieve: play in the All-Star game, win the MVP and most importantly, win the NBA championship. For Dirk himself, achieving the latter of the three was the best because he had to do so by beating a Miami Heat team that had LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, during the NBA Finals back in 2011 where the Mavs beat the Heat, 4-2. 

Now entering his 20th season in the league, most people are expecting this would be Dirk's final run, his last chance to lead his beloved Mavericks back to the playoffs, his one final push at adding another NBA title to his resume. While he already indicated that he hasn't decided on whether or not he would hang his jersey for good after the upcoming 2017-2018 season, he has already mentioned that he would be considering playing for two more seasons. That, if he can remain healthy in the long run.

While Dirk still remains as one of the league's elite players who can score unstoppably if the occasion arises, his numbers have been going down during the last few seasons. From 18 points per game during the 2015-2016 season, the 2016-2017 season saw Nowitzki averaged 14 points per game. In addition to this, his minutes last season were the lowest since his rookie, just logging in 26 minutes per contest. Furthermore, Dirk was limited to 54 games last season, the 3rd lowest in his career, owing to the injuries he had to deal with. 

Fortunately, if Dirk goes on to play for two more seasons, he doesn't have to do a lot of work. The Mavericks have been loaded themselves with players who are capable of taking the load off the greatest Maverick of all time. They have Nerlens Noel, a potentially big hit if he can stay healthy. Dallas has also become the newest beneficiary of having Harrison Barnes who can play both forward positions at any given time as we saw during his stint with the Golden State Warriors. Having these guys around will help Dirk remain healthy and lethal at the same time because these players can score and defend while the German big man is on the bench. 

On the other hand, Dirk has already said that even though he wasn't seeing any sort of problem in his body as of now, he's also being conscious about one thing: at the age of 39, anything can happen. Anything can snap and before you know it, you're done. In the meantime, Dirk has said that he will just wait and see how things will unfold come the regular season to see if he could indeed, play for two more seasons. After all, he happens to be one of the greatest Germans to play the game of basketball, right?