By Guillaume K. | Sports journalist
During his long and glorious career, Dirk Nowitzki has accumulated more than 250 million dollars thanks to his NBA contracts alone. However, he would still have debts in the industry, and more particularly with Dennis Smith Jr..
It’s no secret that gambling is indeed present in locker rooms NBA. It must be said that when everyone earns at least $1 million each season, it is much easier to launch small, friendly bets. And fortunately, the atmosphere is much healthier these days than in the early 2000s…
For example, no matter how much money is put into play by two teammates, it is now quite unlikely that the story will be resolved “à la Gilbert Arenas”. A good thing for the image of the league, but also for the legend of the Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki. Obviously, the 2007 MVP retired with some debts in Texas.
Dirk Nowitzki’s crazy debt to Dallas
In any case, this is what his former teammate Dennis Smith Jr. explained during his appearance on the “Tidal League” podcast. We may be talking about “only” $10,000, but some have seriously stuck for much less than that. And then, with his 255 million career earnings, the German will have no trouble repaying.
Dirk, you still owe me $10,000, buddy. One day in training we didn’t want to let him go, we said it was impossible to be as slow as that. He simply asked who wanted to race with him. I’m not sure who organized this, but I think it was Wesley Matthews. The race was simple: he started in the middle of the field, and I started at the baseline.
And I still won! He still hasn’t paid me. You don’t want me to come to your house to collect these 10,000 dollars, I need my tickets. […] The first time I heard about him was back in the Steve Nash days. I always heard about a certain “Dirt” (saleté in French, editor’s note) and I didn’t understand who he was.
Late in his career, Dirk Nowitzki was perhaps the slowest player in history. He had difficulty stringing together races, which made his former teammates laugh a lot. To prove that he could still move, he challenged them to a race… Unfortunately, despite his 14 meter lead, he lost to Dennis Smith Jr.
Dirk Nowitzki is a huge legend in league history, and he reached this status without having any outstanding athleticism. His teammates had fun, and Dennis Smith Jr. could even have won $10,000 thanks to it.
