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DALLAS — As the Dallas Mavericks’ past unfolded his 7-foot frame to serve Saturday, the team’s present sat a few feet away and offered moral support.
Dirk Nowitzki, the NBA Hall of Famer who spent 21 seasons with the Mavericks, took to the tennis courts at Banner House at T Bar M as part of his charity fundraiser. Cooper Flagg, the 18-year-old whom the Mavericks chose with the No. 1 pick in last summer’s NBA Draft, was one of the guests of honor at the star-studded event.
The meet up 🤝 #MFFL pic.twitter.com/rZgKVhi5Jg
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) September 13, 2025
Flagg never picked up a racket but stopped by to help Nowitzki raise money for children dealing with illness, poverty, abuse and neglect. When asked about Flagg the basketball player, Nowitzki didn’t hold back on his feelings.
“The hype is real, for sure,” Nowitzki said of Flagg. “I’m not the biggest college sports watcher in general, whether that’s basketball or any sport, but of course I checked out Cooper. Sky is the limit, honestly.
“What I saw, just the way he reads the game already at that age. (He’s) barely 18, athletic, (has) skills. I heard his work ethic is through the roof. Everything I saw and heard is he’s the real deal.”
Flagg’s versatility was part of what made him such a highly regarded prospect. At Duke, he led his team in points, rebounds, assists and steals. He was second on his team in blocks, trailing only 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maluach, who was a fellow lottery pick.
“Hopefully, Mavs fans will have (Flagg) for a long, long time,” Nowitzki said.
The Mavericks acquired Nowitzki in 1998 in a draft-night trade. He admitted the transition to the NBA — and to a new country — was difficult. Nowitzki, who grew up in Germany, said he wasn’t sure he’d earn a second contract — but he got that and much more. He won an NBA championship in 2011 and had his No. 41 jersey retired in 2022 after scoring 31,560 career points, the sixth-most all-time.
“I kind of grew into this community when I first got here. I didn’t know what to expect,” Nowitzki said. “The love and support and loyalty I received my first few years meant the world to me.”
This fall, Nowitzki will begin a new chapter as a studio analyst with Amazon. He’ll break down games and crack jokes with Steve Nash, his former teammate and close friend, and Blake Griffin, the former LA Clippers high flyer Nowitzki also has a strong rapport with.
Nowitzki retired from the NBA in 2019. As he approached the end of his career and began thinking about what was next, he never imagined he’d become a media member. He cautioned that it will take time for Amazon’s studio show to hit its stride. Nowitzki has long been a fan of “Inside the NBA,” the popular TNT show that starred Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal.
“I have been following that show for a long, long time. That show is going to be hard to duplicate,” Nowitzki said. “Charles having no filter; Shaq doing whatever he wants. I don’t think that’s a show we can replicate. I think we have to find our own way of having some fun and analyzing.”
Mavericks fans have already gotten a sense of what Nowitzki might be like on the air. In November 2023, he joined the Mavericks broadcast for the entirety of the team’s early-season game against the Houston Rockets. Devin Harris, Nowitzki’s former teammate who is now one of Dallas’ color commentators, said Nowitzki does a good job of communicating casually while being insightful.
“He kind of brings the (being on the) couch feel to it, but he makes it feel professional,” Harris said. “I think that’s going to be really unique and something different we haven’t seen before.”
Nowitzki is a big believer in Flagg’s chances to have a long and successful NBA career. As for this year’s Mavericks team? Nowitzki thinks they can be dangerous in the Western Conference, so long as their players can stay on the court.
“To me, it all depends on health,” he said. “When is Kyrie (Irving) coming back? Will he be 100 percent when he comes back? Is A.D. (Anthony Davis) going to stay healthy? We know (Dereck) Lively (II) missed some action over the last few years. If they stay healthy, they are a very deep team. They have at least two guys per position. They can play multiple ways.
“I think there are a lot of lineups you can go with. (Their) front line is stacked. Should be really good defensively with that length they have, that athleticism. So to me, it’s all about health. If they are healthy, they can have a good year in the West.”
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Christian Clark is an NBA reporter for The Athletic who is based in Dallas. Previously, he covered the New Orleans Pelicans for NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune. Follow Christian on Twitter @christianpclark
