Mavs star Dirk Nowitzki expected to miss ‘multiple weeks’

The start of the 2018-19 season is around the corner, which has raised questions about Dallas Mavericks star forward Dirk Nowitzki’s status to begin the campaign.

According to Tim McMahon of ESPN, head coach Rick Carlisle has voiced on Friday that Nowitzki will be out for multiple weeks as he continues to recover from offseason ankle surgery.

“It’s going to be multiple weeks, I can tell you that,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said Friday. “But there’s no real soft or hard date [for Nowitzki’s return] at this point. He is doing better but has not done any significant court work. His rehab work is ongoing, and we can update you in another 10 days or something like that.”

This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as he hasn’t participated in training camp and the entire preseason over the last couple of weeks. He Nowitzki had suffered a minor setback while playing pickup basketball during the week prior to the start of training camp.

The Mavericks will likely continue to take a precautionary approach with the 40-year-old as he enters his 21st season in the league. There isn’t any rush from the team to get him back on the court before he is ready to do so physically.

Nowitzki has already agreed to come off the bench for this upcoming campaign that will lead him to take a smaller role on the floor. He has continued to remain effective on the floor this past season as he averaged 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds in 77 games in 24.7 minutes per contest.