Dirk Nowitzki has been with the Mavericks for his entire 20-year NBA career. There is no player who has spent more time around that organization, seen its growth and watched it become one of the NBA's most valuable franchises. If there was any one to comment on the Mavericks misconduct allegations, it would be him.
The long-time Mavs star didn't hold back in his disgust at the allegations. However, he's glad they're coming to light and is hopeful owner Mark Cuban will bring the team forward in a positive way.
"It's tough," Nowitzki said after the team practiced at USC in advance of a Friday game against the Los Angeles Lakers. "It's very disappointing. It's heartbreaking. I'm glad it's all coming out. I was disgusted when I read the article, obviously, as everybody was. I was shocked about some of the stuff."
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"So really, really disappointed that our franchise, that my franchise, that stuff like that was going on," Nowitzki said. "It's very sad and disappointing. But I think [Mavericks owner Mark Cuban] is trying to step up and lead this franchise to the right direction, and that is hiring investigators, finding out all the little details that we have to know as a franchise what really was going on. I think Mark is going to step up here. ...
"As a franchise, obviously, we feel bad for the victims and for what happened to some of these ladies. Like I said, it's truly, truly disgusting. Our thoughts and prayers are definitely with some of these victims."
When the Sports Illustrated report came out, many of the alleged victims said that the safest place in the entire organization was actually the locker room with the players themselves. Dirk has played a role in that positive culture. Also playing a role is Mavs coach Rick Carlisle, who also responded to the allegations:
"First of all, I'm grateful we live in a place in time where people have the courage to speak up about things like this," Carlisle said. "I also have a 13-year-old daughter, and I want her to know that it's both brave and safe to speak out, and that's very important to me, and it should be important to everybody. What I can tell you is there is going to be a thorough investigation into this from an outside group led by two people at the top of their profession."
The Mavericks are currently being investigated independently by Krutoy Law. That investigation will likely play a big role in what kind of punishments the Mavs organization could face. Those punishments, however, will likely be unrelated to the basketball side of things based on what's come out so far.
