By John Rammas/ irammas@eurohoops.net
The 40-year-old German power forward has spent most of his life with the Mavericks and as much as that sounds like an exaggeration, it’s not that far from the truth. The NBA Champion in 2011 and MVP of the Year in 2007 has been in the team for 20 years (9th overall pick by the Bucks in the 1998 Draft and a triple trade to Dallas that included the Suns).
Still, even those 20 years probably don’t look like a very long time to him so he’s getting ready to come back for a little longer.
Once the new deal has been completed (a one-year contract worth $5.000.000), the countdown will start for a unique record.
With his 21st season as a Maverick, he will get on the list of players with the most seasons in the NBA.
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MOST SEASONS IN THE NBA |
||
|
PLAYER |
TEAM/S | SEASONS |
|
Robert Parish |
Warriors (1976-80), Celtics (1980-94), Hornets (1994-96), Bulls (1996-97) |
21 |
|
Kevin Willis |
Hawks (1984-95, 2004-05), Heat (1994-96), Warriors (1996), Rockets (1996-98, 2001-02), Raptors (1998-2001), Nuggets (2001), Spurs (2002-04), Mavericks (2007) |
21 |
|
Kevin Garnett |
Timberwolves (1995-2007, 2015-2016), Celtics (2007-13), Nets (2013-15) |
21 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | Mavericks (1998-2019) |
21 |
The difference is that he will be the only player who has achieved this with a single team, a record that, until last season, he shared with Kobe Bryant.
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MOST SEASONS IN THE NBA WITH ONE TEAM |
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|
PLAYER |
TEAM |
SEASONS |
|
Dirk Nowitzki |
Mavericks (1998-2019) |
21 |
|
Kobe Bryant |
Lakers (1996-2016) |
20 |
|
John Stockton |
Jazz (1984-2003) |
19 |
|
Tim Duncan |
Spurs (1997-2016) |
19 |