Dallas fans should be a little worried — maybe more than a little worried — about Dirk Nowitzki’s swollen knee and if he needs surgery. Because without him Dallas pretty much becomes the O.J. Mayo show, and no matter what you think of him this preseason that movie has been pretty ugly in the past when the games mattered.
Then again, Mark Cuban isn’t really worried.
He spoke to the Associated Press on Wednesday before the Mavericks played the Suns and sounded as comfortable as a guy in Sketchers relaxed step shoes.“He went through it earlier in his career with his ankle, now his knee,” Cuban said. “We saw it last year and we dealt with it. We’ll deal with it again this year however we need to. He’s got the best training and medical staff in the league….
“Whatever is going happen, we’re going to be fine,” Cuban said. “We’ve been through this before many times.”
Cuban is a big picture guy, and in the big picture he set the Mavericks up to have max cap space this summer to chase after a major free agent to pair with Nowitzki. If the Mavs struggle and he gets a lottery pick to throw on next year’s team, all the better.
So, he’s not worried. But if Nowitzki has surgery and misses time the odds of the Mavs making the playoffs in a deep Western Conference just got smaller. Which is less than ideal for fans.