Dirk Nowitzki is the gift that keeps on giving.
As if it wasn’t enough that he had a hall of fame career, spent all 21 of his NBA seasons with the Mavericks and led them to the 2011 NBA championship – that’s plenty, right? – he’s still winning fans as a vibrant member of the Dallas community.
On Thursday, he led a small army of volunteers and helpers from his Dirk Nowitzki Foundation to hand out more than 1,000 Thanksgiving dinners with turkeys and all the trimmings.
The event at the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center in south Dallas was a show of pride and resolve as Nowitzki, his family and all the volunteers braved a cold, steady rain and kept smiling all the way through it.
“This is the largest food drive that the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation has done,” the greatest Maverick of them all said. “We’re always partnering with the Cuban center here that’s done a fantastic job for a long, long time in this community.”
Nowitzki usually has a charity tennis event every year, but couldn’t do it in 2023, so this was an appropriate replacement.
“We still wanted to give back in this community,” he said. “We partnered with our tennis team at the Kiest Center that we’ve supported for a long time. They came out here and volunteered to pack the bags and the boxes. So we’re glad that it’s a great turnout.
“We started getting involved in the food drives during the pandemic. We saw an incredible need out there for just basic needs. And things, unfortunately, haven’t improved for a lot of families. So this is one way of being involved and helping out the community.”
Nowitzki loaded turkeys and boxes of essentials into vehicles as they came through the pick-up line after waiting for hours. The first vehicle showed up at 3 a.m. for the event that started at 9.
“This is such a blessing,” said Nelson Martinez of Duncanville, who arrived at the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center three hours before the distribution of turkey dinners began. “They are providing a lot of people like us some joy.”
And the smiles were what it’s all about.
Nowitzki, who retired in 2019 after a career that ended with him as the No. 6 scorer in NBA history, said that the interactions with fans that aren’t as fortunate as those who can come cheer in the arena mean the most to him.
“I’ve had some really cool reactions,” he said. “That’s always one of the most fun parts. One lady just said she gave me the biggest bear hug during the 2011 parade. Of course, I don’t remember that. But she said she was there representing. It’s cool to see people smile and help them out during maybe a tough time.”
Nowitzki was flanked by his wife, Jessica, and three kids, Morris, Malaika and Max.
Nowitzki said it was important for him and Jessica to introduce the kids to these sorts of charitable events.
“We always wanted to bring the kids, but felt like they were not quite the (right) age,” Nowitzki said. “I think now they’re old enough to understand. And we want to teach them to help in the community and be a good human, be a good neighbor, be friendly to people and help out people that are not as fortunate as you are.
“And I think they understand. They of course asked questions. What are we doing here? And we explained that we’re giving food to people who need some during the holiday season. It’s great to understand early that it’s about being neighborly and helping out.”
Jessica Nowitzki was a major part of setting up for the event. On Wednesday night before the food distribution, shoe solicited help from the Kiest Tennis Center, which she and Dirk have a close relationship with.
“It’s always a community effort when we do things for the foundation,” she said. “We try to get as many people involved as we can, specifically some of the programs that we fund through the Dallas Tennis Association. We founded a team that’s called Team Nowitzki. They’ve been around for quite some time.
“But also, throughout their programs they have other kids that are excelling in tennis and education and we gave them a chance to come out last night and pack the boxes with us. They were very passionate. They helped us out and they were here until the late evening when the last box was packed.”
The Nowitzki foundation funded the food giveaway and the community response was sensational.
It was a reminder to the Nowitzkis that there is always work to be done when it comes to helping out in their adopted hometown.
“There’s a need out there, obviously,” Jessica said. “And we found that out every time we tried to do some planning for the foundation for the year. We check with all our partners and see what’s really needed in the community and how can we assist in the best and this came up. Every year we do a drive, we have an overwhelming response, to a point where sometimes we have to turn cars away, which is heartbreaking.”
Dirk took time to thank all the volunteers personally and then echoed his wife’s sentiments that these sorts of moments mean so much to him.
“This community is dear to me,” he said. “The way they’ve taken me in over 20 years ago, and wanted me to succeed and supported me – I’ve been trying to give back ever since then.
“And I’ve felt the loyalty from the city and community and we’ve obviously done foundation work for 20 years now. And we’ve supported some great organizations. This is great for everybody involved. We can help out and people that need it have smiles on their faces. So I’m glad this works out.”
X: @ESefko
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