Yesterday Mavs forward Dirk Nowitzki jumped on “The Ben & Skin Show” on 105.3 The Fan to chat about his offseason and promote his upcoming charity tennis event.
Click to listen for the full audio, with a transcript of the highlights below.
On his children speaking three languages: “When I talk with my wife, we speak English, so the kids pick up English probably the quickest. And then when I’m alone with the kids I speak German with them, and when wifey’s alone with them she speaks Swedish with them. We’re trying to raise them with three languages. The big one picks it up pretty good. She’s over three now. She tries to do the whole answer in Swedish, answer in German, but English is still her favorite, so most of the time she answers in English when I talk German to her. But they say you just have to stick with it, stick with it, keep talking German to her, and eventually she’s gonna be trilingual.”
On all the murals of him around town: “I love the one downtown at the Taylor Street office. I remember the shot, it was a shot against OKC here at home, I think it was Game 5, when they were basically up all game. That three put us up three, I think, with like a minute to go. I’ll always remember that shot. I haven’t really seen the other two, but it’s always weird to see yourself somewhere. But it’s always gonna be a nice memory for later days.”
On trying (and failing) to perform a bicycle kick at a charity soccer game this summer: “I went for it and I paid for it.”
On Harrison Barnes: “I think the sky’s the limit for him. I think he’s an athletic guy, he’s got a lot of potential. And what I love the most — and I haven’t been here much, obviously — but I heard he’s an absolute workhorse. He’s in the gym all day, all night. He’s going back every night to shoot with the development guys. He’s there early in the morning working out with the coaches. I’m excited to hear that. A guy that puts in the work usually always succeeds. I’m pulling for him. I’ve only spent a couple days around him now. I really like him. He’s a good kid, he’s mild-mannered, he’s soft-spoken, and just wants to work and wants to get better. I’m excited for him. I told him, first thing when we started texting this summer, I said ‘Hey, get ready for a big year. I’m here to support you wherever I can and help you out on the court, off the court, whatever you need.'”
On his relationship with Ben Stiller, who will compete in his charity tennis event: “I always see him at the U.S. Open watching tennis, I always see him at the Garden watching some hoops. I know he follows me on Twitter. Wifey’s like ‘Hey, who should we invite? Doesn’t Ben Stiller follow you on Twitter?’ She was like, ‘Why don’t you throw him a message?’ So I DM’d my guy Ben Stiller and — never spoken a word to him, though — and just politely said ‘Hey, huge fan of yours. I know you’re a huge tennis fan, this is what I’m doing on Sunday.’ But this was a few months ago, not thinking I’m gonna get a response or anything. Next thing I know, the same day I get this reply. ‘Hey, that sounds awesome, sounds really cool, I’m not that good at tennis but I’m really interested.’ So we stayed in touch.”
On J.J. Barea’s tennis ability: “His mom used to be a tennis coach growing up, so that was the first sport that he played himself. He’s pretty good. Just like on the basketball court, he’s small, he can barely look over the net, but he fights and gets every ball back. He’s got the little fighter mentality. He’s pretty skilled. We usually have pretty good matches when we play in the summer time.”
On Barnes’ tennis ability: “I texted Harrison a few months ago and I asked him if he was interested in playing tennis, if he plays, and he said he played a little bit in college. But now when I came back here he’s a little nervous. He was just here, we hit a little bit on the court, and I’m thinking about taking him off the flier, actually. He’s really bad… and I love the guy.”
“The Ben & Skin Show” airs weekdays from 3-7 p.m. on 105.3 The Fan.
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