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How Dirk Nowitski Achieved a Net Worth of $120 Million

Dirk Nowitzki

There have been few 7-footers in the NBA that has really left their mark. One in particular, Dirk Nowitzki, is now considered as one of the best power forward-center that has played in the league. Nowitzki has had a stellar career, and his retirement this year marked the end of an era for the Dallas Mavericks. As a basketball player, Nowitzki’s NBA career spanned 21 years. Over the years, the basketball player has accumulated a net worth of an incredible $140 million. We’re going to take a closer look into how Nowitzki made his fortune and what the future looks like for the basketball star now that he’s retired.

Net Worth$120 Million
NameDirk Werner Nowitzki
Age41
BornWürzburg
Birth DateJune 19, 1978
Source of WealthRetired Professional Basketball Player
CountryWest Germany

The Past

Nowitzki was born in Germany into an athletic family. His mother Helga was also a professional basketball player, while his father Jörg-Werner was a handball player. His father actually internationally represented Germany for the sport. Dirk has an older sister, who is also an athlete. Silke Nowitzki was a track and field champion in their local hometown, and she also went on to play basketball professionally. Silke now works for the NBA internationally. It’s clear that Nowitzki was born for sports. As a young child, Dirk played tennis and was actually ranked in the junior tennis circuit in Germany. However because of his height, Dirk decided that basketball might be a better path for him. Not long after he started pursuing basketball as a teenager, he attracted the attention of international basketball player Holger Geschwindner, who offered to coach young Dirk in the game. He joined the local club DJK Würzburg and played internationally with that team for four years. He continued playing and training with the DJK Squad for four more years. And by the time he was 20 years old, Dirk has garnered enough attention on the court for both European and NBA clubs to vie for him. Nowitzki skipped college and went straight to pro for the NBA. He got drafted ninth overall during the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks, who then traded Dirk to the Dallas Mavericks. During that trade, the Mavericks also got Steve Nash, who became one of Dirk’s closest friends even to this day. Although Dirk struggled during that first year, he overcame the transition into the NBA and pushed through all the negative commentary surrounding him during the time.

Seasons

During the following season (1999-2000), Internet billionaire Mark Cuban purchased the Mavericks for $280 million. Cuban’s entry into the franchise created the perfect environment for all the players to thrive in—including Nowitzki. His second season in the league improved dramatically, and he was even voted runner-up in the NBA Most Improved Player Award that season. He also made the NBA All-Star Sophomore Squad that year. The next season (2000-2001), Dirk got even better. That was the first year that he ever saw the playoffs and also the first time the Mavericks reached the playoffs since 1990. After that season, Dirk signed a $90-million, six-year contract extension. That’s an impressive amount of money for someone who’s only been in the league for three seasons. With that contract extension, Dirk became the second highest paid German athlete. For the next few seasons, Dirk would continue to play for the Mavericks, improving every time. By the 2017-2018 season, Dirk was signing a yearly contract of $5 million with a cap hit of $9.5 million. Throughout his 21-year career playing basketball, Dirk earned $251,646,362 million. But like many other basketball superstars, the NBA wasn’t his only source of income. Dirk had plenty of endorsements over the years that have added to his net worth tremendously. One brand that endorses Dirk is Nike, and he reportedly receives $500,000 every year for that contract with the athletic brand. By the time he retired from the gaem, Dirk’s salary was at $22.7 million.

Career

Nowitzki has had a long and impressive career with the NBA, and there have been a couple of books written about his life and career. There was also a documentary made about his life in 2014. The film documentary was called Nowitzki: The Perfect Shot. It’s been a couple of months now since the German basketball star retired. Now, Dirk has more time to spend with his children and his wife, Jessica Olsson. He’s also got more time now to do things that he never could before. Annually, Dirk plays an annual “Champions for Charity” football game. He also plans to enjoy just the normal everyday things that he never got to enjoy before. Dirk plans to take the kids to Disneyland. He also plans to celebrate Oktoberfest this year. There’s also the possibility of spending Christmas in Germany with his folks this year—something he hasn’t done in many years. Life without sports is proving to be just as busy for Nowitzki, but he’s doing things without the pressures of basketball. As far as future endeavors, the 41-year old former NBA player has no solid plans as of yet. We know that he’ll be inducted into the Hall of Fame at some point soon. He’ll probably get a statue erected in his honor somewhere in Dallas. Nowitzki has been such an influential figure in the area, not only in basketball but in the community as well. His dedication to the game and to his team is something that’s unrivaled and inspiring. Whatever may come in his path in the future, we’re sure that Dirk will tackle anything with the kind of focus he had for basketball. However, he’s made enough money to not think about work for now.

Allen Lee

Written by Allen Lee

Allen Lee is a Toronto-based freelance writer who studied business in school but has since turned to other pursuits. He spends more time than is perhaps wise with his eyes fixed on a screen either reading history books, keeping up with international news, or playing the latest releases on the Steam platform, which serve as the subject matter for much of his writing output. Currently, Lee is practicing the smidgen of Chinese that he picked up while visiting the Chinese mainland in hopes of someday being able to read certain historical texts in their original language.

Read more posts by Allen Lee

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