Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki, Luka Doncic and the passing of the torch

Hometown Loyalty

This is not the time where I pitch to Luka Doncic the importance of staying in the city of Dallas for his entire 21-year career. No, that pitch will come later. The idea of hometown loyalty is actually deeper than just staying in the same place for your whole career.

Dirk didn’t just move to Dallas and play for the Mavericks for a long time. He became a Texan and he became a Texan early on in his career. Luka may not have to embrace Texan culture or anything like that, but he would be smart to recognize that this is his home now and show love for the fans who will undoubtedly be out there cheering him on every single game.

Everyone here has already fallen in love with the youngster from Slovenia. He doesn’t need to do much to continue that adoration, but saying the right things about Dallas would go a long way.

Humility

There was never a doubt that Dirk was one of the most humble stars in sports. A 14-time All-Star and a top 25 player in NBA history, you wouldn’t know it by chatting with him or being around him. Dirk was as down to earth as you can be and he was especially good at making it clear that he had no reason to be idolized. This nature always gave Dirk a warmer presence in anything he did off the court.

Luka would definitely be smart to adopt this strength of Dirk’s, at least to an extent. I think Luka Doncic will probably be the type to showboat a little bit in a goofy way, and that is alright. I am more interested in him showing that he can be humble when speaking in front of the cameras.

Humility really isn’t a learned trait, it’s more of a natural one, but Luka seems to already have it built in to a certain extent. He is kind, talkative, enjoyable and he doesn’t worry too much about what other people think. That is a recipe for success.

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