Mavericks taking the right steps to undo their heartbreaking Dirk Nowitzki mistake

Dirk Nowitzki was in the building at the American Airlines Center for the Dallas Mavericks' impressive win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, and this is a great sign of things to come. This was the first Mavericks game that Nowitzki had attended this season at the AAC, and it could be a signal that Nowitzki's rough patch with the Mavs is beginning to smooth out.

Mavericks fans were thrilled to see Nowitzki welcome Cooper Flagg to Dallas in a video during the Mavs' draft party on the night of the 2025 NBA Draft, and it seems like he is excited to watch this new era. He watched the Mavs-Rockets game from a suite, his son sporting a blue Mavericks No. 32 Flagg jersey, and fans will be hoping that he becomes a normal visitor at the arena for games moving forward.

Over the last few years, Nowitzki has become more distant from the franchise than fans could've ever imagined. He seemed like he would be someone who would always be involved with the Mavs, as he spent 21 years playing for them and brought the team their only title in 2011, but a series of controversial decisions drove him away.

Nowitzki's return to the Amer is more than meets the eye

Leaving his advisor office at the Mavericks dormant. He was given this role as a special advisor with Dallas back in 2021, but he became further and further away from the franchise as the years went on.

Some moves that he had a particular distaste for were the firing of his good friend Casey Smith, as well as the Luka Doncic trade. Neither of these decisions was a move that Nowitzki would've ever made himself, and the Mavericks became a completely different franchise from the one that he played for.

During his tenure as general manager, Nico Harrison made little to no effort to get Nowitzki involved with the franchise. The one man who needed to be around more than anyone was never around, and this didn't seem to concern Harrison. Nowitzki even said that he thought that Harrison should've been fired during the summer ahead of this season, and the two were obviously not on the same page.

Now, with a new regime in place and some excitement surrounding the team with the emergence of Flagg, there isn't a better time to ensure that he doesn't slip away this time around. Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, Dallas' current co-interim GMs, should do whatever they can to ensure that he feels at home again, and this shouldn't be much of a challenge. Especially for Finley.

He played with Nowitzki on the Mavs for seven seasons from 1998 until 2005, and the two are close friends to this day. This should certainly help when it comes to Nowitzki being around more often, but it can't be expected to be an every-game thing.

Nowitzki is still an analyst for Amazon Prime, meaning that he remains extremely busy. This isn't to say that he won't be at any more games this year, but he can't pop in and out as he once did.

His attendance at games will be more rare than it was immediately following his retirement, but the fact that he was back in the building last night was a great sign. Patrick Dumont needs to make it a priority to make Nowitzki a face of the franchise again, and it at least sounds like they're looking to get him involved in some fashion as soon as they can.