Biography of Dirk Nowitzki [Age, Height, Family, Wife, Children & Net Worth]

The NBA basketball lover must be aware of Dirk Nowitzki because he is the player who helped Dallas Mavericks to achieve many titles. Moreover, he becomes one of the most successful NBA players.

His extraordinary height and athlete’s family background made him choose basketball among many other sports.

Likewise, his unique talent and hard work helped him to gain a great name and fame in the world of basketball.

Dirk has joined Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, and Kareem Abdul-Jabaar as one of six NBA history players to score 30,000 regular-season points.

Hence, critics also call him one of the best players to play basketball in the most significant European NBA history.

He is known on the court for his unique agility and his 7”0′ height. In 2011 he helped the Dallas Mavericks to win their only NBA championship.

Similarly, Nowitzki is the only person who has ever played 21 seasons for a single NBA franchise.

Therefore, he is the first European player to participate in an All-Star Game and the first European player to win the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

Besides, he is also known as the highest-scoring foreign-born player in NBA history. Subsequently, he is also the first player to vote for an All-NBA Team and has many all-time franchise records.

In the same vein, Dirk became the first non-American player to win the Naismith Legacy Award on December 10, 2012.

Moreover, he has also helped achieve tremendous heights for the German national team and a bronze medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship.

Quick facts

Dirk Nowitzki – Birth, Age, Education & Family

Dirk Nowitzki was born in Würzburg, western Germany, on June 19, 1978. His parents were professional athletes and made him one of the great players. His mother is Helga Nowitzki, who was a professional basketball player.

Similarly, his dad’s name is Jorg Werner, who played handball for the German national team.

Dirk Nowitzki completed his elementary education at Röntgen High School in Würzburg. But there is no sufficient information available regarding his higher school and university-level education.

Nowitzki also has a sister named Silke Nowitzki, born on July 12, 1974. She is married to Roland Mayer. Further, she’s a retired German national basketball player and a former manager of her brother.

Dirk Nowitzki Wife, Jessica

Dirk is married to Jessica Olsson in 2012 in a traditional ceremony at Nanyuki first and later they took it formally at the family’s home in Dallas, Texas.

He met her first time at a charity event for the Sports for Education and Economic Growth (SEED) project in February 2010. During that specific time, she worked at Dallas Art Gallery.

Since that snowy night, they both fell in love. And now they have three children whose names are Malaika Nowitzki, Max Nowitzki, and Morris Nowitzki.

What did Dirk find in Jessica?

According to Dallas News and Dirk’s statement, the duo just connected intellectually. Jessica was fond of arts and sports and her brothers  (Martin Waikwa Olsson and Marcus Munuhe Olsson) played soccer.

The connection was mentally, physically, and spiritually. Interestingly, there was a test conducted at the wedding in order to know how well did they know each other.

Dirk had to find Jessica among five women who had all been covered up from head to toe and guess what, Dirk found her out with the help of her height and scent.

Also, the veteran basketball player mentioned of no one ever confronting him with racist comments about his wife.

“Growing up in Germany, and basketball, we’ve always grown up around all sorts of races. I played with the national team where half of my teammates were from Yugoslavia. Colour or race for me never really mattered, and that’s also the beauty of sports. You’re a team. Same with marriage. You’re a team,”

Dirk stated to the American news outlet.

Father of three, Dirk Nowitzki

Ever since a very young age, Dirk had this sheer longing to have kids, love, and play around them. Well, for the first time when they held their first kid Malaika in their hand and had to drive her away from the hospital, they did not know how to react.

Yes, Dirk and Jessica were enough responsible as new parents but at the same time, they were not prepared enough. Well, who is prepared enough? It’s just a matter of time and practice.

Eventually, Max Nowitzki entered their life in 2014 and Morris Nopwitzki entered their life in 2016.  Not only that, Dirk’s sister Sikke’s kid Lenny loves shooting hoops with silly Uncle Dirk, And her daughter Layla loves playing around with Malaika.

Sometimes it’s unbelievable to see a sports champ transforming into a complete full-time parent, he even changed diapers.

Nationality, Height, and Weight

Dirk is a retired German basketball player and holds Germany’s citizenship. Now coming back to his height, he is 7’0″ (2.13 m), or (213 cm).

Likewise, his weight is 245 lb (111 kg), which perfectly fits his height, makes him the coolest basketball player.

Dirk Nowitzki Early Life

Nowitzki and his sister Silke Nowitzki were grown together with their parents. He was always a tall boy, even at a young age, and he towered over his classmates.

Dirk was mainly interested in tennis and handball. However, he soon began playing basketball, where height players were famous.

Dirk was noticed by a talented German basketball player, Holger Geschwindner, at the age of 15. After that, Geschwindner taught him thrice a week with a focus on shooting and passing.

As a result, Nowitzki won a spot on the German DJK Würzburg basketball team at 16.

When Nowitzki had grown to a level, Geschwindner asked him if he wanted to remain in Germany to play basketball and compete against the world’s best players. 

For instance, Nowitzki chose to stay and ramped up his training preparation for the game’s regular sessions. Moreover, Nowitzki loved Sybille Gerer, a woman basketball player from his local DJK Würzburg club.

Their relationship began in 1992 and lasted ten years until it finished in 2002.

Dirk Nowitzki: Professional career

Dirk Nowitzki is a renowned name in NBA basketball and is considered one of the most talented and successful players who appeared from Europe.

He started his basketball career earlier at the age of 13. Moreover, he played with DJK Wurzburg in a second-division German professional team at 16 due to his immense natural ability and performance.

Nowitzki first drew the attention of NBA scouts in 1998, where he scored 33 points in an exhibition game in San Antonio, Texas. He led a team of international players aged 19 and under an upset victory over American high school stars.

He was selected as the Eurostar European Basketball Player of the Year for five years continuously 2002 – 2006, and again in 2011, by the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta Dello Sport.

Subsequently, he was picked with the ninth draft selection of the 1998 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks However; he was then transferred to the Dallas Mavericks.

Nowitzki was disappointed during his rookie season when switching to the NBA’s level of play. However, he increased his scoring average in his second season and was selected for the All-Star Game in his fourth season.

Nowitzki joined the Mavericks

Nowitzki joined the Mavericks in 1998, and the franchise had not qualified for the playoffs for eight straight seasons.

However, in 2000–01, he helped Dallas succeed 53 games and progress to the postseason. And for the Mavericks, that was the first of 11 straight 50-win seasons, one of the longest in league history.

Moreover, he led Dallas to the team’s first berth in the NBA finals in 2005–06 (a six-game loss to the Miami Heat).

Likewise, in 2006–07, he scored 24.6 points per game, leading the league’s best record. As a result, he won the 2007 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award.

He continued his excellent play in the five years that followed the Mavericks title.

He scored his 26,947th career NBA point in November 2014 to exceed Hakeem Olajuwon as the highest-scoring foreign-born player in NBA history.

Nowitzki received the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2007 and the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in 2011 because of his scoring ability, agility, accurate outside shooting, and signature baseline jumper jump shot.

Dirk Nowitzki career decline

One can’t have the same success and pride all the time and entire life.

Likewise, his success on-court gradually declined over the following seasons, and in March 2017 became only the seventh player in the history of the league to score 30,000 career points.

Likewise, his team posted a 24–58 record in 2017–18, and Nowitzki scored just an average of 12 points per game, which was his lowest scoring average since his rookie season.

Similarly, his performance with Dallas was reduced in 2018–19, leading to an average of 15 minutes of playtime and 7 points per game. Therefore, Nowitzki took his retirement at the end of the season.

His NBA career ended with 31 560 points scored, which was the sixth-highest total in league history.

Besides, Nowitzki led the German national basketball team in international play to a bronze medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship and silver in EuroBasket 2005 and was the top scorer and MVP in both tournaments.

Dirk Nowitzki Retirement and Last Game

He was the fifth player in the NBA history to have lasted for more than 20 seasons, done with NBA record. Dirk in his final home game of the season where Mavs recorded a 120–109 victory over the Phoenix Suns on April 9.

Dirk notched  30 points, pulled down eight rebounds, and declared his retirement in an emotional ceremony where  Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Shawn Kemp, Scottie Pippen, and Detlef Schrempf made their presence and gave a congratulatory speech for him.

Dirk was never sure of retiring, it was only when his lower body gave him issues late in the season, he gave a thought to retirement.

Also, the owner of Dallas Mavericks,  Mark Cuban had nothing to say but he all had praise and fondness for him. “There are no words that I could possibly say to describe how I feel what you meant to this organization, but I can make you all kinds of promises,” Cuban uttered.

Moreover Cuban made a promise to retire his number to honor him and put his biggest statue right in front of the arena. And to date, they share a great bond.

Following that, Dirk appeared for his last NBA game, notching a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds in a 105–94 fail to the Spurs.

Prior to that, Dirk even grabbed the spot of the sixth-highest scoring player of all time leaving  Wilt Chamberlain’s 31,419 points behind on March 18, 2019.

Dirk Nowitzki Injuries

Everything in life is not warm-welcoming and rosy. Even Dirk had his side of struggles and gruesome injuries.

One of the most talked-about Dirk injuries was when he banged knees with San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobli in the 2003 playoffs. The injury later caused a rift between Mark Cuban and head coach, Don Nelson.

Nellie and Dirk were not agreeing on some stuff, While Dirk was all comfortable moving and playing, Nellie showed some disapproval of him doing the moves before the Game 4. Cuban and the doctors supported Dirk saying that he could play.

During the 2009-10 season,  Nowitzki missed just one game after a crash with Houston’s Carl Landry.

The incident was quite a weird one as the impact left pieces of Landry’s teeth sunk in Nowitzki’s elbow. It took over 30 minutes for the Mavericks medical team to clean the blood on the ground and remove the teeth fragments.

Dirk later suffered knee pain in his 13th season in the NBA in a win against the Thunder in late December.  He returned in time to lead the team to the franchise’s second Finals but again injuries strike him.

Dirk tore the extensor tendon in his left index finger. And the aftermath was, he had to wear a splint for the remainder of the series.

To conclude, these injuries are just not it. He suffered a number of injuries, illnesses, bumps, and bruises that were not openly disclosed in public.

Dirk Nowitzki Achievements and Awards

In NBA

• NBA Finals MVP: 2011
• NBA Most Valuable Player: 2007
• 13× NBA All-Star: 2002–2012, 2014–2015
• 12× All-NBA Team: 2001–2012
• 4× First Team: 2005–2007, 2009
• 5× Second Team: 2002–2003, 2008, 2010–2011
• 3× Third Team: 2001, 2004, 2012
• Three-Point Shootout Champion: 2006
• NBA Shooting Stars champion: 2010
• Ranked 7th in all-time-scoring

German national basketball team

• FIBA World Championship 2002: MVP, Bronze Medal, Top point scorer throughout the tournament.
• EuroBasket 2005:  MVP, silver medal, top point scorer throughout the all-tournament team
• FIBA World Championship 2006, 2001EuroBasket, EuroBasket 2007: top point scorer throughout the all-tournament team
• Goldener Ehrenring (golden honorary ring) of the DBB (German Basketball Federation): 2007
• The second highest point scorer in the history of EuroBasket.
• Top scorer in German national basketball team history (2912 points at 141 international games)
• Leader of the national German basketball team named Outstanding German Team of the Year: 2005

Other achievements and highlights

• MVP in German League in 1999
• Became 6× Euroscar player: 2002–2006, 2011
• Won 2× FIBA Europe Player of the Year Award: 2005, 2011
• Won Mr. Europa: 2005
• Gained 5× All-Europeans Player of the Year: 2005–2008, 2011
• Became German national flag bearer at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China
• Achieved Best NBA Player ESPY Award: 2011
• Gained Best Male Athlete ESPY Award: 2011
• Won Outstanding Team ESPY Award with the Dallas Mavericks: 2011
• Chosen as Sports Illustrator NBA All-Decade Second Team (2000–2009)
• Silbernes Lorbeerblatt: 2011
• Became German Sports Personality of the Year in 2011
• Dirk positioned 55 in SLAM Magazine’s 500 greatest NBA-players of all-time list in 2011
• Won Naismith Legacy Award: 2012
• Achieved Magic Johnson Award: 2014

Net worth

Dirk Nowitzki is a retired, German-born, professional basketball player with a $140 million net worth. Dirk had earned $25 million in salary alone during his 21-season NBA career.

That makes him the sixth-highest paying NBA player of all time in salary terms.

Social media presence

Dirk Dirk Nowitzki is actively present on social media sites. His followers in different social media platforms are:

Twitter 3.5 million Followers

Facebook: 2,783,721 Followers

Instagram: 1 million Followers

FAQ of Dirk Nowitzki

Who are the best friends of Dirk Nowitzki?

Nowitzki has maintained close relations with his mentor, Holger Geschwindner, whom he considered his best friend.

Is Dirk Nowitzki a Hall of Famer?

Dirk Nowitzki’s Hall of Fame career is built on shooting. Hence, it’s no wonder that his name is all over the NBA’s record scoring list.

What does Dirk Nowitzki do now?

The 42-year-old champ is now spending time with his family. So, he is doing things he was never able to do before.