Quote of the Day: Dirk Nowitzki says dinners this year are all on Chandler Parsons because …
Oct 28, 2014, 2:15 PM EDT
Memphis Grizzlies v Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki was part of the star-studded free agent class this summer, though his name didn’t make headlines because it was widely-known that he wasn’t going anywhere.
As expected all along, Dirk re-upped with Dallas at a discount, choosing a three-year deal for $25 million in order to give the team some salary cap relief so they could add some talent around him.
Much of those dollars went to Chandler Parsons in free agency, who the Mavericks stole away from the Rockets by giving him an offer sheet worth in excess of $46 million over three years. And Dirk expects him to spend at least some of it feeding his new teammates.
From Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas:
“I told him every dinner on the road this year is on him,” Nowitzki said, “because it’s my money anyway.”
Parsons, who considers Nowitzki’s hater humor to be hilarious, fully appreciates the sacrifice the face of the franchise made to make room for him under the Mavs’ salary cap.
“He’s the ultimate teammate,” Parsons said. “I’m very humbled and glad that he did that, because I wanted to be here and I wanted to play here, and I wanted to play with him. That just shows you how much he wants to win. He’ll take that big of a pay cut to try to bring a guy like me to try to help him win a championship.”
Nowitzki isn’t wrong, obviously, because he very easily could have commanded most of what Parsons was paid — just ask Kobe Bryant about that. But after taking home over $200 million in career earnings, he was willing to leave some on the table — and with Parsons being the beneficiary of that, Dirk expects to be paid back at least a small amount for his sacrifice.
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- shadowgamesshades - Oct 28, 2014 at 2:35 PM
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Dirk is a way better teammate than Harden and Dwight. I don’t get why stars don’t want to play with Dirk.
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- 00maltliquor - Oct 28, 2014 at 2:41 PM
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Same reason they don’t want to play with Kobe…he’s old. I wonder if Dirk upon hearing that Donnie used all that extra cash on Parsons was a little peeved at first.
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- asimonetti88 - Oct 28, 2014 at 3:15 PM
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Because Dirk has that same win at any costs attitude that Kobe has… too many stars just want to goof off with Harden and Dwight. Dirk is probably easier to get along with than Kobe, but that same seriousness still isn’t shared by a lot of the younger stars today.
It’s not just basketball players, it’s our generation in general. I see a lot of that same attitude in the professional world as well, people my age don’t seem to be serious about work unless it’s “fun”.
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- spursareold - Oct 28, 2014 at 3:21 PM
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Are you wearing your “Get off my lawn!” t-shirt?
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- truehooper1421 - Oct 28, 2014 at 4:26 PM
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Kobe is actually the opposite of Dirk in this situation. Kobe’s salary is for one less year than dirk and double the amount.
Dirk gave up $$ to bring in other players. Kobe cashed in.
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- asimonetti88 - Oct 28, 2014 at 4:28 PM
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truehooper1421 – Oct 28, 2014 at 4:26 PM
Kobe is actually the opposite of Dirk in this situation. Kobe’s salary is for one less year than dirk and double the amount.Dirk gave up $$ to bring in other players. Kobe cashed in.
——————————————————————————-Well it’s a good thing my comment had nothing to do with their contracts and everything to do with their attitudes.
If you don’t think they both have that intense, win at all costs attitude that is not at all common in today’s young stars, I suggest you watch them play a bit more. It is obvious just through their body language.
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- ddarqwon - Oct 28, 2014 at 10:32 PM
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“Dirk is a way better teammate than Harden and Dwight.”
Based on what?
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- nickjackalson - Oct 29, 2014 at 11:03 AM
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Dirk is down to earth as anyone can be,
Duwight is your poster-primadonna
remember how he did SVG?
Harden, I dunno about,
but he sure could use a good shave
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- avb300 - Oct 28, 2014 at 3:30 PM
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That’s hilarious. A little surprising for him to say that to the media though.
Still hilarious cuz he’s humble Dirk, not arrogant Kobe.
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- andrewwiggins22 - Oct 28, 2014 at 3:39 PM
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So that would be: 41 road games times $10,000 (est.) per team dinner would be $410,000. Still, just roughly 3% of Chandler’s gross pay… Wow!
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- nfl4days - Oct 28, 2014 at 4:34 PM
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*Dirk’s gross pay
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- teabone413 - Oct 28, 2014 at 4:49 PM
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10K? is he feeding a small army?
let’s say it’s not only the 15 players but staff too.. i don’t think they’ll all make it to all 41 games. even at $150-200 a plate and for 40 people, that’s 6-8K max. i really don’t think they’re going to Michelin caliber restaurants every single time.
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- amlowlife - Oct 28, 2014 at 4:47 PM
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Do ya wonder if Dirk’s got some sort of back-end or post-retirement services contract with Cuban? Jus’ wondering aloud…
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- bkbell3 - Oct 29, 2014 at 2:12 AM
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Thank you, who thinks dirk won’t have a life time no show job for the rest of his life from cuban? Plus the guy probably has invested his 200mil and is set for life.Plus cuban owes dirk for blowing up the team year after year chasing shiny objects and wasting dirk’s career.
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- 22yearsagotoday - Oct 28, 2014 at 5:23 PM
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Note to Chandler: Chinese take-out’s the way to go.
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- nopfan23 - Oct 29, 2014 at 4:42 AM
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Dirk will not win it all with just Parsons. I think Tyson is more valuable than Parsons. He hustled on defense tonight against the spurs and looked great so far, can’t say the same about Parsons 5pts with that missed clutch shot.
