Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki used to leave singing voicemails for teammates

Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki had a pretty hilarious habit when he first got into the league.

Dirk Nowitzki is going to the Hall of Fame. That much is obvious, but he has always been underrated for his sense of humor. The game will miss him when he retires; however, it seems like he still has two or three years left in him. Bleacher Report recently ran a piece that highlighted some funny stories Dirk’s teammates have on him. One stood out in particular. Nick Van Exel had this to say about Nowitzki’s habit of leaving voicemails on the phone.

“He just always used to sing,” Exel said to B/R. “You were checking into hotels and you see your red light’s beeping and you think you got a message from somebody. Next thing you know, you pick it up and check the messages, it’s his dumb ass singing on your message with his guitar, some crazy stuff, but that was just him. He was just lighthearted, man. Liked to have fun, man, and treated everybody the same.”

Here is a small taste of what those messages might have sounded like.

That would be a pretty terrifying thing to wake up to. His teammates had some other notable comments as well. Jerry Stackhouse apparently thinks Dirk stole his post moves, and David Lee said that Nowitzki refused to switch onto Stephen Curry in pick-and-rolls despite the direction from head coach Rick Carlisle.

“I get there and we’re playing Golden State,” Lee said. “Coach [Rick Carlisle] said we were going to switch all pick-and-rolls, 1 through 5, and be up on Steph Curry when he comes off. Well, Dirk raises his hand and says, “Are you out of your mind? You think I’m switching on to Steph Curry? No way, I’m going to hedge and get out of the way. There is no way in hell you’re putting me in an iso against him.”

This was quite wise of Dirk. He realized that he would have no chance of running Curry off of the 3-point line, and Carlisle probably should’ve thought better of that strategy. The Mavericks won their only title as a franchise in 2011 against the Miami Heat right after they signed LeBron James. That was a truly amazing series for a lot of reasons. Nowitzki showed off his all-around game, and he delayed the ascension of the NBA’s best player. Dallas has struggled to achieve success ever since then, but it is no fault of Dirk’s.

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Nowitzki doesn’t get enough credit for how he changed the NBA. It was rare for big men to shoot behind the 3-point line when he got into the league, and now you almost never see centers who can’t shoot. Dirk may not be much of a singer or rapper, but his teammates clearly love him anyway.