Nowitzki's going to need a lot of tickets

DALLAS -– Dirk Nowitzki started playing basketball for the German National Team a year before he joined the Dallas Mavericks.

Even last year, Nowitzki averaged 19.5 points and 6.6 rebounds for Germany at Eurobasket 2011 in Lithuania.

During his very long relationship with the German National Team, Nowitzki made a lot of friends. Some of those friends will likely be calling on Nowitzki to get them a ticket or two when the Mavs square off against Alba Berlin at 1 p.m. CDT in Berlin, Germany, in their preseason opener.

Nowitzki, though, has a plan to help alleviate his ticket issue.

“I’m going to take some tickets from the NBA,’’ Nowitzki said. “I already told the guys not to bring anybody so I can get all the tickets, and I’m going to definitely need them all.’’

Born in Wurzburg, Nowitzki averaged 25.9 points and 9.3 rebounds while playing 36 games for DJK Wurzburg from 1997-’99.

 -- Dwain Price

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