BERLIN—NBA star Dirk Nowitzki could be swapping his basketball for a racket this summer as the former junior tennis champion has registered to play league tennis for tiny German club TG Wuerzburg.
The 32-year-old German, who played a big role in the Dallas Mavericks’ 4-0 drubbing of the LA Lakers in the NBA play-offs, has registered to play for Wuerzburg, near Frankfurt, in the second division of a local league.
Nowitzki, a former junior regional tennis champion in Germany, has been keeping up to date on how his future tennis team-mates are getting on via SMS messages while he has been in great form for the Mavericks.
He was delighted to hear Wuerzburg beat rivals TSV Kleinrinderfeld 8-1 last Sunday, the same day he scored 17 points for the Mavericks in Dallas against the Lakers to give them a 4-0 second-round sweep.
“Dirk wants to play. He is very eager to be here,” Nowitzki’s potential tennis teammate Roland Mayer told local newspaper the Main Post.
Mayer helped recruit the NBA star as he is the boyfriend of Nowitzki’s sister.
“We have organized a small live-ticker for him,” Mayer added.
“Dirk constantly want to know how things are going for the team.”
While Nowitzki is currently in the thick of the NBA play-off battle with the season set to finish on June 16, his team-mates are hoping his schedule will allow him to play.
“If it fits timewise, then all hell will break lose here,” said Mayer.