DALLAS — Von Miller said he has a Dirk Nowitzki tattoo on his back and has been a Dallas Mavericks fan his entire life, telling Mark Cuban that the only thing that could improve on signing with the Dallas Cowboys would be signing with the Mavericks.
Miller made the comments on the Season 2 premiere of Free Range with Von Miller, the podcast he hosts with Audacy and posts to his YouTube channel. Cuban was the guest. TJ Banks co-hosts the show.
Nowitzki played 21 seasons for Dallas, the entirety of his NBA career. Milwaukee drafted him ninth overall in 1998 and traded him to the Mavericks the same night. He averaged 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists across 1,522 games and finished with 31,560 career points, sixth on the all-time list at the time he retired in 2019.
Nowitzki was the league MVP in 2006-07, the first European-born player to win the award, and the Finals MVP in 2011 when Dallas beat Miami in six games for its only championship. He was a 14-time All-Star and a 12-time All-NBA selection, and he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
The Mavericks retired his No. 41 on Jan. 5, 2022. Dallas renamed a street outside American Airlines Center Nowitzki Way in 2019 and unveiled a statue of him outside the arena on Christmas Day in 2022. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023 and now serves as a special advisor to the franchise.
Von Miller On His Dirk Nowitzki Tattoo
Miller was born in Dallas and raised in DeSoto, where he played at DeSoto High School before going to Texas A&M. He signed a one-year contract with the Cowboys on Aug. 16 worth $5.5 million, with a maximum of $7.5 million.
“If it was fitting, I signed with the Dallas Cowboys. I think the only way you can make that better is to sign with the Dallas Mavericks,” Miller said. “I’ve been a fan of the Dallas Mavericks my whole entire life. I got a Dirk Nowitzki tattoo on my back. So I’m a Mavericks fan through and through.”
Mark Cuban On Why Dallas Is A Sports Town
Cuban moved to Dallas in 1982 and bought a majority stake in the Mavericks 18 years later, in January 2000. He sold controlling interest in December 2023 and retains 27% of the franchise.
“I mean, we love sports, first of all. It starts in high school. It’s all about football, a little bit more so about basketball now and other sports,” Cuban said. “But everybody in this town played or looked up to sports when they were growing up. I grew up in Pittsburgh, and it was all football, football, football, football. And I always just happened to be a basketball guy.”
The Cowboys have won five Super Bowls, the last of them in the 1995 season. The Mavericks have one NBA championship, the Dallas Stars have won the Stanley Cup twice, and the Texas Rangers have one World Series title.
Mark Cuban Says The Cowboys Are Still King
Cuban said people now stop him on the street about medication prices rather than the Mavericks.
“But in Dallas, the Cowboys are king. I love the Mavs. The Mavs are, you know, catching up a little bit. But the Cowboys are king,” Cuban explained. “And when you have a great sports town with great teams like the Cowboys, the Mavs, the Stars, the Rangers, people fall in love with them.”
Miller has 138.5 career sacks, the most among active players. He is entering his 15th season and has won two Super Bowls, one with Denver and one with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Cowboys open the regular season Sept. 13 at the New York Giants. Kickoff at MetLife Stadium is set for 7:20 p.m. CT on NBC.
