Dirk Nowitzki says “No” to endorsement money – NBA Update
Dirk Nowitzki is definitely a different kind of star. While most of the other NBA players are constantly looking at ways to increase their staggering wealth, Nowitzki is simply refusing to take money.
The player is at an all time high in his career, following his victory in the NBA Finals with the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavs defeated the Miami Heat in 6 games and Nowitzki was the centre piece of their team, winning the Finals
MVP award to prove it.
Fans and sponsors are lining up at his door ever since, for different purposes. The fans obviously want to catch a glimpse of their hero and the sponsors reportedly come with huge bags of cash in their hands, willing to hand them
over to the German superstar if he would just sign a few papers.
With Nowitzki’s stakes rising so steeply in the last couple of months, industry insiders say there are millions to be made by getting the 7-footer to endorse products. Dirk himself stands to earn tens of millions, but he simply
says he doesn’t have any interest in it.
“There certainly isn’t a shortage of offers,” Nowitzki recently told a German magazine. “You wouldn’t believe how many watch manufacturers have sent me their models. Just like that. I give them all away. I am satisfied with what
I have.”
Dirk’s argument is that he has been blessed with everything he could ask for already, and he doesn’t see what he would gain by making more money,
“How crazy do you have to be when you can afford everything but still clutter up your life with all sorts of advertising appointments? No thanks….”
It’s a spectacularly refreshing and wonderful take on things in a league where superstars like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James make more money off the court than on it. Players sign up on endorsement deals even before they play an
NBA game; such is the infatuation with money in the league, and indeed in the world.
However, it is things like these that make Nowitzki stand out among his peers. A consummate professional and a fierce competitor, Nowitzki is still down to earth and humble in every sense of the word.
It was his striking contrast in the NBA Finals with the opposing LeBron James that drew record ratings this year. People all over the world rooted for the soft spoken German, who had quietly signed on a contract with his beloved
Dallas Mavericks in the summer and was regarded as a genuine great who had missed out on an NBA ring because of lack of support rather than a lack of effort.
While LeBron James continues to infuriate people on the court and off it, Nowitzki keeps bringing a feel good factor to the game.
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