Dirk Nowitzki on Olympics participation, mental exhaustion and more

On evaluating season

"I think our goal was, we talked about it in October, that we would love to have homecourt advantage in the first round, to get out of the first round or put ourselves in a good position to get out of the first round. And we didn't achieve that. Probably various reasons, some injury problems, really not consistent enough, not winning enough against the good teams, on the road or at home. You've got to find a way to win your fair share of those."

On why it didn't work

"Just too much up and down, really to get a top four seed. And then you start off on the road and it's tough. So, overall, a 50-win season in the tough West is still very acceptable. Just the way the West is so tough, you need to win almost 60 to get home court. And we didn't do that."

On the Rondo trade specifically not working

"I don't know. Maybe the guys around him. Can't really put my fingers on it yet. But it just didn't. Sometimes things work out and sometimes things don't.

"Like I said last night, I still think that's a deal you have to make as a franchise. I felt if a point guard of that caliber is available, we went for it. I think as a franchise sometimes you've got to take some risks. You've got to take some gambles. You know, some pay off and some don't. I think this one didn't work for both sides. You know, it just didn't work out on the court. I never had a problem with Rajon off the floor. He was actually a really, really good dude. It just, the whole situation didn't work out."

On whether this year has been more mentally draining

"I mean, at 36 each season is draining. There's a lot of games. But, yeah, sometimes in the playoffs there was some distractions going on, but I thought we stuck together pretty well and we tried to fight through it. I don't want to take anything away from Houston. They played a good series. They have an MVP-type player and good players around him; Dwight's playing well. We would have loved to have had the full squad to have a good shot at them, so I think, really that Parsons injury hurt us pretty good there. I thought he was playing really good basketball after he came back from his ankle injury he played really well, and then the knee thing happened. That was unfortunate. Injuries are part of the game, unfortunately."

On whether he'd be willing to come off the bench

"Yeah, I mean, the problem is there would some stiffness coming off the bench. I'm usually not the most mobile, agile player, but there are bikes and stuff in the back that you can ride and get loose. Yeah, I mean, whatever it takes; I've always said that. My last two years I want to enjoy. I want to be a good team. I want to be on a winning team. Playoffs. Hopefully deep runs. So, yeah, anything I've got to do to help is obviously no question."

On whether he has put actual thought into it

"Not really. This season just ended last night, so it'll be a long offseason. There will be a few weeks of sitting on this pain and then moving forward, starting with the draft. And then free-agency starts after that. So it'll be a busy summer again for this franchise. We've obviously got, what, four guys under contract, I think? But like always, we're going to trust Mark and Donnie there to get the guys back that we had that we liked and get some guys in to make this team better. And we'll go from there."

On what the missing pieces are

"Well it's pretty obvious now that the league goes in a direction where everybody on the floor has to be able to score. All the good teams can score 110, 120 every night. There's a lot of small ball now. You can't have enough athletes, but you need enough shooters. So anywhere you want to start. Any position."

On whether it feels more like square one since the Rondo trade didn't work

"Yeah, like I said, it was worth a shot. It just didn't work out for both sides. And both sides need to move on now. What that moving on thing is, we don't know yet. Like I said, that's why it's going to be an important offseason again. I have no idea was Parts is doing. We have parts that could opt out, that might not. Nobody really knows yet, I guess. not even those guys know if they will or not. We just have to stay tuned and get ready for a busy summer."

On Aminu

"I felt he was really good all year. Like I said earlier, you can never have enough athletes now in the game that can run, that can finish on the break, that can defend, use his length. I thought he was phenomenal. Made it hard on James, just using his length really well. I think he worked on his shooting throughout the year, so he had some good shooting games, but he's a slasher and great energy player. I thought he played extremely well during the playoffs."

On his own health

"Yeah, I mean, I made it through pretty good. They gave me a couple of back-to-backs off, but I still played, what, mid-70s plus playoffs, so that's almost 80 games again. I feel pretty good. Like I said, I did a lot of work last summer and probably do more of the same again this year with a lot of weight training. Keep the legs strong. Not really sure quite what the summer will bring yet. We have an Olympic qualifier, the European championship in Germany this summer, in September. I haven't really made up my mind yet if I'm competing there or not. But for almost 37 now, I made it pretty good through another season."

On making the decision about playing in Germany or not

"See how I'm feeling, what my family thinks. I don't make that decision by myself any more. I've got others to think about now. The tournament is in Germany, which means obviously a lot to basketball in our country. That obviously weighs a lot into that decision. Plus, I would love to be a part one more time of the Olympics next year in Rio. But, saying all that, I think I'm going to talk to numerous people. I'm going to talk to Mark and maybe Coach and see what's on their minds. The thing is, I've got to make this decision pretty quick, though, because it obviously [impacts] what I do this offseason. If I don't play, then I probably won't start working out with the ball until August. And if I do play, I probably got to start already in July at the latest. I'd say I'll give myself a few weeks here, but by June at the latest, I've got to know if it's a go or not."

On being a dad

"Yeah, it's tough during the season. Obviously we're gone a lot, but it'll be a fun summer again, spending it with two kids now. I'll enjoy my time off for sure.

On Parsons being a recruiter

"Yeah, he's great at that. He's great at small talking and all the stuff that I'm not great at. I'll let him do the stuff, but we're obviously a little concerned for him. At 26, it's unfortunate that he has to go through that stuff. We're worried about him being healthy first, but on the side when he's got his knee laid up, if he throws out a couple of texts or a couple of calls, that's fine."

On Monta

"I thought he was great for the two years that he was here. Like I said, I'm not sure if he wants to opt out or play out the contract. That's something that he has to think about and make that family decision with his agent. He came here not knowing really what to expect, but he was great. He was always great in the locker room and took the closer role over for us and he had some phenomenal games. We'd love to keep him. Like I said earlier, you can never have enough athletes in this league, guys that can penetrate, get in the lane, finish. We'll just have to wait and see what happens, you know."

On Parsons' role expanding

"I think as the season got along, he did more and more. He actually had some great games there before he got hurt with his knee where he got the ball, pick-and-rolled it, took some big shots. Just more of the same really. Some ballhandling on some pick-and-rolls, some show-and-goes, he's great on the fast break. I don't think he'll ever be the player where we give it to him and say, ‘Create a shot.' I'm not sure if that's his game. I'm not sure if that will ever be his game. He's great on the move. He's great on pick-and-rolls. He's a great passer for his size. Just doing more of that and being more efficient doing so."

On the Rockets' tweet that got their social media dude fired

"I was made aware of it afterwards. Just unfortunate. I think the guy behind the mobile phone there was a little too excited or something. Maybe it was Gersson, I'm not sure. No, it was just unfortunate. It was a good playoff series that didn't need to end like that."