Growing up in East Texas, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had an early appreciation for the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki. Mahomes attends Mavericks games on a fairly regular basis according to Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and after Sunday’s contest against the Houston Rockets, Mahomes got to meet Dirk, Luka Doncic, Kristaps Porzingis and the rest of the team.
The young quarterback watched the Mavericks practice on Monday, a practice in which Doncic only did some light shooting and received treatment for a knee strain he sustained against the Rockets. Mahomes was born in Tyler, went to high school in Whitehouse and played college ball at Texas Tech before being drafted by the Chiefs in the first round of the 2017 NFL draft.
After Nowitzki finished his post practice shooting drills, Mahomes was introduced to the Mavericks legend. In high school Mahomes played multiple sports including football, baseball and basketball.
Earlier this off-season Mahomes posted video of him playing pickup basketball which got him in a bit of trouble with the Chiefs. After the incident the team came out and told their young star he is no longer allowed to play pick-up basketball in the off-season to keep him from sustaining an injury. So it’s pretty obvious he still has some love for the game he gave up after high school.
Despite some resistance, Mahomes agreed and made a jesting comment about his basketball-ban on his Instagram story. To obey the rules Kansas City put in place, Mahomes took some shots with the former NBA MVP Nowitzki but didn’t play any pick-up games.
The two MVPs slung around a football after Mahomes finished his shoot around and Nowitzki tried to do his best Odell Beckham Jr. impersonation.
Dirk yells “I’m OBJ” as he tries to catch a one-handed pass from Patrick Mahomes.#MFFL | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/hG2RcPfW7F
— Brice Paterik (@BricePaterik) March 11, 2019
Nowitzki spoke with the media after practice and joked about how his handball career helped him throw a football. He also had high praise for Mahomes saying “the sky is the limit” for the young Chief.
Mahomes and Nowitzki exchanged signed jerseys after practice, a jersey Mahomes will likely hold in a special place.
This practice between two MVPs of different sports and different generations is a rare one and likely won’t happen again any time soon. Maybe in a few years Mahomes will return to another Mavericks practice and exchange jerseys with a different Dallas Mavericks MVP a little closer to his age. Time will tell.