ESPN NBA

In the first installment of a lengthy interview with Germany's new Five Magazine (5ivemag.com), Dallas star Dirk Nowitzki muses about eventually playing for another team, how some of his teammates have not prepared like he has, and how the team mis-used Jason Kidd under Avery Johnson.

It's refreshingly honest.

Here Nowitzki is asked about his own preparation, in an environment where some teammates are less committed:

I know I'm not in an individual sport. If I were in track and field maybe I would have won something big by now. ... Sure it's bitter sometimes when a teammate doesn't invest the necessary time. The best example was Shawn Bradley. He would some times come to training camp and not had a ball in his hands for four months. But what can you do? There is no rule. Everyone needs to figure out for themselves how to stay fit. 

On Jason Kidd and Avery Johnson:

Well, we wanted a playmaker who had been around and already seen everything. I also hoped that Coach (Avery Johnson) would let him play his way, that we would play quicker and have more fun. But just the opposite happened. Avery pushed his style on Jason.

It was tough throwing a guy like him into a system which he didn't really like.

On winning a title as a Maverick: 

The best thing would be me carrying the team to the title. But the other teams have gotten so strong, also through some unfair trades -- Pau Gasol to Los Angeles and Kevin Garnett to Boston.

Maybe I will see if it helps changing teams in like three years. Maybe it won't be fun any more or I can't keep up with the athleticism anymore. Maybe I will play in Europe again. I can imagine all of that.

What Karl Malone did back then -- heading to L.A. after all those years in Utah -- yeah it was a little questionable. But when you want the championship so bad, then you can't rule out a move like that.