In his most definitive terms yet, Dallas Mavericks big man Dirk Nowitzki said Friday that he intends to play next season at age 39.
Speaking to ESPN's Marc Stein on the TrueHoop Conversations podcast about whether his return for the 2017-18 can be considered a lock, Nowitzki said: "I think so ... unless something drastic changes here in the next few weeks or the last few weeks of the season, which I don't anticipate.
"I said last summer: I signed a two-year deal, [and] that obviously meant I want to play for two more," Nowitzki continued. "I want to complete that deal."
That'd make him the second player in league history to play at least 20 seasons for a single team. As noted in that article, he also needs just 48 points to join the 30,000 club.