Nowitzki eyes December for start of 21st season with Mavs

DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki was ready to take the court Wednesday night — at halftime, for a ceremony in which the Mavericks star was presented a key to the city by Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings.

As for when the 7-foot German's record 21st season with the same franchise will begin after a longer-than-expected recovery from ankle surgery seven months ago, Nowitzki said the goal is sometime in December.

The 13-time All-Star had surgery to remove bone spurs from his left ankle just before the end of the 2017-18 season. Nowitzki was on schedule to be ready for the start of this season before a setback led to tendon soreness just before the start of training camp in September.

Nowitzki spoke alongside Rawlings before the ceremony during the Mavericks' game against Brooklyn.

"It's just hard when I haven't done much for eight weeks and there's a 40-year-old basically starting from scratch to try to get back in shape to play NBA minutes," Nowitzki said. "Hopefully soon. Hopefully, somewhere in December I'll be ready and the body will respond the right way."

Nowitzki is set to become the first player to spend all 21 seasons with the same team. Until he makes his debut, he will technically share the record of 20 seasons with Kobe Bryant, who retired from the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016.

The 2007 NBA MVP said he started running on a treadmill about two weeks ago and has steadily increased the intensity. Nowitzki has played in a couple of games involving staff members during practice. But until he goes through several full practices, his debut will have to wait.