In an interview with ESPN Dallas, Dallas Mavericks owner Marc Cuban hinted that Dirk Nowitzki may be held out for more than the four games that was initially reported, although he insisted that there was nothing structurally wrong with the star PF's knee:
"It's not about his knee. His knee wasn't feeling well, but that's a symptom of everything else," Cuban said prior to Monday's game with the Phoenix Suns, the second of four games Nowitzki is expected to miss. "So, it's not like there's some problem. Even if it was his head, we would still do the exact same thing.
"There's nothing specifically wrong. Dirk has a process to get ready. You mess with the process; he just didn't feel right," Cuban said. "It's not just Dirk, it's other guys, too. It's a first for us in dealing with a lockout."
According to Cuban, Dirk's pre-season routine was thrown out of whack by his participation in the 2011 Eurobasket competition for Germany as well as the late start of the 2011-2012 season due to the lockout.
The ten-time All-Star has looked off his game for good parts of the season, laboring on one knee while averaging 17.5 points and 5.6 rebounds on 45% shooting, his worst numbers since the 1999-2000 season.