Following the Mavericks victory against the Rockets on Saturday night, it was noted that Dirk would be addressing the media on Sunday after practice.

In hopes of receiving news on his long-awaited return to the Dallas lineup, this was certainly an exciting prospect.

Sadly, that time is not now. 

“Not quite,” Dirk said following practice. “Feel better. Feel a lot better. Been working hard the past few weeks.”

Dirk has been seen moving well after practice; getting a lot of shots up, hitting the treadmill, and playing three-on-three with the likes of Luka Doncic, Salah Mejri, Ryan Broekhoff, and a few Maverick interns. “Working on my wind. Working on my legs. Been going well and everything has been responding pretty good.”

And this has been a question looming Dirk’s return; where will his minutes come from? “The boys are playing well…Maxi is getting his reps in practice and Dwight is getting his reps so it’s kind of hard to get a rhythm in practice,” Dirk said of the big man rotation. 

Both Maxi and Dwight are playing well off the bench and have been very effective apart of one of the best bench units in the league. Dirk will clearly be on a minutes restriction and it will be interesting to see how Carlisle crafts the right rotation and time to put Dirk into the game.

“He and I have had conversations about his return and the timing of it and some of the challenges that go along with it. He’s very aware and does not want to disrupt anything,” Carlisle said of Dirk’s return. 

Carlisle continued, “It’s important to manage the expectations of this and protect him. When he comes back to play, there will be a limit on the minutes and there’s a very good chance that in some games, he may only play in the first half so, let’s just be reasonable about all this.” It’s clear that this was about 1) Putting a halt to the every day media questions about Dirk’s return and 2) To give a reasonable timetable and expectations for his return. He’s close, ladies and gentlemen, just not yet. 

Most importantly through all of this, Coach Carlisle spoke on Dirk’s selflessness and how he is “the anomaly of superstar athletes in their late years.”

“Dirk has a great sense of self-awareness. He’s totally into the team and loves the fact that the team is having some success and the younger guys are doing better.”

In regards to the timetable for his return?

“We don’t really have a set date in mind but hopefully I’ll be out there soon.” When asked if playing before the New Year is still the goal, “Oh yeah, I better hope so.”

We hope so too, Dirk. Soon indeed.