Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki is dealing with a sore right knee for the second straight training camp and could be facing arthroscopic surgery.
Nowitzki will give the knee a week of rest and treatment to see whether it responds, The Dallas Morning News reported. He didn’t play in the Mavericks’ exhibition loss to FC Barcelona Regal in Spain on Tuesday night.
If surgery is necessary, he hopes to be able to play in the Mavericks’ season opener Oct. 30 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
“We’ll see how it responds,” Nowitzki told The Dallas Morning News. “But the longer we wait, obviously the worse it is. If we have to do something, it’d be better to do it quick.
“But we’re still hopeful that this is a temporary thing. If we relax and rest it for a week and see how it goes, then we’ll have a better idea.”
Nowitzki, 34, adjusted his off-season training regimen in hopes of avoiding the knee issue that forced him to miss four games last season. But the All-Star still experienced problems early in training camp.
“Last year, we dealt with it,” Nowitzki said. “Hopefully, it’ll respond here in the next week or so, and I’ll play throughout the whole season. The good thing, or different thing, this year is that my legs are actually pretty strong. I lifted all through the summer.”