WASHINGTON — If he were 6 feet tall instead of 7, life would have obviously turned out differently.



“I’d probably be a painter,” Dirk Nowitzki said Tuesday. “My dad had a painting business growing up, painting houses, and he always wanted me to take over the business. When I was like 14, 15, he had me work a couple of times on vacation. And it’s hard work. It’s hard work. It’s a grind. I was like, ‘Let me try this basketball thing. I’ll come back to you.’ And I never came back to him. And he, finally, a couple of years ago — my sister didn’t want to do it, either — so he ended up selling it a couple of years ago, which was pretty emotional for the family. Because he’d had it since he was little. And his dad had it.”



This is where you could make some stupid metaphor about the canvas of excellence Nowitzki has painted during two decades in the NBA, which would be wretched.