Dirk Nowitzki And Dallas Mavericks Teammates Will Sport Beards Until They Hit .500

Without much of the core group of players who helped the team win the NBA Championship just two seasons ago and with future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki still battling some lingering injuries, the Dallas Mavericks have been struggling quite a bit this year. Luckily, they’ve instituted a scratchy new plan that could motivate them back to .500. Many of the team’s athletes including Vince Carter, Chris Kaman, Dahntay Jones, Jae Crowder, OJ Mayo and Nowitzki have agreed to sport beards until the team gets back to respectability.

According to ESPN, the Mavericks are currently seven games under .500. Thus, it will likely be awhile before the players are able to take out their razors. Consequently, the pact does afford them one luxury: any player is allowed to shave his neck if it gets too itchy or he simply wants to look a little more stylish.

Critics have charged the team will likely never get back to .500, but for the players, it’s all about optimism and adding a little extra inspiration. Here’s what Dirk had to say…

"It's going to be tough. We know that. We've got to win at a high clip. There's going to be some close games in the second half of the season that we've just got to find ways to win. I think the first half of the season, we found ways to lose those close games.”

I can’t imagine how satisfying it will be for the guys involved in this pact to shave. Here’s to hoping they’re able to get there and maybe even make a run at the playoffs in the process.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.