Two hours on the training table. An electronic balance board. Ubering to arenas before the team bus. Inside the great lengths the NBA's only 40-year-olds take to prepare for game action.
Mavericks practice has long ended, yet Dirk Nowitzki remains doubled over on the baseline, sweat dripping off his nose and puddling on the hardwood. The stopwatch starts once again, and the 40-year-old, 7-foot veteran unfurls into, well, his version of a sprint. Casey Smith, Dallas’s longtime head athletic trainer, shouts the passing seconds. Nowitzki lumbers through the exercise. “Look at that old man run!” Mavs center DeAndre Jordan crows. The average NBA player can burst to one end of the floor and back…
