Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki might be out longer than expected.

Nowitzki had knee surgery before the season started and the outlook was for him to be back some time the middle of December.

But he told the Dallas Morning News that probably won’t happen.

“We said from the beginning the only way I could get back on the court was when the swelling is gone and the quad strength is back. And so we got a long way to go,” Nowitzki told the Morning News. “Now, it’s already December 5th. I don’t think middle of December is happening now to be honest. That was my goal a couple weeks ago. But the swelling was in there too long and it held me back too long and I couldn’t start working soon enough.”

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