With the 2011 NBA All-Star game on the horizon this evening, many stars ready themselves to put on a show for basketball fans around the world. A constant fixture of the event over the last decade, Dirk Nowitzki, is making his 10th straight All-Star appearance — something the former MVP doesn’t take lightly.

Well, sort of.

"I wouldn’t mind a little beach time, to be honest," Nowitzki said. "But, no, it’s an honor, obviously 10 in a row. It’s been an amazing ride and I’m always happy to represent the great organization that the Mavericks are. The owner and the fans there are amazing so I’m happy to represent them, but I’m also getting up there to an age where I wouldn’t mind a weekend off — but I’m still going to make the best of it and enjoy it."

The perennial All-Star also believes the game should stay the same amidst all of the ideas for a revamped main event for All-Star weekend.

"You don’t want to make it too competitive, you could get somebody hurt, [but] I think it’s fine as long as in the fourth quarter teams are going for it. It’s still about showing the fans a good time," Nowitzki said. "If you make it a national against the U.S., I think it’s going to be too competitive and guys won’t get the rest they were supposed to get."

Nowitzki, who is averaging 22.7 points while hitting 52.6 percent of his shots and 42.6 percent on threes in a career-best shooting year, appreciates the gesture of being named an All-Star — but doesn’t let that define his career as he said he would trade every All-Star selection for just one NBA championship ring.

"It’s good to know that I’m respected around the league. The coaches have voted me in every year so that’s a good thing, but I’m at that stage of my career where the only thing that counts now is the championship," Nowitzki said. "If I get two or three more All-Stars or whatever, it all doesn’t matter at this point.

"It’s about winning a championship. I signed on for four more years and hopefully we’ll get the job done here in the future."

With a title on their collective minds, the Dallas Mavericks have won 13 of 14 games going into All-Star weekend — with the one loss a 121-120 defeat to the Denver Nuggets due to Arron Afflalo splashing through the game-winning buzzer beater — and are, one of, if not the league’s hottest team going into the break. At 40-16, Dallas is currently second in the Western Conference behind only the San Antonio Spurs, but isn’t getting all that much national attention considering they have the fourth-best record in basketball.

"We’re a little under the radar, which is good. I think we went through a rough patch in January when I was hurt and then Caron [Butler] basically was done for the season. I think that’s a tough blow for any team: your best two scorers getting hurt in the same week," Nowitzki said. "I think that was tough and we struggled there for a while to create some points. We’ve been a little more healthy [lately]. Now we signed [Peja] Stojakovic, [Rodrigue] Beaubois is finally back so we’re right there where we want to be and we’re going to make a heck of a push in the second half of the season."

While many teams are looking at the trade deadline to acquire a front-line starter, the Mavericks have acquired two without having to sacrifice a single asset. Both Beaubois and Stojakovic figure to remain starters for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs, as Dallas was able to pick up Peja off the scrap heap after he was bought out by the Toronto Raptors and unleash Roddy B from the injured list after he sat out the first three months of the season due to a fracture in his foot. Even with Butler on the shelf, Dallas has vaulted itself back into title contention with a healthy Nowitzki and rearmed starting lineup.

Two teams who stand directly in the Mavs way of getting back to the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs, are right in the thick of things in the Western Conference. These two teams have combined to win nine of the last 12 NBA titles, so Dallas knows the road to an NBA Championship passes through both L.A. and San Antonio. The Mavericks are 2-2 so far this season against the two teams, with three more matchups coming in the second half (two vs L.A., one vs S.A.).

{AUTHOR_BOX}"I think [the Lakers are] struggling a little bit. But I think after back-to-back championships, after going to July almost every year, I think they’re going to be OK," Nowitzki said. "I think they’re going to step it up after the break and, to me, the Lakers are still the team to beat. They’re still the same team, they’ve got the length, they’ve got the talent. Then everybody after that is kind of in a pack."

While L.A. is fading, having lost three straight games going into the All-Star break, the Spurs keep humming along as the team with the best record in basketball — having won 46 of 56 games to start the season with the best record in franchise history.

"The Spurs are playing really well, they’ve really been injury-free for the first time in a long time," Nowitzki said.

Nowitzki also didn’t hesitate to chime in on if he would finish his career overseas; something especially poignant with an NBA lockout looming and after his comments earlier this season that he would consider playing in Germany if there was no 2011-2012 NBA season.

"It looks like I’m going to finish in Dallas. I have four more years then I’ll just have to see how my body is holding up - by that time I’ll be 36," Nowitzki said. "But [Jason] Kidd is almost 38 and still playing at a high level. [Steve] Nash is 37 and still playing at a high level. So we’ll just have to wait and see how my body responds in four years, but I’m still feeling good so we’ll see.

"If I lost a step at 36, 37 and I still feel like I can compete, but not for 82 games, then it’s possible you go over to Europe and play 30, 35 games. But that’s four years down the road. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow."

The future is uncertain: both in terms of the longevity of an NBA career and the future of a divided association that continues to bicker as the current collective bargaining agreement continues towards its end without a new agreement on the horizon. For Nowitzki and the rest of the NBA, this All-Star weekend has to be bittersweet considering there is still the possibility of a lock-out next season, and no resolution in sight.