Canadians in the NBA Roundup: Why Mavs centre Powell has 'hardest role' in the league

To provide an idea of how competitive the NBA is, Dwight Powell, the 6-foot-10 centre from Toronto, started every game for the Dallas Mavericks on their run to the Western Conference Finals in the 2022 playoffs. He then started every game for Team Canada the next summer, helping the second-deepest and second-most-talented nation on earth secure its place in the 2023 FIBA World Cup. 

Yet when Powell returned to Mavericks training camp in the fall ahead of this NBA season, he found himself outside of the rotation entirely. And it was due to no fault of his own. Rather, it was because the Mavericks signed veteran seven-foot centre JaVale McGee in the offseason in hopes of added rim-protection, promising McGee the starting job and a three-year, $17-million contract. As a result, Powell did not see the floor in three of the Mavericks' first four regular season games. 

But instead of sulking and being down on himself or angry with the team for giving away his starting spot, Powell stayed the course. After all, this is a guy who knows what it’s like to have things not go as planned — a guy who was traded three times before he played his first six NBA games; who tore his achilles in January of 2020 and then played all 82 games the 2021-22 season. 

So, when Powell did get that opportunity to play in the fifth game of the season, he was ready for it: he started, scored 13 points in 18:28 minutes and more or less won the starting job back ever since. He is averaging 5.9 points and 3.0 rebounds on 70 per cent shooting in 17.1 minutes per game this season, playing his role well enough that the Mavericks have been 6.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court. 

It’s a testament to the eight-year veteran’s ability to stay ready, especially in the face of adversity. And the way he tells it, it’s a testament to all the little habits he has picked up along the way, helping him develop a routine that keeps him prepared for any role at any given moment.

“I think one of the biggest things (I have learned) is routine. Having a routine in terms of how you prepare, in terms of reading the scout and going through everything,” Powell told me when the Mavericks were in Toronto to play the Raptors in late November. “Being able to know that that's one thing I don’t have to worry about in terms of preparation-wise for my body and for our scouts and all those things to really lock in.”

It has become second nature for him to do all the little things that come with being a pro — things that are not mandatory but that can help improve your mental and physical state in order to stay prepared, perform better and, ultimately, extend your career. Things done consistently like showing up to practice early and staying late, getting in extra weight-lifting and treatment sessions, communicating with teammates, eating right, studying film, reading the scout and so on. 

Watching Powell play, you begin to understand why the Mavericks have turned to him. He lays it all on the line with a physical relentlessness that helps set the tone for the team. Powell doesn’t just set screens, but hits people with his body to free up ball-handlers; he doesn’t just jump for rebounds, but boxes everybody out of the vicinity; he doesn’t just win 50/50 balls, but dives onto them. It’s the type of energy and competitive spirit that doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet but goes a long way toward helping his team win.

And the added benefit of having someone who does all those little things in the locker room is that it doesn’t only help Powell, but it rubs off on his teammates, too. 

“Dwight is a really great teammate, on and off the court,” frontcourt partner Maxi Kleber said. “He's always positive, supportive, and especially when it comes to playing, he plays his role. He knows what he has to do. He's bringing a lot of energy. You look at the bench every time and he's the first guy who's up when somebody makes a shot or a good play on defence. He’s supporting everybody, talking positively. ... He just sets the right example and brings the right energy for the guys.”

Kleber said he has learned how to develop good habits partly from Powell, showing up early and putting in extra work when it comes to lifting, shooting, treatment and taking care of his body. “He's a true professional,” Kleber said. “And I think a lot of young guys, especially, can learn from him. And that's what I did, too.”

Even Luka Doncic, the Mavericks' 23-year-old wonderboy who is nearly averaging a triple-double a game and who, to be frank, doesn’t have to listen to anybody, said Powell helps hold everyone on the team accountable, including himself. “He tells the truth,” Doncic said. “He's not afraid of anybody. But that helps us, you know? When you tell the truth. ... It doesn't mean it’s a bad word. It's just the truth, you know? So, everybody respects him and everybody listens to him.”

Powell said “consistency” and “level-headedness” make for a good teammate and a good leader, which he has certainly become for the Mavericks at age 31. “Being able to show up every day, do your job as a pro, and not ride the emotional rollercoaster that sometimes it's tempting (to ride) in this league and in life in general," he said. "To stay steady I think is huge.”

He was lucky. Since being traded to the Mavericks in 2014, his rookie season, after being the 45th pick in the draft out of Stanford University, Powell got to learn from one of the game's great international players: Dirk Nowitzki. The two of them shared the floor for five seasons after Nowitzki won a championship, and Powell used that time to learn all he could about what made Nowitzki so great, on and off the court. 

“One of the most consistent guys I obviously (had as a vet) is Dirk,” Powell said. “Dirk was the consummate professional. He showed up every single day the same way. I saw him a lot the last five or so years of his career, when he had already kind of accomplished everything that anyone would ever dream of accomplishing, and he was still one of the first in the gym, one of the last out, took care of his body, ate right, looked out for his teammates and worked on his game. So, that had a huge impact on me.”

Now, though he obviously occupies a different role on the court than Nowitzki did, Powell’s teammates are talking about him in a similar manner. Mavericks guard Spencer Dinwiddie spoke at length recently about Powell’s character and leadership abilities, giving an unprovoked soliloquy to the media where he said, in part, that “it is the hardest role to have in this league: to know that you can play, to have started and had success, and to be relegated to the bench not playing at all — staying ready, staying focused, and then when they call your number, to have extreme success whether it’s (on the) stat sheet or not.”

You can quibble with it being the hardest role in the league, but there is certainly truth to the idea that it’s extremely difficult to stay ready and consistently perform in small sample sizes in the NBA — not to mention unforgiving. In fact, it’s part of the reason so many end-of-bench guys flame out of the league instead of finding their niche and thriving in a relatively small role like Powell has. 

“A lot of things that he does goes unnoticed,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said about Powell. “It’s not going to be on the Instagram reel or on Twitter, but he's a team guy. He's about doing the right things at all times ... he’s going to do everything he can do in his powers to put his team in a position to win.” 

It makes sense given that Powell’s only real goal is to win. When I asked him if he was happy to get the starting job back this season, he said, “I wouldn't necessarily say that. Obviously, our (10-11 and 1-8 on the road) record could be better, and that's kind of what it's all about.” When I asked how he embraced his relatively small role, he said “every single player in this league wants a bigger role,” indicating that he has high aspirations himself, but that “my desire to win trumps that.”

Powell is as unselfish as they come. And when he heard Dinwiddie’s speech about him — and then saw it at practice the next day when Kidd played it in front of the entire team — he was touched. “I definitely appreciate him for his words and for that feeling that he has about my role,” Powell said. “So, that's motivation for me to continue to do what I'm doing, and motivation for our whole team to continue to have each others' backs and to stay ready and to stay true to the whole team mentality.”

Powell and Canada Basketball 

Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse noticed many of those same qualities while coaching Powell for the Canadian senior national men’s basketball team over the past two summers, calling him “a great person. High-character, hardworking, no-nonsense type of guy” who “keeps getting better.” 

Powell has been playing for the national team since 2015 and has played 26 games with the senior team. In fact, his national team commitment is another thing Nowitzki influenced upon him, explaining in Powell’s rookie year that being at the Olympics and participating in the opening ceremonies was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

But, unfortunately, so far more of his international experiences have been heartbreaking losses rather than breakthrough wins, with Canada failing to qualify for an Olympic Games since 2000. However, with a new group of committed NBA players led by Powell, Kelly Olynyk, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and more, Canada became the first team from the Americas to qualify for the 2023 World Cup after a dominant 10-0 qualifying campaign this summer, which Powell calls “a dream (come true) for a lot of guys for a long time in this group” and a “big step towards the ultimate goal” of medaling at the Olympics. 

“I'm very excited to be a part of this group,” Powell said about Team Canada. “We've done a great job of integrating everyone into our system and developing a culture now.

“So, it's been beautiful to see and I'm excited for what's to come.”