Luka Dončić’s first game in Dallas as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers brought plenty of star power to the American Airlines Center. That included Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki and his impending Amazon Prime broadcast partner Taylor Rooks.
During the first quarter of Wednesday night’s highly anticipated broadcast, MavsTV’s local broadcast made note of Nowitzki’s presence at the arena that he called home for the vast majority of his Hall of Fame career. And in doing so, the camera captured the German big man and Rooks engaging in a series of poses that looked an awful lot like Ja Morant’ signature celebrations.
As Nowitzki texted on his phone, Rooks grabbed hers and proceeded to mimic shooting a gun with her fingers. At that point, the 2007 NBA MVP joined in, pretending to throw a hand grenade, with the two posing for a selfie on Rooks’ phone while performing Morant’s celebrations.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Rooks posted the final product anywhere on social media. Perhaps it was only intended to be seen by Morant, who recently debuted his new hand grenade celebration after landing in hot water over his gun one.
As for Nowitzki and Rooks, the duo will team with Blake Griffin to serve as the primary studio team for Amazon when Prime Video begins hosting games during the 2025-26 NBA season. While neither Nowitzki nor Griffin have much media experience, many have high hopes for the pair of former All-Star forwards, with Rooks’ presence only bolstering the anticipation for the Amazon trio.
If Wednesday night’s viral moment is any indication, on-air chemistry will be the least of the show’s issues.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.