Monday morning, the Dallas Mavericks announced they were waiving veteran center Dwight Powell. It was a strange, emotional moment for Mavericks fans: with nearly 12 full seasons in Dallas, the Canadian big man was the team’s longest-tenured player, a stabilizing force
that was present for the end of Dirk Nowitzki’s reign, the entirety of the Luka Dončić era, and the beginning of Cooper Flagg’s emergence.Powell ends his time in Dallas averaging 7/4 in 17 minutes, and with no shortage of franchise
accolades—top 10 in rebounds, top 5 in bench scoring, and even top 5 in games played. His departure, though, represents much more than the loss of a steady on-court contributor. It also means the loss of one of the NBA’s only known poets.
“Poetry and self-expression through the written word for me was around before the ball,” Powell said in a 2024 interview with WFAA. “It’s a great place for me to speak to myself and to learn about myself, and although I may be writing about different things, and exploring different ideas, and talking about different experiences—at the end of the day, it all comes back to me… it’s a place where I can find peace.”
Literature and the arts have seen renewed interest in the NBA in recent years. In 2022, Shareef O’Neal told The Ringer that Scoot Henderson “reads all the time.” Three years later, Victor Wembanyama and Harrison Barnes made headlines with their science-fiction book club.
But Powell’s love of poetry is a bit more personal. More than just a hobby or passing interest, the Canadian big man has identified an important link between the words he writes and the points he scores.
“Poetry, art, basketball—I honestly don’t see any separation,” said Powell in 2024. “Any time you have love for something, and you’re passionate about something, you’ll find a way to express yourself through it, and you’ll find yourself in it. So, through the written word, through poetry, and through my expression of myself through basketball—they’re all different translations of the same message. To me, they’re one and the same.”
Powell’s love of literature and the arts has previously informed his philanthropy and outreach in the Dallas area. In 2022, the veteran big man hosted the Mavs Reading Challenge at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, reading from Barbara Barber’s Allie’s Basketball Dream.
“One of the coolest parts about reading for me is that you can teleport yourself to a different place, to be a different person and view the world in a different way,” Powell said at the event. “You can go on all sorts of adventures without ever leaving your house. So as a child, that was a way for me to really explore with my mind. With every turn of the page, I knew something super exciting awaited.”
Now, poetry may light the way as Powell’s time with the Mavericks comes to a close. At a 2024 Poetry in the Square event hosted by the Thanks-Giving Foundation, the veteran big man reminded listeners that artistic expression is proof that “you can be literally anything—you can be all things.”
“No matter what your profession is, no matter what circumstances you’re in… the routine of life can kind of get you out of rhythm at times,” said Powell, before reading his work on the virtue of wisdom. “For me to be able to sit down and write, I step away from some of the responsibilities, and step away from some of the stress. I’m able to check in with myself, which I think is super important.”
