Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said that Dirk Nowitzki's precision makes him "like a surgeon" on the court.

The 35-year-old forward, who is the 13th-highest points scorer of all time in the NBA, has been averaging 21.1 points per season.

Cuban told NBC Sports: "It's up to him, as long as he wants to he'll be here. Like I said earlier Dirk never played off athleticism, he plays off of heart, he plays off of brains, he plays off of technique. He's a surgeon, he makes it into a science.

"He's a student of the game and in a lot of respects that helps him, you'll see he knows how to protect his body, which makes him look really awkward at times but he understands context.

"Dirk is all about German precision. He's like a surgeon out on the court, he knows how to play, he sees the game in slow motion and he knows what's going to happen and he knows what he needs to do. And it's that ability to know what he needs to do but also context that continues to make him special."

The German international was drafted by the Mavericks in 1998.