Dirk Nowitzki honored at UT MD Anderson’s A Conversation With a Living Legend® Dallas

Former NBA champion Dirk Nowitzki was honored Monday, March 23, during The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center’s A Conversation With a Living Legend® Dallas. MLB great and former Living Legend honoree Clayton Kershaw joined Nowitzki in bringing together a distinguished audience of donors and supporters united in the mission to end cancer.

Held at The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, the event raised more than $1.1 million to benefit the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation at UT MD Anderson, led by pioneering physician-scientist Katy Rezvani, M.D., Ph.D.

During the intimate evening, Nowitzki reflected on his successes on and off the basketball court in a friendly, relaxed discussion moderated by Kershaw, a three-time World Series champion and the 2019 Dallas Living Legend. Nowitzki shared personal perspectives on teamwork, legacy and the impact of cancer on families and communities.

The event also featured remarks from event chair Ann Higginbottom, a moving testimonial from cancer survivor Jim Melson, and an invocation delivered by Kershaw’s wife, Ellen Kershaw. Dallas-based lifestyle expert and television personality Kimberly Whitman served as emcee.

“The generosity of this community fuels breakthrough discoveries, accelerates innovation and brings us closer to a future without cancer,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of UT MD Anderson. “Dr. Rezvani and the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation are leading the way by advancing a new generation of cancer cures through engineered immune cell therapies that are more effective, safer and easier to manufacture, helping us to get important treatments to patients sooner.”

Leaving a legacy beyond basketball                                                                       Nowitzki, who spent a record 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, was honored not only for his Hall of Fame career but also for his deep commitment to philanthropy through the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation, which supports children and families in need, including young people facing cancer. 

Despite his storied career, Nowitzki’s initial move to the U.S. as a high school graduate was uncertain and not without doubts and challenges. But perseverance and finding a community that embraced him shifted the playing field.

“It’s been an amazing journey. I honestly didn't really know what to expect when I came here back in ‘98, so far away from home and my family," Nowitzki said. “When you struggle a bit and have some doubts creep in, you just have to work through that and get better. I quickly fell in love with the community. But at the beginning, I didn't know that I was going to play 21 seasons here. Now I can’t imagine it happening anywhere else.”

Nowitzki also detailed his mother’s experience as a former cancer patient and the effect it had on his family, emphasizing the importance of innovative research and therapies to prevent others from going through the same thing.

“There was a tough time when she got diagnosed and we didn't have a UT MD Anderson in Germany,” Nowitzki said. “We're super thankful and appreciative of all the research that UT MD Anderson and leaders like Dr. Rezvani are driving, so hopefully, in the future, families don't have to go through what we went through.”

Immune cell therapies offer promising opportunities for future of cancer care                                                                                                                              An internationally recognized physician-scientist, Rezvani leads the Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation at UT MD Anderson, focusing on transforming bold scientific ideas into lifesaving treatments.   

Rezvani has been instrumental in shaping the field of engineered immune cell therapies, including advancing the first chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) natural killer (NK) cell therapies for cancer into clinical trials. These investigational therapies offer distinct benefits over current options, such as fewer side effects and faster manufacturing processes.

“We are only just beginning to unlock the full potential of cell therapies, opening the door to many compelling opportunities ahead,” Rezavni said. “The future lies in our ability to deliver faster, safer, scalable cancer cures, and philanthropy is the catalyst that converts this promise into meaningful progress for patients everywhere.”

 A Conversation With a Living Legend® is UT MD Anderson’s signature fundraising series and has raised more than $61 million over the past three decades in support of cancer research and patient care. The Institute for Cell Therapy Discovery & Innovation is a key priority of Only Possible Here, The Campaign to End Cancer, UT MD Anderson’s historic $2.5 billion comprehensive philanthropy campaign. The campaign already has raised more than $2 billion to support groundbreaking innovations and transformative advancements that fuel the institution’s mission.