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Nowitzki says he wasn't taking shot at Parsons by praising Barnes

Kevin Jaraij-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Mavericks have a new small forward this season, with the incoming Harrison Barnes replacing the departed Chandler Parsons.

Mavs' stalwart Dirk Nowitzki was heaping praise upon Barnes' work ethic recently, which in the year 2016 leads some to assume he was taking a shot at Parsons.

"There's been tons of guys that told me that they were gym rats and I've never seen them in the gym at nights, but this guy is constantly in here, mornings and nights," Nowitzki said of Barnes at team media day. "He wants to be great."

Yet Nowitzki rejected that notion Friday, telling ESPN's Tim MacMahon he was merely giving Barnes credit, before taking a playful shot at his former teammate Parsons.

"He knew he wasn't a gym rat," he said of Parsons. "He never said he was!"

Parsons opted out of his deal with the Mavs this summer and signed a four-year, $95-million contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. Alerted to the 38-year-old Nowitzki's comments, he returned fire.

"Dirk is getting pretty old, so he was probably asleep when I was in the gym," he texted back to MacMahon.

These two are always playin'.

Dirk haha @skinwade

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