crystal taylor

crystal taylor
Multiple Dallas Mavericks sources said Thursday that people within the organization cautioned Dirk Nowitzki about his relationship with a woman who was arrested at the star forward's home Wednesday morning.

The team sources said Nowitzki's own suspicion led him to question Cristal Taylor's past while allowing her to stay in his house. Her arrest on two warrants, stemming from a probation violation and a theft charge, occurred as the Mavericks flew back from Denver.

While many Mavericks fans probably regard the timing as awful, with Dallas trailing Denver, 2-0, in a second-round playoff series, the team sources characterized the news and timing as "good." They said Taylor had been a divisive influence between Nowitzki and his teammates and family members.

"It's pretty obvious that I'm going through a tough time in my personal life right now," Nowitzki, 30, said after practice Thursday. "Like I always have, I want to kind of keep my private life private.

"I really am not at the stage where I can talk about it yet and feel comfortable talking about it. I'm more than happy to answer basketball questions, but I think at this point, I just can't talk about it."

Taylor, 37, remained jailed Thursday night in Dallas County jail with bail set at $20,000 on the theft of services charge and no bail allowed on the probation violation. She could face an extradition hearing in the coming days.

Taylor has a history of financial crimes and numerous identities that dates back at least a decade and spans two states, records and interviews show. How much, if any, Nowitzki knew about her criminal history is unclear, but there is little doubt they had a close relationship.

When reached by phone in St. Louis on Thursday evening, Taylor's mother, Shirley, told The News she did not want to divulge details of the relationship between her daughter and Nowitzki but characterized him as a genuine, intelligent and private person. She said he had met other members of her family.

Two local TV stations, KTVT (Channel 11) and WFAA (Channel 8), cited unidentified sources in reporting Thursday that Taylor had been engaged to Nowitzki and is pregnant with his child. Sources who spoke to The News did not, or could not, confirm her pregnancy.

"I'm not commenting on that," Nowitzki said, when asked about the reports.

Shirley Taylor said she was aware of neither an engagement nor a pregnancy. She said she speaks with her daughter frequently, and has done so several times since the arrest.

"I don't know what to think," the mother said, adding that she does not believe her daughter has had contact with the team or Nowitzki since the arrest. "It's like a nightmare to me."

WFAA obtained a Facebook page video that shows Nowitzki and Taylor hugging in a kitchen, purportedly in his Preston Hollow home, valued at $6 million. When the Mavericks hosted Phoenix in an April 5 regular-season game, Taylor sat next to Nowitzki's father, Jörg, who was visiting from Germany.

Nowitzki, with dark bags under his eyes, said Thursday that he is "trying to focus on basketball as much as I can," emphasizing that he is looking forward to Saturday's Game 3 at American Airlines Center. "I'm a warrior. I'll be ready to play."

After making a brief opening statement, Nowitzki said he would take only basketball-related questions. After seven minutes of talking about the Denver series, Nowitzki abruptly ended the interview session when a WFAA reporter asked why he had not bailed Taylor out of Dallas County jail.