Nowitzki's Girlfriend Arrested In Dallas

With the Dallas Mavericks trailing the Denver Nuggets 2-0 in their best of seven playoff series, the Mavericks didn't need anymore bad news right now. But it looks like the personal life of their star forward, Dirk Nowitzki, is in a mess right now.

On Wednesday morning, Dallas police arrested his live-in girlfriend, Cristal Taylor. She is charged with theft and violation of probation. It is believed that Nowitzki became suspicious of the woman and hired a private investigator. The investigator found she was using an alias.

According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, "Although she was booked into the Dallas County jail as Cristal Taylor, an indictment from Jefferson County identifies her as Crystal Ann Taylor and lists additional aliases: Christian Julie Wellington, Christian B. Travino, Crystal Nobles, Christy Nobles, Kristi Briana Westerhauf, Cristal Taylor Westerhaus, and Christa A. Westerhays."

She is charged with Theft 5,000-20,000 in Jefferson County, where she conspired to receive dental services with no intention of paying for them. The probation violation charge is from Missouri. She was on probation there for two counts of Forgery and one count of Felony Stealing.

When asked about the arrest, Nowitzki said, "It's pretty obvious that I'm going through a tough time in my personal life right now. 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."

The Mavericks third game against the Nuggets is scheduled for Saturday night in Dallas. Can Nowitzki put this behind him and concentrate on basketball? He says, "I'm a warrior. I'll be ready to play." I hope so. The Mavericks really can't afford another loss.