After Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki boarded a flight home to Germany on Thursday afternoon, his Dallas-based attorney expressed strong doubt that the woman arrested earlier this month at Nowitzki's house is pregnant.
Robert Hart, Nowitzki's lawyer, pledged in a statement that his client will "do whatever can be done to ensure the health of the child" if Cristal Taylor -- arrested May 6 after the discovery of warrants in two states -- is indeed carrying his baby.
"We have been told that she was not administered a pregnancy test [in Dallas County Jail]," Hart said, responding to one of Taylor's claims this week in an interview she granted to The Dallas Morning News.
Taylor, 37, told the newspaper that she did not know she was pregnant until she was tested twice at the Dallas jail.
"In fact, we found it strange that a friend of hers was at Dirk's house right after the arrest telling anyone who would listen that she was pregnant," Hart's statement continues. "As with all things coming from this woman's mouth, we are highly skeptical.
"If in the remote instance there is any validity to this woman's claim of pregnancy, Dirk will do whatever can be done to ensure the well being of the child."
In a telephone interview Monday with the Morning News from jail in Beaumont, Texas, Taylor said she is pregnant and that she and Nowitzki were engaged with a wedding date scheduled in July.
Taylor told the newspaper that the sudden end to their engagement stemmed from Nowitzki's longtime personal coach, Holger Geschwindner, urging a private investigation into Taylor's past as part of a prenuptial agreement.
Taylor was transferred from Dallas to Beaumont on May 13 after being taken into custody on warrants accusing her of violating a probation sentence for two counts of forgery and one count of felony stealing in Missouri and a theft-of-service charge for failing to pay a Beaumont dentist for dental work ranging from $1,500 to $20,000.
She was booked into Dallas County Jail as Crystal Taylor but told a judge Monday during her appearance in a Beaumont courtroom that her birth certificate carries the name Crista Ann Taylor. Authorities in Missouri and Texas have linked at least eight aliases to Taylor, while court documents in Beaumont still list her at Crystal Ann Taylor.
Since her arrest, the Morning News has published stories about Taylor's ex-husband, James Westerhaus, seeking a 2001 divorce after Taylor allegedly accrued more than $300,000 in debt and former NFL quarterback Tony Banks saying Taylor was "planted" into his life in 1997.
"I've known Dirk for seven years -- and, no, I didn't tell him everything about my past because I was afraid," Taylor told the newspaper. "But I mean, now I'm pregnant and alone and broke because he is my only source of income."
Taylor told the Morning News she and Nowitzki lived together for a year and a half but she has been unable to contact him since her arrest because Nowitzki changed his phone numbers.
"Not only that, but [the Mavericks] pretty much told him, after [the media] put out all that crap on me, to just wash his hands of me -- and I think he pretty much did."
Taylor's next appearance in court is scheduled for June 8 after Don Duesler was appointed Monday as Taylor's attorney.
Nowitzki -- whose end-of-season custom is returning to Germany shortly after Dallas' final game -- has mostly declined to field questions about his relationship with Taylor beyond acknowledging to reporters that he's "going through a tough time in my personal life."
Taylor was arrested the morning after the Mavericks' Game 2 loss in the Western Conference semifinals in Denver. Nowitzki averaged 34.4 points and 11.6 rebounds as Dallas' only consistent threat during the five-game series.
"It's a very difficult time for me and my family," Nowitzki told ESPN.com during a brief interview before Game 3. "This is a private matter and it's going to be worked out in private."
In his last public comments on the subject, Nowitzki said last Thursday, "It's been a tough two weeks, or however long it's been. That's really all I can say about it."
Marc Stein is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com