Dirk Nowitzki will go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA — not just the best international hoopers but the greatest period. His long list of accomplishments ranging from NBA champion and MVP to ending in a Hall of Fame career more than backs up that claim. Besides being the most celebrated Dallas Maverick in franchise history, the seven-foot sweet jump-shooting gentle giant from Germany has a strong case for one of the most unguardable shots ever with a killer fadeaway that often broke the spirit of opposing teams. That’s the Dirk we’ve come to know and love. But that wasn’t always how we saw him.
Before entering the NBA, Dirk was a mysterious foreign player who didn’t look cut out for the league when he arrived. A guy who’s too soft to amount to anything. A weak leader. A dude who folded like a wet napkin in crucial spots. Let’s meet those versions of Dirk Nowitzki in the Prism.
Before entering the NBA, Dirk was a mysterious foreign player who didn’t look cut out for the league when he arrived. A guy who’s too soft to amount to anything. A weak leader. A dude who folded like a wet napkin in crucial spots. Let’s meet those versions of Dirk Nowitzki in the Prism.
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00:00Dirk Nowitzki will go down as one of the greatest players in the history of the NBA.
00:06Not just best international hoopers, but the greatest period.
00:10His long list of accomplishments ranging from NBA champion and MVP to ending in a hall of
00:16fame career more than backs up that claim.
00:19Besides being the most celebrated Dallas Maverick in franchise history, the 7 foot sweet jump
00:25shooting gentle giant from Germany has a strong case for one of the most unguardable
00:30shots ever with a killer fadeaway that often broke the spirit of opposing teams.
00:35That's the Dirk we've come to know and love.
00:39But that wasn't always how we saw him.
00:42Before entering the NBA, Dirk was a mysterious foreign player who didn't look cut out for
00:47the league when he arrived.
00:49A guy who's too soft to amount to anything.
00:52A weak leader.
00:54A dude who folded like a wet napkin in crucial spots.
00:58Let's meet those versions of Dirk Nowitzki in the prism.
01:06The NBA wasn't always the first choice for this grunny young baller from Germany.
01:11As a 6'11 Booner Kent who dominated competition with guard-like skills for a team in Germany's
01:16second tier level league, Dirk considered taking his talent stateside for college ball.
01:21The kid had major programs in the U.S. fighting over him, but Kyle Berkley seemed to be the
01:25frontrunner.
01:26He had already visited the campus and the university had a scholarship ready for the
01:30taking.
01:32Declaring for the 1998 draft was also an option but an unlikely one as NBA scouts advised
01:38him to hit the books while honing his skills for a year or two.
01:42But in a shocking turn of events, Dirk entered his name for the NBA.
01:46It's hard not to swerve the advice of scouts when you have actual decision-makers, NBA
01:51legends turned executives Larry Bird and Jerry West singing your praises.
01:57The tape that Bird is referring to was a stellar performance from Dirk where he dropped a 30-piece
02:02double-double with flu-like symptoms in a 98 Nike showcase against America's top prep
02:07talent.
02:08Except that one showing was ultimately the only thing teams could judge him on.
02:14During the draft process, Dirk had an obligation to fill for the German army that made him
02:19unavailable for workouts.
02:21His coach also weirded out teams by saying Dirk wanted to develop his skills in Europe.
02:27With all the strangeness coming from Dirk's side, the Dallas Mavericks looked the shadiest
02:31in all of this.
02:32Head coach Don Nelson's son Donnie held the skipper position for Dirk's international
02:37team during a U.S. tour giving the Mavs an inside track.
02:42Rival GMs believed the Mavs plotted to stash Dirk in Europe with a promise to draft him
02:46with their 6th pick.
02:48Word on the street bounced around that Dallas prepped to take a flyer on Dirk only if they
02:52could swing another number one pick to present rather than sell dreams.
02:57When draft day rolled around, those whispers were confirmed, kind of.
03:02Because of all the potential baggage, Dirk slid past Dallas falling to the Milwaukee
03:06Bucks at the 9th pick, but ultimately got moved to the Mavs in a flurry of trades that
03:11saw him and fellow frosted tips point guard Steve Nash go to Dallas.
03:17Nelson rejoiced in landing the dues he coveted all along, but Dirk didn't share his enthusiasm.
03:23With an NBA lockout looming, signing Dirk wasn't simple and he got cold feet.
03:29As an admitted pessimist, Dirk ideally wanted to stay in Europe to craft his game.
03:34Money wasn't the factor, but Dirk wasn't sure he had the right size to compete in the
03:38NBA.
03:40Dallas did a number of things to court Dirk and calm his worries.
03:44Nelson reassured him he had the talent to compete at the highest level right now.
03:49The franchise granted Dirk the freedom to leave the team to help Germany qualify for
03:53the Olympics.
03:54Nelson invited him to a barbecue at his house to get comfy with his new teammates.
03:59They even bought the dude his first ever suit.
04:02But as the lockout approached and teams wouldn't be able to negotiate with players, Nelson
04:07put the heat on Dirk.
04:08The head coach feared that Dirk would have other teams in his ear all summer if he didn't
04:13commit.
04:14So much so that he hinted at the possibility Dallas would have to look elsewhere without
04:19Dirk.
04:20Ultimately, Dirk did sign and because of the lockout, got the best of both worlds returning
04:25to Germany to play for his old squad.
04:28But when the time came to report to the NBA, Dirk wasn't feeling it.
04:33He viewed the transition to the NBA as a bit of a trial run.
04:37If things went well, cool.
04:40If not, he could always go back home.
04:43And when the season tipped off, the Mavericks gambled a draft Dirk appeared to be an awful
04:48roll of the dice.
04:50Long before his arrival, European players who made it to the NBA were often tagged as
04:55soft and Dirk didn't do much to escape that label in his first season.
05:00He looked awkward on the court, played timidly, and often got destroyed on the defensive end.
05:07But within the first nine games, Nelson had to pull him from the starting lineup.
05:11The jump from Germany's second division to the NBA had Dirk shook.
05:16The man's teammates even clowned him, calling him Irk, dropping the D from his name cause
05:22he couldn't stick anyone.
05:24Even as Dirk grew into a star garnering comparisons to the second coming of Larry Bird, he still
05:30couldn't shake the soft label.
05:32Firstly, Larry's toughness never got questioned throughout his career.
05:37Dirk, on the other hand, constantly faced questions.
05:40During the 03 Western Conference Finals, Dirk went down with a knee injury in Game 3 and
05:45never returned as the Mavs fell to the San Antonio Spurs in six games.
05:50Reports circulated that Dirk could have suited up, although not at 100%, and media members
05:56flamed him for not rejoining his squad.
05:59Experts also questioned his heart for the game.
06:02In 2009, Dirk opted not to compete in the Euro Championships based on orders from Mavs
06:07owner Mark Cuban, and ESPN's Michael Wilbon was disgusted.
06:13What type of leader could Dirk be if he couldn't stand up to his owner?
06:17In so many words, Wilbon thought the dude was spineless.
06:21It's a tough attack on his character, but the criticism of Dirk only grew louder the
06:27more he fell short in his career.
06:29The soft label began to be paired with another, choker.
06:34Individual accolades don't mean shit if you fold when the lights are bright.
06:39After Dallas snatched the first two games of the 06 Finals against the Miami Heat, Miami
06:43went on to win the championship in six games, mostly thanks to Dirk vanishing in the series.
06:49It all started in Game 3.
06:51Late in the final seconds, Dirk missed a clutch game-tying free throw that would have potentially
06:56forced overtime.
06:58There's no guarantee the Mavs would have won that game, but as a 90% free throw shooter
07:03and supposed leader of that team that blew a 13 point lead in that 4th quarter, the loss
07:09fell solely on Dirk's shoulders.
07:11His performance in the following matchup left more room for reporters to question him.
07:17Dallas got tossed in Game 4, where Dirk went a dreadful 2-for-14 from the field.
07:23He played slightly better the rest of the series, but as Miami hoisted the trophy, the
07:28damage had been done.
07:30Dirk underperformed in the past like his poor outing in a crucial Game 6 of the semifinals
07:34the previous season, but as he fell apart in the finals, journalists wondered if he
07:39had that dog in him to lead a team to glory.
07:42Media members are often harsh on athletes, but it's rare for colleagues to straight
07:47up diss another player.
07:49After winning that 06 championship, DeWayne Wade pointed to Dirk's lack of leadership
07:54being the reason Dallas blew their lead.
07:57When the going got tough, DeWayne thought the moment got too big for Dirk and he pissed
08:01down his leg.
08:03Losing in the finals certainly isn't ideal, but Dirk's debacle the following season
08:08seemed unforgivable.
08:10As the projected MVP winner and owner of the NBA's best record, Dirk and the Mavs got
08:15embarrassed by his former coach Don Nelson and the 8C Golden State Warriors in the first
08:21round of the 07 playoffs.
08:23In a historic upset, Dirk again just flat out disappeared.
08:28He set the tone with a terrible Game 1, which sparked journalists to wonder if that's
08:33just who he was.
08:34He bounced back and stepped up a bit as the team split the next 4, but in a must-win Game
08:406 on the road, Dirk stunk up the joint.
08:43Behind a god-awful shooting performance by Dirk, Dallas got packed up in a great season
08:48that was all for nothing.
08:51Dallas owner Mark Cuban claimed Nelson used confidential info to beat his team, but journalists
08:56weren't buying it.
08:57By that point, everyone down to this media member's cat saw Dirk as a choke artist.
09:03Even after awkwardly being awarded the MVP trophy soon after that shocking defeat, that
09:08opinion was the consensus throughout the media.
09:12It all weighed heavily on Dirk.
09:14After officially being crowned MVP, the loss to the Warriors still haunted him and Dirk
09:19didn't feel deserving of the award.
09:21A mindset that continued throughout the offseason.
09:25Instead of hitting the gym to work on his craft, Dirk ditched basketball completely
09:30and wandered the Australian Outback with his mentor.
09:33He pulled his best Bear Grylls impersonation, skipping showers, sleeping in cars, letting
09:39himself drift out to sea, and stared into blazing campfires asking himself, why me?
09:45It was grim.
09:46He might have been far removed from ball, but experts had an entire summer to trash
09:51him.
09:52ESPN's John Hollinger threw him into his list of players who he believed fell off.
09:58And in the eyes of some media members, the whole Australian escapade made Dirk look even
10:03more fragile.
10:05Dirk continued his all-star caliber play over the next few years, but as the hits kept coming
10:10in the form of first round exits, Dirk seemed doomed to a legacy labeled as a great player
10:16but a failure when it mattered most.
10:19Until he finally broke through in the 2011 season leading the Mavs to their first ever
10:25title, which didn't come easy.
10:29Throughout the playoffs, Dirk and the Mavs swept the two-time defending champion Los
10:33Angeles Lakers in the semis, before taking down the upstart OKC Thunder in five games
10:39of the Western Conference Finals.
10:42And in his return to the biggest stage, Dirk still had to field questions about being soft.
10:49Something he emphatically answered slaying the highly favored Heat in a series where
10:54he battled through injury and illness en route to winning Finals MVP.
10:59As Dirk lifted the Larry O'Brien trophy, winning cured all as he finally shed his past
11:05labels.
11:07But in reality, it's not like Dirk magically changed anything.
11:11He remained the type of player who would rather kill you with his sweet jump shot and
11:15finesse rather than bully opponents.
11:18He didn't flip a switch and suddenly turn into a dude that beat his chest after each
11:23and won.
11:24He just constantly went out and competed to the best of his abilities in his own style.
11:29Although he never made it back to the Finals after that season, Dirk's career was teflon
11:34from that point on.
11:36It's more than easy to sit back and label Dirk a pioneer of the game for foreign players,
11:42but that wasn't always the case.
11:44For years, he was viewed as a weak leader, a failure, a massive underachiever who would
11:51never win the big game.
11:53But now, Dirk is widely regarded as a legend and he did it all his way.