When it comes to winning a single championship in the NBA, many people's first reaction should be the Dallas Mavericks in '11. As for the reason, there is no doubt that it was because there was only one true superstar on the Mavericks back then, Dirk Nowitzki, who led the twilight stars and normal rotation players to the Finals to overthrow the then Heat Big Three.
This legendary journey is still often mentioned today, as if it happened yesterday. Today, the author will take you to review how strong the "German tank" Dirk Nowitzki was back then, and why he cast such a legend.
Athletes who are born choose basketball by accident
Many people should know that Dirk Nowitzki was not a natural basketball man at first, he trained in two other sports since he was a child, and his exposure to basketball was entirely due to force majeure due to his height.
Dirk Nowitzki was born in 1978 in Würzburg, Germany, to a professional handball player, so he learned handball under his father's influence from an early age and showed great talent. However, when Nowitzki was eight years old, he switched to tennis because he admired the German tennis player Becker, and even won the German junior tennis championship in 1990 at the age of 12.
Just when everyone thought that Dirk himself thought that he would continue to walk as a tennis man, Dirk's height began to do things, indicating that things were not so simple. Yes, Dirk's height has risen to 190+ at the age of 14, although such a height is not uncommon for tennis players, but it is indeed a bit abrupt for a 14-year-old tennis player. Deco Nowitzki will continue to grow in height, and his mother is a basketball player, so Dirk started his basketball career by accident.
After being introduced to basketball, Dirk quickly fell in love with the sport and began training at the local club DJK Würzburg. In 1994, at the age of 16, Nowitzki represented the German youth team at the European Youth Basketball Championship in just two years, and played so well that international scouts paid attention to him.
By 1998, Nowitzki, who had been in contact with basketball for six years, had become one of Europe's brightest basketball stars, so the NBA threw an olive branch to him and wanted him to participate in the NBA draft. The water flows low, and the people go high. Since he chose basketball, there was no reason not to try in a stronger place, so Dirk went to the United States to participate in the draft, and was eventually selected by the Mavericks with the ninth pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in the form of a signing trade.
However, entering the NBA is only the real beginning of Dirk Nowitzki's basketball career, and the glory ahead is not a useful thing for him at this time, after all, he is a young man from a non-basketball mainstream country, and whether he can adapt to the NBA is still up to two questions.
When he first entered the alliance, no one was optimistic about it except the boss
Since many people don't know about this big man from Europe, Dirk Nowitzki was not favored at all when he first arrived in the NBA, except for a few discerning people, and his performances in training camp and preseason even made many critics and fans wonder if he was a good fit to play in the NBA.
Coming to the NBA regular season, Dirk's stats also seem to confirm that he is not particularly comfortable with the intensity of the NBA. In the 98-99 season, Nowitzki averaged 20 minutes per game, only 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds, and although he occasionally hit some highlights and cut a double-double, anyone who watched his game knew that the more he played in the final moments of the game, the more likely he was to make mistakes.
In the middle of the season, many Mavericks fans began to question why the team chose such a European big white soft, which was a waste of their feelings. However, the truth is often in the hands of a few, and Mark Cuban, who was not the owner of the team at the time, saw the potential of the European big man at a glance and felt that with such a guy, the Dallas Mavericks could soar.
So after about a year of intense preparation, Cuban bought the Mavericks, who were completely in the doldrums at the time, for $285 million, and began the Bole Maxima story with Nowitzki. In the 99-20 season, Nowitzki was able to average 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, which was the most improved player at the time.
Nowitzki, who has seen some of the reasons for returning to Germany to train hard in the offseason, has been more likely to be mid-season, and after the change of owner, Cuban's appreciation and commitment to him has given him confidence. According to Dirk himself, when Cuban walked into the training center alone when he first bought the team and asked the two of them to engage in a one-on-one bullfight, Dirk thought he was joking at first, but then actually fought a few rounds.
And it was in that heads-up that Cuban showed his attitude and revealed to Dirk that the Mavericks are your team in the future, which moved Dirk and vowed not to live up to the boss's expectations.
The epiphany of a top basketball player often needs an opportunity, and the owner's affirmation is the key to Dirk's continued improvement. At that time, in addition to the adaptation of basketball skills, language barriers and cultural differences were also important challenges for Dirk to overcome, and Dirk, who was alone in the United States, could not find anyone to rely on, so it was not until Cuban appeared that he knew that there were people who recognized him.
As a result, in the 00-01 season, Nowitzki's statistics improved by leaps and bounds again, averaging 21.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, leading the Mavericks to the playoffs and becoming the first player in the history of the Dallas Mavericks to be named to the NBA All-NBA team.
continued to improve, and finally won the championship in 11 years
Nowitzki, who has been a rookie for three years and completed nirvana in the 00-01 season, has gradually plumped up his wings and started his legendary career in the NBA.
In the 01-02 season, Nowitzki averaged 23.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game, led the team to the second round of the playoffs again, and was selected as the best international player by the NBA team general manager in the offseason. In the 02-03 season, Nowitzki's average rebounding data per game remained unchanged, his scoring increased to 25.1 points, and led the team to the Western Conference finals, but unfortunately lost to the champion Spurs 2-4 that season.
In the 05-06 season, Nowitzki once again played superbly, once leading the team out of the West and into the finals. Unfortunately, due to off-court factors such as whistles, the final 2-4 regret missed the championship As for other seasons, although Dirk has been plagued by injuries and some accidents, his overall competitive level is still online, except for a few injury seasons, the average points per game have basically remained around 25 points, and never let the Mavericks miss the playoffs.
Time came to the 10-11 season, this season is the season of Dirk's god, the average of 23 points and 7 rebounds per game in the regular season is not particularly explosive, but in the playoffs, he can get an average of 27.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, leading the team to overcome strong opponents one after another and rush out of the West. In the end, in the finals, he almost single-handedly defeated the Heat triumvirate who were in full swing at the time, as if they had booked the championship trophy. After this war, Nowitzki's career has been completed, and he has officially become a legend, and he began to retire after four years.