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In Würzburg, a picturesque town in Germany, a seemingly ordinary but surprising family quietly gives birth to a future basketball superstar. Nowitzki was born in a land of sport.
His father was an accomplished athlete in the field of handball, and his mother was an enthusiastic and committed person for basketball.
At first, Nowitzki, like many children, was fascinated by the elegant and fascinating sport of tennis. At the age of six, he began to train professionally in both handball and tennis.
Nowitzki is a man of great talent, and with his exceptional talent, he is often able to beat opponents who are much older than him in competitions, showing impressive potential, however, fate seems to have had another plan, and as time goes by, Nowitzki's height has continued to grow, reaching an astonishing 1.9m at the age of 14, and for a tennis player, such a tall stature will undoubtedly have a huge impact on flexibility and mobility.
As expected, the teenager, who was once invincible among his peers, is now repeatedly defeated on the tennis court, and his decline is fully revealed, as if the door of tennis has been closed to him. Just when Nowitzki was feeling confused about his future, his mother appeared at the right time and answered the mystery in his heart with deep and wise words: "Your current height has taken you out of advantage on the tennis court, maybe you can try to switch to basketball, maybe you can use your physical potential more fully."
His mother's words were like the first rays of sunshine at dawn, illuminating a new course in Nowitzki's life, and when he first came into contact with basketball, he was quickly attracted by its unique charm and his basketball career officially began.
Back in 1998, Dirk Nowitzki was a pivotal milestone in his life when he was only in his early 20s. During the year, he bravely stepped forward and participated in the NBA Draft, which attracted the attention of the world.
Although he is still young, his extraordinary talent and endless potential have attracted the enthusiastic attention and eager expectations of many teams.
Surprisingly, in this draft, the Milwaukee Bucks did not hesitate to select the elite player from Germany with the ninth pick in the first round. It was a bold and challenging decision for a team that has never had a high-ranking European player in its history.
However, it wasn't long before the Bucks decisively traded the rising star to the Dallas Mavericks.
In this way, Nowitzki officially began a new chapter in his NBA career. As a young man who is new to the workplace, standing on this unfamiliar stage for the first time, he will inevitably feel a little nervous and uneasy, and he will feel a little confused about the new environment.
However, fortunately, Steve Nash, who is also an overseas player, has become his closest comrade with the Mavericks, and they are inseparable like brothers, supporting each other and improving together.
Despite the high expectations that Nowitzki carried, his rookie season as a rookie was still a little lackluster. He played in just 47 games all season, averaging 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
However, for a man who has just stepped onto the professional scene and whose background is very different from that of a rookie in the United States, this is an excellent palmares.
Nowitzki knows he still has a lot of room to grow. Therefore, at the end of the season, he decided to return to his native Germany for a long and arduous summer training under the careful guidance of head coach Holger.
After a summer of hard work, Dirk finally managed to adapt to the fierce competition in the NBA and quickly showed his new strength in the new 1999-2000 season.
In 83 games that season, he averaged an astonishing 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, and fans at home and abroad finally got a glimpse of what the German star really is.
Since then, Nowitzki has sprung up like a spring from the ground, and his Dallas Mavericks have gradually risen to become a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference.
They have a brilliant record of 53, 57 and 60 wins in a row, and Dirk has officially entered the ranks of the league's superstars, becoming an outstanding representative of the new generation of stars in the hearts of the majority of fans.
However, while Nowitzki showed incredible talent early in his career, his basketball career was not easy, and he experienced many doubts and setbacks.
In the 2003-2004 season, the Mavericks suffered a major setback, losing to the Kings in the first round of the playoffs and exiting early. Subsequently, the Mavericks underwent a major roster reshuffle, with a number of veterans, including Nowitzki's best friend Nash, leaving.
Since then, the Dallas Mavericks have become a complete one-man arena for Nowitzki.
Questions have been raised about whether the tall and muscular striker really has the leadership qualities to lead the team to victory. "He's just a good shooter, he doesn't have the leadership qualities to lead the whole team.
Doubts like these were endless, and Dirk inevitably fell into a period of confusion.
It wasn't until the 2006 season that Nowitzki finally showed his leadership and led the team all the way to the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, the Mavericks failed to withstand the powerful offensive of the Heat triumvirate led by Wade and James, and failed.
When the final whistle blew at the final moment of the finals, the camera captured Dirk's lost expression, creating a strong contrast. In this way, he was once again labeled "weak and powerless".
Despite the anguish inside, Nowitzki was not discouraged. On the contrary, he justified himself with practical actions. In the 2007 season, Dirk led the Mavericks to a franchise-best record of 67-15 and was named the Most Valuable Player of the regular season that year.
However, good times are always short-lived. In the following playoffs, the Mavericks suffered an unprecedented humiliation - they were eliminated by the Golden State Warriors, who were only eighth in the West last season.
All of a sudden, the voices of ridicule and questioning reached a climax again.
Even in the midst of a low period, Nowitzki remained steadfast and undefeated by all kinds of negative emotions. However, this was only the beginning, and over the next four years, he led the Mavericks to a stellar run of outstanding results, reaching the playoffs for several seasons, but failing to make it further in the Western Conference semifinals each time.
During this time, Dirk even shaved his own hair at one point as a way to express his determination and awareness. During this time, Nowitzki was seen as too idealistic and dimmed.
However, this difficult period proved to have made him more resilient.
As time passed, the years flew by. In 2019, Dirk Nowitzki finally completed his curtain call on the NBA stage, officially announcing his retirement. The No. 41 jersey, which has accompanied him through 21 long seasons and is loved by countless fans, is now hanging on the top of the American Airlines Center arena, the Mavericks' home stadium.
This not only symbolizes the end of a basketball era, but also the end of a legend.
Looking back at Nowitzki's career, he was once questioned as a player who "could only shoot the basketball and lacked leadership qualities", and there were widespread doubts about whether he really had what it took to lead the team to success.
To make matters worse, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he was unable to even lead Germany to the quarter-finals, and his leadership was once again questioned.
However, just when the outside world completely lost confidence in the tall forward, the 2011 season saw Nowitzki perform the most glorious scene of his life.
Despite his poor health, serious illness and a serious finger injury, he still forged ahead and led an aging and widely looked down upon Mavericks team to create an incredible miracle.
In the playoffs, they first defeated the Trail Blazers with Hornets Kobe Bryant and Stoudemire, then swept the defending champion Lakers, and then beat the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, and finally advanced to the finals to compete with the old rival Heat.
This time, the Heat can be described as star-studded, with the Flash Wade who is in his prime, the young and promising James and Chris Bosh, and the lineup is far stronger than the Mavericks.
However, Dirk Nowitzki, who has a lot of experience in the game, doesn't care! he leads the Dallas Mavericks (also known as "Mavericks"), who are no longer young, and calmly strategizes.
Even at a disadvantage in the early stages of the game, Nowitzki never wavered in the slightest, instead stepping up at crucial moments and pulling a goal back for the Mavericks with his powerful attacking power.
As the game progressed, the tide gradually tilted in the Mavericks' favor. The Miami Heat's three superstars went from strength to strength, but they were still a little powerless against Nowitzki's ruthless scoring machine, and were eventually defeated by the Mavericks with a 4-2 aggregate score.
In this way, Dirk Nowitzki single-handedly broke all doubts in the final stage of his career and showed his extraordinary strength as a team leader.
He led the Mavericks to successfully defeat the Big Three of the Heat, creating a legendary story of single-core championship! At this glorious moment, he completely got rid of the label of "weakness", and compared with the collective strength of the Heat, Nowitzki's single-core championship showed his bravery and fearlessness.
He instantly became a hero, hailed as the greatest white player in NBA history, and the league's preeminent European player to date.