DALLAS — The spotlight of the basketball world will be set on Springfield, Massachusetts this weekend for one of the summer’s special moments.
Alongside rivals Pau Gasol, Dwyane Wade, Tony Parker and Gregg Popovich, the greatest player to ever wear a Maverick uniform will receive the highest honor as Dirk Nowitzki is enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2023.
Nowitzki makes his way to the city where basketball was born by way of Bavaria, the German state he left when he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks as the 9th overall pick out of DJK Wurzburg in 1998. One draft-day trade to the Lone Star State, twenty-five years, twelve All-NBA teams, and one championship later, and he finds himself among the immortals he idolized.
Nowitzki’s career will be remembered and honored some 1,700 miles away from his adopted hometown of Dallas, where the statue featuring his signature one-legged fade-away shot overlooks the city skyline in front of the arena that his sterling play built on the street bearing his name.
Nowitzki defined a generation of Dallas sports in the city where football is king, elevating the worst franchise of the ‘90s into relevancy and led NBA front offices into a paradigm shift as they tried to find the “next Dirk” as the Tall Baller from the G changed the landscape of the sport itself. Now the norm, seven-foot forwards weren’t supposed to be able to shoot from the perimeter where Nowitzki feasted.
After Don Nelson took a chance on the European star in a trade that was lambasted in his early years, Nowitzki became one of the league’s all-time greats as he finished his record-setting career among the top 10 in points, defensive rebounds, field goals, free throws, games, minutes played and value over replacement player.
Nowitzki was with Dallas for all of his 21 seasons, the longest tenure with only one team in league history, which included 14 all-star appearances for the forward and 15 playoff berths for the team. It also featured the hardest-fought championship in Dallas history.
The beauty of sports is the climb. Feeling the wretched numbness of being so close and seeing another celebrate in one’s place can bring a myriad of emotions. The drive to return for another shot. The agony that one may never get close again. To fail and then win is a luxury.
Seeing Nowitzki rise from the Mavs’ playoff battles against the Poppovich-led Spurs in the early 2000s to losing to the Miami Heat in the 2006 finals against fellow inductee Dwyane Wade made the 2011 Mavericks championship the pinnacle of Nowitzki’s career and one of the most special treasured in local sports lore.
The road there wasn’t meant for Nowitzki to finally receive his flowers. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol were back-to-back defending champions, but Nowitzki’s Mavs dispatched them. The young Oklahoma City Thunder had Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, but Nowitzki’s Mavs held them at bay.
And then, of course, the 2010-2011 campaign was the year of LeBron James joining Dallas Lincoln product Chris Bosh and 2006 heartbreaker Wade in Miami and proclaiming themselves champions before the season even began. Then 32-year old Nowitzki was Finals MVP at the end of the road, culminating in a rousing rendition of ‘We Are the Champions’ on the American Airlines Center balcony.
The goodwill and connection Nowitzki established with the city was otherworldly, challenging Cowboys icons from their Super Bowl runs in a way no one expected when he came to town in an unassuming trade for Robert Traylor all those years back.
It especially seemed unlikely as he spent much of his early years shaking off the stigma of being a European player, a then-untapped area of talent. But ultimately, no one embraced their franchise star more than Dallas embraced Nowitzki and he returned their adoration back tenfold.
The Maverick fanbase is fortunate to have been able to experience Nowitzki’s time as their champion, one that fellow local franchises have been unable to replicate and deliver for the region. That loyalty continues for the generational enshrinement where he receives the highest honor possible, for the player that was able to finish his story, leave on his own terms, pass the torch to the next Mavericks legend, and continues to make Dallas home.
What are your favorite memories from Dirk’s illustrious career? Share them with Irvin on Twitter @Twittirv.