8:00 AM
The story was originally published on April 3, 2019. The Dallas Mavericks will retire Dirk Nowitzki's jersey before their game against the Golden State Warriors. The program is on the cable network, ESPN.
Dirk Nowitzki played for a second-division team in Germany that sometimes canceled practices to work on a farm owned by a teammate.
Sure, he had been on the radar of some NBA teams and college programs. He was not a star.
During the 1998 Nike Hoop Summit in San Antonio's Freeman Coliseum, a kid who was so unheralded that his name was spelled "Nowitzski" on the broadcast, blew up for 33 points and 14 rebound to lead the World team.
After a 21-season NBA career, Dirk Nowitzki called it quits, and we took a look back through the eyes of those who watched him.
We'll just sneak out.
For the first time, face world-class competition. It was a challenge for Nowitzki to get out of Germany. The X-Rays had a chance to be promoted to the first division for the first time in their history, but they had to decide between loyalty to their hometown team and pursuing their dream.
I was invited to the Hoop Summit maybe two years before, Dirk Nowitzki said. It's always a bad time, because at that time the X-Rays were trying to get promoted. We fell short of our dream of going to the first division with the home team. We were in the promotion zone and had big games.
The X-Rays assistant coach said that they played a risky game leaving Germany. Dirk was a top guy and we were a second-division team.
Holger came out to me and said, "Hey, I think that's a really, really good opportunity to measure yourself against some of the best in the world at your age." I was wondering if you were crazy. We played for the last couple of years and dreamed of this.
The Hoop Summit was the only chance to perform on the international high level because we had no idea how good he really was.
We had to ask permission from the Army, because I was still in the Army, and I don't think you can travel out of the country unless you ask for permission for a big tournament or something. We were given permission to go. We had to ask the team. Holger was like, "We'll just sneak out." I played the game on Sunday night and we flew out of Frankfurt on Monday. I didn't say anything after Holger talked to a manager. We snuck out.
The father of Nowitzki did not know. The mom told me that I had to tell his dad. I came in the next morning and asked if he had been told. We have to drive two hours from Wurzburg to the airport. If he doesn't know, we don't go onto the plane.
When they finally got to Dallas, Donnie Nelson and the former Mavs president and GM looked haggard. The journey had turned into four legs. When I was an assistant coach, I was supposed to fetch coffee and get Germans when they arrived. I met them in the lobby of the Reunion Tower and Holger was wearing the jeans he's had since 1973. I'm sure he still has the flannel shirt and leather jacket.
Dirk Nowitzki was a relative unknown until he traveled from Germany to Texas.
He was too nice of a kid to be a killer.
The World team had practiced in Dallas before the arrival of Nowitzki. The German made a strong impression.
Donnie Nelson had only seen Nowitzki on a bad tape. A lot of international players shrink on the flight over. I looked at him and said wow. He did not shrink.
The World team had a scrimmage game on Wednesday where they decided who would go to the San Antonio game. We had to be serious. The key was to get him in the first five.
You could see the practice court in Don Nelson's office. I didn't know at the time that he did that. They liked what they saw.
Donnie got the team to work out at the YMCA in Dallas before they went to San Antonio. It was closed to everyone except Donnie and I.
Donnie Nelson said that Dirk could shoot it. We went through some stuff.
The guy was 7 feet tall and was one of the most gifted young players I had ever seen. He was an incredible basketball player.
He had already painted the picture for me mentally, because I knew more about Dirk than most people, because of my relationship with Holger. I was amazed when I saw the picture in the Louvre. The stuff Holger was telling me started to manifest in Dirk's play.
Donnie Nelson was concerned that he was too nice of a kid to be a killer. He's a big-hearted guy. Most of the guys that go into those forums are guys that will show you their heart and then rip it out and show it to you. I was concerned that he wasn't tough enough. You could tell he had a work ethic.
At the time, I was not as well known. I'm not sure if this will work or if the kids will be good. I was not sure what to expect.
After a few practices, Don Nelson made a commitment that they would hide him from anyone who saw him. He was going to be drafted with whatever pick we had. We couldn't convince him not to play.
Donnie Nelson thinks that the true tiger came out in San Antonio.
Dirk Nowitzki was put on the map by the 1998 Nike Hoop Summit. He was a lottery pick for the Mavs.
They are going to blow them out. This isn't going to be a game.
The U.S. team entered the game as heavy favorites. The Americans jumped out to an early nine-point lead and caused concern that the game wouldn't be competitive, as they racked up a record 20 steals.
The Final Four game was on the Saturday.
Player.
The high school.
There is a person named Erick Barkley.
Maine Central Inst. is located in Maine. (ME)
Jeff Capel is an attorney.
St. John's Prep is in Maryland.
Ronald Curry was a person.
There is a high school in Virginia.
The person is Dane Fife.
The Clarkston High School is in the state of Michigan.
Al Harrington is a man.
St. Patrick's is in NJ
Tony Kitchings is a man.
The S. Aiken High School is in South Carolina.
Lewis is a person.
Alief Elsik is a high school in Texas.
Kevin Lyde.
Whitney Young High
The man is Quentin Richardson.
The town of Pembroke Hill is in the state of Missouri.
JaRon Rush.
The Fair Park High School in Los Angeles.
Swift was named after her.
St. Joseph is in CA.
Ray Young.
Oak Hill Academy is in Virginia.
Dan Shulman, play-by-play man for the network, said that he remembered knowing more about the American kids than the World team. I remember the size. Swift was on the team. Lewis was on the team. Al was on the team. These were the big-name guys from high school.
Dirk said they couldn't get the courage out of him. Drive to the basket if you get the ball. Try to dunk it. If they hit you, keep going.
In Germany, I'd never heard of any of these guys, but I knew they were some of the best in the world, so there was a respect level.
Donnie Nelson said that the frontcourt was a lot better than the backcourt in the first half. In the entire first half, I think we got the ball over half court a total of 10 times. We were in trouble.
The US got off to a good start. I remember thinking, "They're going to blow them out." This isn't going to be a game.
They were going to be very athletic. They were going to press us the whole game and we were going to turn the ball over 100 times.
The legendary international coach from Italy was coaching the team. There is a timeout about 10 minutes into the game. He whispers in my ear, "George, who is that guy sitting behind the bench telling me how to coach my team?", as he walks over to me. He was talking about Holger. He said that he needed you to get him out of my bench and stop trying to coach my team. Holger was Dirk's most familiar voice.
We looked like we were going to get drilled by 100 in the first half, but Dirk made his own adjustments in the third quarter.
The skinny kid from Germany started getting ejected from the game. The U.S. guys were in the game.
After the first couple of possessions, Dirk was in when they put the press back on by the top of the key, so he started going up over half court and tall as an oak tree. The guy taking the ball out was just trying to get the ball in, and then he saw a German oak. He just throws it up there.
We held up okay.
There is a point called the PTS.
FG
3PM.
It's not for the faint of heart.
REB.
There is an island called AST.
The name of the city is STL.
To.
There is a Min.
33
6-9
3-4
19-23
14.
2
3
4
33
We didn't know how to protect him. We had never seen him before.
After the break, he scored 19 points. He set Hoop Summit records for most points (33) and most rebound (14) in a game in the World team's 104-99 win.
The World made a comeback because they couldn't stop Dirk, whether he was shooting from the outside or faking it.
Dirk does what Holger taught him for years. Shoot 3s like a guard and catch the ball coast-to-coast.
Player.
Country.
Matt Nielsen is a man.
Australia.
Camara Seco.
Portugal.
Dan Gadzuric is a news anchor.
The Netherlands.
The man is Dirk Nowitzki.
Germany.
Fotsis is named Antonis.
Greece.
The name of the person is AndreaMichelori.
Italy.
Luis Scola is a person.
Argentina.
Antonio Latimer.
Puerto Rico.
Lauwers is named Dimitri.
The country of Belgium.
There is a song called "Darius Songalia."
There is a country called Lithuania.
J.P.
Portugal.
It was like that game was created for him to show off to the world what he could do.
The U.S. team forward who played 16 NBA seasons was just impressive. It was amazing to see a tall, white kid with all that skill. He surprised us.
He was doing things that the other team had never seen a big guy do. Dirk was handling the ball and they didn't think he could shoot that far. This was his coming-out party.
A 6-11 guy taking the ball, throwing it left and right, shooting 3s, and we ended up making a game out of it. You saw the true Dirk coming out.
Don Nelson: Oh, the skills. The game was so easy to score for him that I couldn't call him a great passer. He dominated. The game was easy for him.
The guy was going to be a really good player after the game, so there was a lot of hype. I don't think anyone thought he would be that good.
They won the game and that pissed me off. I don't know how we lost.
We stole the game at the end. The World team had never won before. We were excited! We were in the locker room. It was a good time.
We didn't know how to guard him. We had never seen him before. I didn't hear of him until the game. I knew about him after the game. That's what's going on.
At the end of the night, we didn't even know the proper pronunciation of "No-WIT-ski", so we just talked about the player. At the beginning of the game, he was unknown, but he was the main attraction by the end.
Play.
The World team defeated the USA team at the 1998 Nike Hoop Summit.
I knew he was going to be popular.
The Hoop Summit performance established his status as a rising star in NBA circles, but he didn't return home to Germany as a conquering hero.
Donnie Nelson said that Dirk did it against world-class talent in that age group on a big stage. Every team that was there saw the same thing we did. "Holy cow, this can be a pretty good player."
We had to fly home after the game. I got the newspaper from San Antonio at the airport, and I thought I would be smart. "International team beats U.S. boys" I thought it would be an excuse to come home.
The team was angry. They won the game that I missed. I was able to play the next game and we won. We got promoted that year.
They killed us in Germany. We were killed very badly. Dirk wasn't at the game. It doesn't matter that the boys won it. They were angry. I was the guy who lied. They killed us. We were killed by the press in Germany.
One of our foreign players had a promotion bonus in his contract and he was the most pissed off. I think it was a nice amount of money for us to spend there. He's saying, "You're playing with my money."
Donnie Nelson said that theHoop Summit was really a basketball version of "American Idol", where Dirk crushed it. Dirk's life got more complicated after that game.
Donnie Nelson was the guy who foresaw all of this. He went to work to make sure the Mavericks got Dirk because he was certain that he was going to be a great player.
Don Nelson knew that people would want to have him work out and do the circuit before the draft. Donnie had a cot in the basement, so we figured out a way to have him disappear there.
Through Holger and hearing from international agents, I was the talk of NBA circles and scouts. It came out of the blue. I didn't realize how big that game was until I came back home and all the agents came up to me and said, "Hey, you're projected in the lottery now." I was shocked. That's insane.
I knew he'd be an All-Star for a long time. I knew he had the skills to be one of the best. He fulfilled many of the dreams.
