Saturday June 12th 2021
“Basketball is no longer possible”
Nowitzki pays great triumph very dearly
At the greatest moment of his career, Dirk Nowitzki just wants to be alone. When he finally won the NBA title ten years ago with the Dallas Mavericks, the basketball player fled the field. The reason is obvious. And the not so nice consequences will probably stay with the end of life.
Just being alone, that was all Dirk Nowitzki wanted. But of course that wasn’t possible. “I even sent our PR man away and said: I don’t want to go out, I don’t want the trophy! Leave me alone,” says the basketball hero, as he rummaged through his memories: “He literally had to drag me out of the shower . ” It’s been ten years since Nowitzki wrote sports history and then hid in the dressing room. On June 12, 2011, the Würzburger led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA title, he triumphed as the first and to date only German in the North American professional league. A great day, not just for him and the club.
With a 105: 95 at Miami Heat, the Texans won the final series 4: 2, with 32 Nowitzki was on target – and immediately stormed off the field, tears flowed. “I was thinking about the years of work that I had put into winning this title,” said the “blonde”. Among other things, he had thought of “the rock-hard training every summer in the Rattelsdorf gym”.
One game in the series against Miami still has a special meaning. Fourth, Dallas won 86-83 with a badly battered captain to level. Nowitzki, who was already plagued by a torn tendon in his left middle finger, woke up on the match day “at night between four and five in a sweat. I was not feeling well at all.”
Playing basketball is no more
Nowitzki still stands on the floor for 39 minutes, hours after a fever of 39 degrees had been measured. “Game 4 was the most important of my career. It was clear to me: If we mess it up, the series will be as good as it gets for us,” said Nowitzki looking back. The then heat superstars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade made fun of the common cold, paying dearly for their disrespect.
After the coup of the Mavericks, who have not won a playoff series since then, Nowitzki was allowed to visit US President Barack Obama’s White House with the “kind of veteran troop”, as he calls the team today (“a great experience”) . He was celebrated by tens of thousands at the reception in his hometown and continued to play for eight years. There was no other title, and the bone mill NBA left its mark.
“The left ankle is not doing really well. I have to deal with my broken foot for the rest of my life,” says Nowitzki: “Unfortunately, playing basketball is no longer possible. Fortunately, I can play tennis, I do that often.”
The father of three is still not looking for a new job. “I’m still in the phase where I want to distance myself from basketball and travel a lot with my family,” explains the German sports idol. “Something with the Dallas Mavericks” he’ll probably do, “more in management” than in the coaching area. “But there is still time.”
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