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[dnowit41]

Dirk Nowitzki's journey from Germany to Dallas to the Hall of Fame

By Steve Aschburner

His shot became his signature, that signature became a statue. It’s planted there now for the long term, emblematic of Dirk Nowitzki himself, who came to the Dallas Mavericks a quarter century ago and never left.

Resplendent in white bronze, 24 feet high, over on the right wing of Victory Plaza outside the American Airlines Center, Nowitzki is immortalized in the shooting form that earned him so many of his 35,223 points (regular and postseason). It earned him a bevy of admirers, too, among peers and rivals like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and LeBron James who adopted the big German sharpshooter’s one-legged fadeaway as both a tactic and an homage.

“The Dirk,” as that shot has been dubbed, is here to stay. Both as a weapon – “the equivalent of what Abdul-Jabbar did with his sky hook,” one opposing coach said the other day, both awed and irritated by its effectiveness – and as a tribute, frozen in time, the distillation of 21 seasons and 1,667 games logged with the only NBA team for which he ever played.

One city, one franchise? Only Utah Hall of Famer John Stockton (1,686) ever played more.

It’s funny, though, how a player celebrated for staying planted in one place for more than two decades could have traveled so far and covered such ground in the process. It showed in his game, the way he developed, refined and tweaked his unique style until he had dragged the whole position with him.

“Watching him play, I remember thinking, he’s just getting better and better and better,” said Hall of Famer Kevin McHale, one of the NBA’s greatest power forwards. “And he really changed things around the way the position is played.”

It showed in Nowitzki’s influence, a European prospect who came over younger than most of the imports who preceded him and shined so brightly that, well before he was done, he was regarded as the best player ever from that continent. Fifty-one Most Valuable Player trophies had been handed out in NBA history before Nowitzki won the 52nd as the first Euro. Now guys from Greece and Serbia have taken home four of the past five.

“Every tall kid around the world saw Dirk,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban said, “and realized they could play basketball and not have to be a back-to-the-basket center. Dirk paved the way for players of any size to be multi-positional and have a variety of in-game skills.”

Certainly Nowitzki, 45, moved geographically in a career that spanned half his life, from Wurzburg, Germany, to Dallas and now to Springfield, Mass., where he will be inducted Aug. 12 into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with the Class of 2023. He has been there once before, in 2018 when a pair of his point guards – Steve Nash and Jason Kidd – were both enshrined. This time, those two will be official Hall presenters for their tall teammate. Nowitzki’s guest list for the weekend – after wife Jessica and their kids Malaika (10), Max (8) and Morris (6) – ran “a couple hundred, I think” at least in invitees, if not attendees.

His speech is pretty much done. “It’s been fun,” Nowitzki told NBA.com recently by phone from Germany. “Really what you’re doing, you’re reflecting on the whole journey. Who’s meant the most, who’s done what. I’ve actually found it cool to sit down in the evening after everyone’s in bed and I sit here for an hour and think about that stuff.

“There will be a little nervousness. But I’m also going to enjoy standing up there and looking out at this amazing crowd of family and friends and great athletes. I’m going to try to enjoy it as much as I can.”

From Germany To Dallas

His father, Jörg-Werner, competed internationally in team handball. His mother Helga and his older sister Silke played basketball.

“Growing up I was always in gyms,” said Nowitzki, who mostly played handball and tennis. “I was tall, and I played basketball in school. I had a cousin who was with a club team, so I went one time to practice and I got hooked. I wasn’t very good but I could move pretty well for a big guy and I had decent touch for my size. It didn’t come that hard for me, and I loved it from Day 1.”

After joining DJK Wurzburg, Nowitzki was spotted by Holger Gerschwindner, a former national team player turned physicist, trainer and coach. Gerschwindner offered to work with the lanky lad, got the family’s permission, then began to hone every aspect of Nowitzki’s game.

One part guru, one part Svengali to Nowitzki’s Trilby, Gerschwindner favored unorthodox techniques and drills to coax out his players’ abilities. For instance, he would invite an old friend who played the saxophone to the gym, then instruct Nowitzki and other teen players to dribble and move in rhythm with the music (“dance the game,” he termed it). He gave them books and swapped out weight training with morning rowing on a local lake.

“Holger was a little bit mystical figure in Dirk’s orbit who thought completely out of the box,” said Golden State assistant coach Ron Adams, an international scout for Portland in 1998. “He’s a little full of himself and some people look sideways at him, but they let Holger do his thing for the most part in Dallas.”

At 19, Nowitzki had developed enough to be invited to the Nike Hoop Summit, an All-Star event pitting the top international prospects against a squad of U.S. high schoolers. The game was held in San Antonio, but the foreign players convened and practiced in Dallas.

Donnie Nelson, son of Mavericks coach Don Nelson, served as a volunteer assistant coach for the overseas team. A stint with Athletes in Action playing internationally during his time at Wheaton College piqued the younger Nelson’s interest in the NBA potential of foreign-bred players.

“We scouted Europe more than anybody, really,” Don Nelson told NBA.com last week, calling from his home in Maui. “Donnie got the international team to work out at the YMCA in downtown Dallas. So for a full week, I’m watching Dirk work out. He was the most unbelievable young player I’d ever seen.”

Other teams perked up after Nowitzki scored 33 points with 14 rebounds to spark his team’s upset of the Americans, including Al Harrington, Quentin Richardson and Rashard Lewis. But as the 1998 NBA Draft approached, the Nelsons were ready.

“We hid Dirk for several weeks before the draft,” Nelson said. “We made a commitment that we were going to draft him. We just wanted to keep him from going anywhere else to work out. He was going to be ours. He was happy with that. So he hid for a week in Donnie’s basement.”

The Mavericks held the No. 6 pick that year but had more ambitious plans than simply taking Nowitzki at that spot. They arranged a deal with Milwaukee at No. 9, in which Dallas picked Michigan’s Robert (Tractor) Traylor and the Bucks took Nowitzki. They knew Boston had interest, leaving the Celtics to draft Paul Pierce at No. 10.

The Bucks also sent the No. 19 selection, Pat Garrity, to Dallas, which promptly packaged Garrity to Phoenix for a young point guard named Steve Nash.

The Early Years

The 1998-99 NBA season is one that lots of folks would like to forget. First of all, there was no 1998; a labor lockout wiped out training camps and the season’s first two-plus months. The new CBA that was wrangled in January was followed by a frenzied 50-game schedule that began in February. Summer leagues, orientation, September individual work and scrimmages, everything an incoming rookie needs for that first difficult season was off the table.

Then there was Nowitzki, who had just turned 20 and, by his and Gerschwindner’s admission, was probably one or two years ahead of schedule in trying the NBA.

“It was right after they drafted me,” Nowitzki said, “that I had the doubts. Should I go to the NBA? I was skinny, I had played second division in Germany. Can I make this jump?

“I talked to Nellie and Donnie. I got to meet Steve and Mike [Finley], and they all assured me, being a young team, we could grow together. So before I left from home, I said I’d come. But I wasn’t able to sign a contract because of the lockout, and that worked out kind of perfect for me.

“I got to stay home. I got to train with Holger. I got to play first division in Germany for a couple more months and really developed my body a little more, my game. Then I got the call in late January from Donnie. ‘Hey, the season is on. Get your butt to Dallas!'”

Let the record show, in his NBA debut on Feb. 5, 1999, Nowitzki shot 0-for-5, made two free throws, got no rebounds and passed for four assists in 16:20 of an overtime loss to Seattle. That first season, he averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 40.5% overall and 20.6% on 3s. The Mavericks finished 19-31 but the Nelsons made good on their commitment, using Nowitzki in 47 games and starting him in 24, including the final 14 when his minutes doubled to 32.9 per game.

“Super nervous and anxious,” he recalled. “I didn’t know what to expect. We had a week of training camp maybe. I didn’t know all the plays or the defensive calls. Then we had five or six games in a week? It was insane. Looking back, it was good for me to get adjusted and learning. But it was tough to go through.”

There was one bright side: Nash. The unheralded playmaker from British Columbia by way of Santa Clara had been buried in the Suns backcourt his first two seasons. He and the German rookie clicked instantly.

“Well, they both loved to drink beer, so I’d say they clicked,” Nelson said, laughing. “They hung out. They both were single at the time.”

It was a lot more than that, Nowitzki said.

“We came to Dallas on the same day,” he said. “We didn’t have any friends. We lived in the same apartment complex. His family is from Europe, and he loved soccer. So we had that and we completely bonded. We went to dinners. I was feeling homesick so he’d take me to movies, out to eat.

“On free nights, we’d go back to the gym, train, lift, run, shoot, play 1-on-1. We just worked our way to be better and better every year. Steve knew the league, the routines and how to get ready. So I learned a lot from him.”

In his second season, during which Cuban bought the franchise, Nowitzki doubled his output to 17.5 points and 6.5 boards while shooting 46.1% overall and 37.9% from range. He averaged 21.8 in 2000-01 as he and Nash became a devastating pick-and-pop combo, and the Mavericks won 53 games in the first of 11 consecutive years of 50-plus victories. The next season, the guard and the forward were All-Stars.

“The crazy part still is, when he got to the NBA, people were upset that he didn’t play like a traditional center,” Cuban said. “They asked why he wasn’t a rim protector. It’s insane to look back at that now.”

Nash went back to Phoenix in free agency in 2004. Finley was gone a year later. Jason Terry came in, and later Kidd. Their coaches changed, from Nelson to Avery Johnson to Rick Carlisle. But Nowitzki was the cornerstone and he was on a roll. He went to 11 All-Star games in a row and 14 overall. He was a 12-time All-NBA selection. In 2006 he led Dallas to the Finals for the first time. The next season, the Mavs won 67 games and Nowitzki won his MVP award.

The coaching changes, never easy, panned out for him. Nelson tapped into Nowitzki’s rare combo of size and ball skills, using him as a lengthy small forward. He was 26 when Johnson took over, demanding more toughness, post work and even defense from his offensive star. Carlisle, who coached him from 2008 until Nowitzki retired in 2019, was a combination, wanting “a lot of free-flow offense and a lot of structured, detail-oriented defense.”

“I always thought, what if I had gone someplace else? Bulked me up and just put me under the basket and made a center out of me. With Nellie, that never happened,” Nowitzki said.

Johnson perfected Dallas’ use of Nowitzki at the “nail,” the center of the free-throw line where he posed the maximum threat to opposing defenses. It enabled him to punish smaller defenders that would switch onto him, without the time and grind to work into the low post, and likely draw a doubling big man.

“The spacing was good,” he said. “I wasn’t the greatest passer, but at least this way, I knew where my spot-up shooters were. I knew the big guy was in the dunker spot underneath. And if nobody came to double, I was going to just shoot over the little guy.”

As for Carlisle, that partnership produced the highlight of their careers and Cuban’s tenure, Maverick fans’ warmest memories, one of the city’s happiest sports celebrations and a reason so many junior-high kids named Dirk are running around.

“I came in the fall of 2008,” Carlisle said last week, “and the main thing was, ‘Dirk’s got about 4-5 years in his prime. We’ve got to figure out a way to win a championship."

‘Now I’m The Old Guy’

Nowitzki was 14 years old when Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and the rest of the Dream Team colonized the basketball world during the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.

“I was already an NBA fan and with Jordan winning his first championship in 1991, I became a huge Bulls fan,” Nowitzki said. “Then obviously ’92 happened. I had posters in my room of [Charles] Barkley, Shaq later on, Jordan of course, Bird.”

He had a poster, too, of Detlef Schrempf, the native of Leverkusen, Germany who was drafted eighth overall in 1985 by an earlier Dallas regime. Schrempf, a 6-foot-10 forward, grew up in Centralia, Wash., and spent four years at the University of Washington. He played 16 seasons, averaging 13.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Later playing for Indiana, Seattle and Portland, Schrempf made three All-Star teams, one All-NBA squad and twice was named the NBA’s top Sixth Man.

Of the 27 NBA players born in Germany, Schrempf is the closest precursor to Nowitzki.

“Of course, Detlef was also one of my favorites. Everybody in Germany knew how good he was,” Nowitzki said. “And then my first game in the league, it was against Seattle and Detlef. The way he treated me there, introduced me to his family, he couldn’t have been nicer. He gave me his phone number and told me to call if I ever had any questions.”

Other notable European players have made their marks before or since. Players such as Sarunas Marciulionis, Drazen Petrovic, Vlade Divac, Andre Kirilenko, Rik Smits, Toni Kukoc and Tony Parker right on to Domantas Sabonis, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.

Now Nowitzki is their flag bearer, a role that makes him almost as proud as when he carried Germany’s flag in the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I got to play with [Mavs forward] Maxi Kleber my last two years. How special is that, a kid from my hometown comes to us? We spent a lot of time together, before the season we trained together and he had a lot of questions,” Nowitzki said.

“And [Toronto guard] Dennis Schröder, when he got in the league, he actually worked out in Dallas before the Draft. I went there, got to see him, got to meet him and gave him my number. Told him when he had any questions to call me up. So we’ve basically been in contact his entire career.

“Now I’m the old guy. It changes so fast. Twenty years have flown by.”

Dirk Stays With Dallas, Wins 2011 Title

This bond of Nowitzki with Dallas, Dallas with Nowitzki, is something to savor now, full of giddy moments and fuzzy nostalgia. But it was forged in hard times, ordeals that are only appreciated in retrospect and even then with a wince. The early days with the Mavericks had been a challenge for Nowitzki, but nowhere close to what he and the team’s fan base endured a few years later.

In 2005-2006, Dallas won 60 games. Nowitzki averaged a career-best 26.6 points, finished third in MVP balloting and – with teammates such as Terry, Josh Howard and Jerry Stackhouse – once again was the lone All-Star.

“Dirk played with Jason Kidd near the end of his career and Jason was still a great player, but he did not play with a bunch of Hall of Fame players in their prime,” Carlisle said. “Nash left before he really hit his stride. Dirk carried an amazing load with the Dallas Mavericks over a period of two-plus decades that may never be rivaled again.”

Nowitzki was his usual stellar self in leading the Mavs in the 2006 playoffs to series victories over Memphis, San Antonio and Phoenix, with his Game 7 work to beat the Spurs overtime in the West semis most remarkable. He and the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead over Miami in the Finals. Then Dwyane Wade happened, the young Heat star binging at 39.3 points and shooting 73 free throws over the final four games.

The Mavericks regrouped to win 67 games in 2006-07. They were so good, with Nowitzki as MVP, they dragged Howard to his only All-Star selection. Heavily favored against small-ball, eighth-seeded Golden State, Dallas was upset in six games, including defeats by 12, 18 and 25 points. Their old mastermind Nelson was working the Warriors’ sideline at that point, and his insider defense on Nowitzki saw the Mavs star score just eight points on 2-of-13 shooting in the elimination game.

“It would have been unbelievable to win in ’06,” he said. “And then losing in the first round in ’07 to the Warriors, those were some tough, tough losses. Gut-wrenching, to the point where I was embarrassed and disappointed and didn’t want to leave the house for a couple weeks.”

In fact, the only thing that blocked him from a hasty retreat to Germany that spring was the NBA, asking him to stick stateside for a couple of weeks until the MVP presentation.

Another first-round loss in 2008, to New Orleans this time, cost Johnson his job. Carlisle came in but two more abrupt exits followed, to Denver in the 2009 semis and to San Antonio in 2010.

Nowitzki was 32 and, for the first time in his career, a free agent. Three years earlier, a perennial All-NBA forward had accepted a trade in hopes of winning a championship elsewhere: Kevin Garnett left Minnesota after 12 years and insufficient help to finally win in Boston. Was Nowitzki next?

“I always wanted to make it happen,” Nowitzki said. “I met with Mark [Cuban] and we both got a little emotional about what we’d been through together. And he said, ‘Let’s finish this together,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t want to be anywhere else.’ I ended up signing a four-year deal and we won a championship in the first year.”

The 2010-11 Mavericks did more than that. They delayed and possibly altered the trajectory of LeBron James’ grandiose Super Team plans in Miami. The “not one, not two, not three…” hubris of that initial public appearance of James, Wade and Chris Bosh became the thud of “not one” when Dallas and Nowitzki beat the Heat in six games.

Said McHale: “Kidd was really, really smart. Just knew how to play. Some of the guys were older, too. They had a blend of guys who just played so well together. They would do this 2-3 zone when I was [visiting Carlisle] in camp and I told Rick, ‘Your zone sucks. You’ve got to stop using that.’ Hell, they played that zone in the Finals. They had a bunch of high-IQ guys. And pro’s pros. They were not going to beat themselves.

“But the thing I remember the most was Dirk making these unbelievable shots down the stretches of games. He’d make a crazy shot to give them breathing room all the time.”

At this point, Nowitzki believes the elation of 2011 never happens if not for the heartbreaks that came before.

“In 2011, I was the finisher I needed to be in the final moments,” he said. “In ’06 and ’07 I just wasn’t quite there yet to make the big baskets. It wasn’t fun to go through those years when we were favorites but it’s part of my journey and it made me a better player and person for sure.”

Nobody quibbles with that last part. Nowitzki’s lack of drama and pretense drew mentions time and again from people contacted for this story.

“He was the greatest superstar teammate that I’ve ever seen,” Carlisle said. “He had a really humble demeanor, he knew who he was, he knew what his responsibility was.”

Shawn Marion, the 2011 teammate who refers to Nowitzki as the “7-Foot Rainbow Assassin,” also said: “His ego never got in the way of what the biggest goal was. He’s a quiet leader. And he had a bit of a joker side to him too.”

And over the years, with Nowitzki now focused on family, a low-demand Mavericks consultancy and a relaxed TBD future, those close to him have reconciled the global icon vs. Mavericks fixture split.

“Dirk became very Americanized,” Carlisle said, “where Germany and Europe could feel like he was theirs, and the people of Dallas could feel like he was theirs. And no one needed to fight about it.”

[dnowit41]

How Kyrie Irving found his voice, changing the narrative in Dallas

By Landon Thomas

3/19/2023

When the Dallas Mavericks acquired Kyrie Irving, the blockbuster trade was viewed as a high-risk, high-reward deal. Irving was in the final year of his contract with the Brooklyn Nets and was in discussions for a long-term extension. When those conversations reached a point of no return, Irving asked to be traded. The Nets honored the trade request and agreed on a deal to send Irving to the Mavericks, ahead of the trade deadline.

The talent of Irving that joined the Mavs roster was desperately in need of a co-star to the 24-year-old phenom Luka Dončić. Irving is an eight-time All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection who helped Cleveland Cavaliers to their lone NBA Championship in 2016. Irving was selected as a starter for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game and he has been an All-Star starter in each of the last five All-Star games in which he has played (2017-19, 2021 and 2023).

Irving held career averages of 23.3 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 34.2 minutes in 651 games (all starts) with Cleveland, Boston and Brooklyn.

In 12 games with Dallas, Irving has averaged 28.4 points, 6.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds. He has held 50/40/90 shooting splits with 52.1% (122-234) from the floor, 42.7% (41-96) from 3-point range and 94.9% (56-59) from the foul line with the Mavericks.

“The first piece of advice they gave me, which is probably the best advice is just be myself.” Kyrie Irving said to media during his introduction presser in Dallas on the advice he received from Nico Harrison and Jason Kidd.

Over the past six weeks, Irving has been a positive locker room presence and has shown his leadership with the Mavericks. From the Mavs’ players and front office praising him as a teammate to Irving giving donations voluntarily to people in need, these moments aren’t often seen. From smiling and laughing with his new teammates to blowing kisses to his children court side, these moments aren’t shown from national media.

Irving has been portrayed in a way that represents a locker room cancer. When in reality, you see a man who is misunderstood, loves to hoop and just wants happiness for his family and people in need.

Irving received a standing ovation inside the American Airlines Center during his first time walking out to warmups. Now, fans in the arena rise to their feet during fourth quarters when Irving goes on a personal run of making challenging shots. You feel the energy around him and it’s something to be experienced in person.

“I’m excited to bring my game to Dallas and excite those fans, I don’t think they’ve ever seen anything like me before so I’m excited.” Kyrie Irving expressed his excitement ahead of playing in Dallas with the home team for the first time.

Leadership on the Court

Irving has been the co-star and leader the Mavericks needed next to Dončić in Dallas.

The calm nature from Irving is a much-needed balance to Dončić’s expressive energy throughout games. Irving’s championship experience is something Dončić respects and compliments. Irving’s ability to make shots and plays in the final minutes of games eases the pressure off the offense from being solely dependent upon Dončić. The knowledge and dialogue Irving shares with Dončić are teachable moments that will only help the young superstar and team get better moving forward. The ability to play on and off the ball makes Irving valuable next to Dončić, as the young guard hasn’t played off the ball since his rookie year in the NBA.

“I really want to win here, really put a lot of pressure on myself, at times I think I need to scale it back a little bit… I just got to focus on being the best that I can be. I got to focus on showing up, not just for Luka, but for my teammates.” Kyrie Irving said in a post-game press conference.

Irving initially deferred to Dončić in the first few games together as he wanted to show his willingness to fit into the schematics of the team. Irving said he was figuring out Luka’s pace, especially in the first quarter and coming out of halftime. Irving has figured it out to by finding moments to be aggressive and learning his teammates tendencies, specifically in the fourth quarter.

Kyrie Irving averages 4.7 points in the first quarter, 6.1 points in the second quarter, 6.2 points in the third quarter and 10.9 points in the fourth quarter.

Watching Irving show leadership on the court to his teammates has been visible. He finds every moment within a game to give a teachable moment but also learn from his teammates at the same time.

Leadership off the Court

Prior to Irving joining Dallas, you tend to get mixed feelings due to the way he is portrayed on television or in the news. It has created a toxic persona of Irving and it makes you eager to find out how close that is to reality but Mavericks’ players continue to compliment Irving as a teammate since his arrival.

“It’s great. You’re playing with a veteran superstar that has a ring. That’s been in big moments all throughout his career even back to high school. Just being able to be alongside with Luka but also with Kai, you gotta relish the moment and take advantage of the opportunity.” Tim Hardaway Jr. stated post-game after the win over the Clippers.

“He really is a competitor, he wants to win, I love it. Getting those offensive rebounds at the end of the game, on the floor 3 or 4 times. To have the name that he has, the career he’s had to be doing that stuff just motivates the rest of the team.” Josh Green mentioned post-game after the win over Kings.

“He’s been great since the trade… playing with Kai is so easy so it helps me a lot. So it’s way easier.” Luka Dončić said post-game on Kyrie Irving’s performance with the Mavs after the win over 76ers.

“He’s a very, very great teammate. He always has like positive spirits, uplifting words and all that. I’m very appreciative to play with him… great character guy.” Maxi Kleber said post-game after the win over the Lakers.

In a recent Twitch stream, Irving voiced his frustration with his portrayal by media and NBA fans.

“What’s Ky gonna do this summer? Does Ky like Dallas? What happened in Brooklyn? What happened in Boston? What happened in Cleveland? Why did you leave LeBron? … Why did you leave all of these people?’ … Me, you would think I’m the cancer in the locker room, as if basketball is an individual sport that one person is supposed to take blame for. It’s 15 guys on the team, and I’m the one cancer in the room? That’s what it’s portrayed as, that’s what you guys get that’s what they have fun doing. That’s why these older, bitter gentlemen and women keep my name in their mouths every day.”

Irving believes if you put good energy out, good energy comes back.

Irving has also made charitable actions and donations while being a member of the Mavericks.

“There’s so much going on in our world, I just try to do little acts of kindness every single day.” Kyrie Irving said in response to his donations.

At the Mavs Ball, an event that raised a record-breaking $1.85M for the Mavs Foundation, one of the items being auctioned was one State Fair of Texas visit with Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell. Irving pitched in a $25,000 donation for it.

Irving gave a $38,000 donation for the family of two people involved in a fatal car accident (Texas) at the beginning of the month.

Irving recently gave a $45,000 donation for kids in Ghana and Nigeria to help build an orphanage.

“It’s more of a family atmosphere that I’m really investing in: our village and our tribe. The messages really go a long way, just because I know it’s making an impact. The people running it have not been the best quality of people, so I do my best to read people’s foundational messages and their missions. It’s not just going to GoFundMe. I actually go to their websites and try to do research on who is on the GoFundMe pages because it’s a public platform. Anybody could get got at any time. I just do my best to do research, and be a beacon of light for humanity as best I can outside of the court.” Kyrie Irving shed light on the process for his charitable actions with GoFundMe requests for help.

Relationships in Dallas

The relationships Dallas in place have brought a sense of comfort for Irving in making the transition easier to a new city during the season.

“Dallas, they came calling. Mark rang my phone. Nico rang my phone and I’m grateful because I know they wanted me for my work ethic, my leadership abilities and also my consistency in what I bring to the team and I would just like to show that every day, that’s it.“ Kyrie Irving stated at 2023 All-Star weekend.

You start with Nico Harrison, GM of the Mavericks, who has mentioned his relationship with the 30-year-old superstar going all the way back to Irving’s AAU days. Harrison spent 19 years at Nike, where he last held the title of vice president of North America basketball operations. In his position, he had to know the top players of each class as a Nike executive and Irving was ranked third in the class of 2010. Harrison stated he didn’t see a risk at all with the acquisition and actually saw a risk in not making the trade for Irving.

“Honestly I think it’s easy. We get a few months and some playoff games to see how this thing works, once we see how it really works then okay, how do we make the future really good.” Nico Harrison on making Kyrie Irving’s relationship with the Dallas Mavericks long term.

Irving has voiced his appreciation of his long-lasting relationship with Harrison and the Mavs GM knowing his family very well. It was time for a power move by Nico Harrison at the trade deadline or offseason, to show his willingness to surround Dončić with top talent and catapult this franchise forward to compete with contenders in the NBA.

“The moves that we made were all towards the goal that we want to bring a championship here … So that’s what Mark (Cuban) brought me here to do and that’s what I am hopeful we are working towards so for me when you get opportunity to bring in another all-star player to go alongside Luka, who wouldn’t do that.” Nico Harrison addressed the media at Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris introduction press conference.

Then you think about head coach Jason Kidd and the relationship he has with Kyrie Irving.

“We have one of the greatest guys to play the game leading us as a head coach [Jason Kidd]. We got some great coaches that really demand excellence out of themselves, and demand excellence out of us. It’s a great relationship that we have.” Kyrie Irving expressed his praise to Jason Kidd and Mavs coaching staff.

Kidd was Irving’s idol when he grew up in New Jersey and had the opportunity to watch Kidd lead the New Jersey Nets up close. Irving has talked about his admiration for the Hall of Fame point guard as his head coach. Now, Kidd has the opportunity to coach and watch Irving up close.

“It’s good. Knowing Kai and just understanding his skill set and the new atmosphere. He’s excited to be here… his leadership down the stretch of getting everyone organized… a lot of great stuff on this new journey with him. It’s going to be fun.” Jason Kidd stated on the addition of Kyrie Irving.

There has never been a bigger disconnect between how the national media portrays Irving and what is seen first-hand in the city of Dallas. The Mavs made the necessary type of risk for the high-reward payoff the organization is starting to see.

With 11 games remaining on the Mavericks schedule this season, each game is magnified with playoff implications and placement in the Western Conference.

Kyrie Irving will help lead the Dallas Mavericks to ensure the team is ready for it.

[dnowit41]

Luka Doncic and Rick Carlisle: The dissolution of their relationship; what comes next for the Dallas Mavericks

by Tim McMahon

12/15/2021

Luka Doncic and Rick Carlisle spent three seasons together in Dallas. The Mavericks failed to win a playoff series in any of them. Sean Berry/NBAE via Getty Images

Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr had become fast friends after the Dallas Mavericks selected the teenager from Slovenia third overall in the 2018 NBA draft.

Smith, whom the team had drafted ninth a year prior, had shown Doncic around the city and invited the new guy into his social circle. They lived in the same apartment building and had spent hours playing video games together.

If one was spotted during a Mavs road trip, chances are the other would be there too, along with young swingman Dorian Finney-Smith.

The Mavs were quick to market their new guard tandem. Doncic and Smith posed together during media day, smiling for pictures; they were promoted heavily on the team's website. Along with soon-to-retire legend Dirk Nowitzki, the young lottery picks were the players featured on billboards around the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

While a friendship blossomed in Dallas' newly formed backcourt, coach Rick Carlisle and the front office were planning to blow it up, sources involved with the franchise's decision-making said, never really believing the duo had staying power.

The Mavs knew Doncic would need to be the primary ball handler to fulfill his immense potential, and they didn't believe Smith, who they had determined was a high-usage, ball-dominant guard with a suspect jumper, could complement him.

Carlisle, for his part, doubted Smith could be a productive NBA starter, team sources said. He had wanted the Mavs to draft guard Donovan Mitchell, and had completely soured on Smith midway through his rookie campaign.

Seven months later, Smith was traded to the New York Knicks, an afterthought in a deal that brought Kristaps Porzingis midway through Doncic's rookie season.

It might not have been a basketball fit, but Doncic and Smith had formed a bond. And Carlisle's apparent determination to make Smith miserable during their brief time as teammates was appalling to Doncic, several former players and staffers told ESPN.

Multiple players were shocked during one early-season team meeting when Carlisle accused Smith of being jealous of Doncic, sources said. The players considered it incredibly unfair to Smith, who wasn't playing well but was making an honest effort to mesh with Doncic on the court.

Doncic particularly resented what he perceived as Carlisle's attempt to pit him against his friend and teammate, team sources said.

It's an early chapter in the Luka Doncic story, an origin point for rising distrust and tension between the team's young star and his coach -- and an indication the relationship would have an expiration date.

"He brought a championship to Dallas," Doncic said after a win in Memphis on Dec. 8, "and everybody respects him."

Those are the most extensive comments Doncic, who declined to be interviewed for this story, has made about Carlisle since the coach's resignation from Dallas in June. Carlisle, now the Indiana Pacers' coach, missed Friday's Mavericks-Pacers game after testing positive for COVID-19.

New coach Jason Kidd and the Mavericks are 27 games into an effort to clear three seasons' worth of dysfunction, disillusionment and blowups that cracked the foundation of a franchise built around a superstar who has yet to win a playoff series.

FORMER MAVS CENTER Salah Mejri, a player whose fiery emotions often weren't appreciated by referees, picked up two quick technical fouls in the third quarter of a January 2018 win against the Washington Wizards. The second tech was a particularly quick whistle, and Mejri pleaded his case to Carlisle before leaving the court.

"You've got two f---ing points, get the f--- out of here!" Carlisle shouted at Mejri, pointing toward the tunnel to the locker room, an exchange caught by television cameras.

After practice the next day, Carlisle told reporters he had a talk with Mejri and "apologized to him for behavior that was really emotional, uncalled for and unprofessional on my part."

But people with the team didn't consider the behavior to be uncharacteristic for Carlisle. Several Mavericks team staffers, from members of the coaching staff to non-basketball employees, told ESPN they felt intimidated and disrespected by Carlisle, who they said could be abrasive and demanding. The coach also had contentious relationships with several Mavs players throughout his 13-year tenure.

Mejri felt belittled by Carlisle, a team source said, believing the coach targeted him with unnecessarily harsh criticism -- usually in front of the team.

And Mejri functioned as a big-brother figure for Doncic. Mejri had played for Real Madrid before signing with the Mavs in 2015. He looked out for Doncic when he was promoted to the Spanish club's top team as an adolescent. Doncic was so close with Mejri that he agreed to an interview with a local television station as a rookie on the condition that Mejri, a fringe rotation player, would also be part of the sit-down.

The public exchange between Carlisle and Mejri happened the season before Doncic was drafted, but it was indicative of the tense Mavs locker room when he arrived.

Early in Doncic's rookie season, the players were in near mutiny in the wake of an especially heated, confrontational team meeting, players and members of that staff said. Carlisle apologized to the team a couple of days later and gave assistant coach Jamahl Mosley, who was popular with the players, increased responsibilities regarding the managing of player and coaching-staff relationships. It was Mosley's voice that the players often heard from the coaching staff, sometimes more so than Carlisle's.

Mosley developed an especially close bond with Doncic. But over the next few years Carlisle came to consider Mosley a threat, team sources said, believing that Mosley was attempting to position himself to take Carlisle's job. Instead, Mosley became the coach of the Orlando Magic in July, a couple of weeks after the Mavs hired Kidd.

Seven months before, the team had lost another valuable liaison in veteran guard J.J. Barea, who often had served as connective tissue between Carlisle and Doncic, as well as other players, the previous two seasons. Sources said the Mavs' front office came to regret releasing Barea during the 2020-21 preseason.

Barea, a role player on the 2011 title team and a leader in the locker room even as his playing time decreased, helped bring Doncic and Porzingis together, playing cards with them on the team plane and facilitating communication between the franchise cornerstones.

That relationship began to erode last season, when the awkwardness that developed between them was so apparent that it was noteworthy when they exchanged high-fives. Sources noted that Carlisle wasn't positioned to manage it because he had poor relationships with both.

Porzingis was frustrated, feeling he was a strategic afterthought for a team that couldn't get out of the first round, often utilized primarily as a catch-and-shoot 3-point threat to space the floor for Doncic. That was spotlighted during the Mavs' seven-game playoff loss to the LA Clippers, when the 7-foot-3 Porzingis spent most of the series spotted up in the corner because Carlisle was convinced he was incapable of punishing LA's switching defense with post-ups.

As he entered the offseason, Porzingis was so disillusioned, sources said, that he privately hoped he would be traded.

CARLISLE ATTEMPTED TO patch his relationship with Doncic. The coach heaped praise on his star in the media, often comparing him to legends such as Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and protected the Mavs' young face of the franchise from criticism, even if it required stretching logic to do so.

An example: Doncic reported to last year's training camp weighing more than 260 pounds, according to sources, and conditioning was clearly a factor in his slow start. Carlisle blamed the NBA's pandemic-disrupted schedule beginning earlier than originally anticipated for complicating Doncic's offseason routine.

But their relationship was too far gone, Doncic growing even more distant from his coach, and more defiant of him during the heat of games.

Kristaps Porzingis, center, whom the Mavericks traded for in February 2019, felt frustrated with his role in Rick Carlisle's offense. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Doncic questioned Carlisle's authority in front of the team on at least one occasion early in the 2020-21 season: "Who's in charge -- you or Bob?" Doncic barked on his way back to the bench during an early-season game. He was referring to then-Mavs director of quantitative research Haralabos "Bob" Voulgaris, whose rise in power played a role in Dallas' front-office dysfunction and who many players believed dictated lineups and rotation decisions to Carlisle. Carlisle relied heavily on Voulgaris' data but always had final say, team sources said.

In another instance, Doncic had just drawn his third foul midway through the third quarter of last season's playoff opener and was upset that Carlisle had opted to substitute for him. Carlisle ignored the superstar's gesture that indicated he wanted to play through foul trouble.

As Jalen Brunson checked in, Doncic briefly took his glare off Carlisle, dropping his head and clenching his fingers, squeezing the air as if he were crushing something in his hands. Doncic barked at Carlisle as he walked toward the Dallas bench, shaking his head along the way.

Doncic didn't stop at his seat at the end of the bench, stomping another 10 steps until he reached the short wall at the bottom of the arena's lower bowl. He leaned against the wall, rested his head on top of his arms, turned his back to the floor and remained there for most of the Clippers' ensuing possession. When he returned to the bench, Doncic stood and again shouted in Carlisle's direction before finally taking his seat.

Nobody on the Dallas bench blinked. Players, staffers and coaches had become accustomed to Doncic cursing out Carlisle, the dynamic between the generational star and championship-proven coach deteriorating with each passing clash.

After Doncic cooled off, Carlisle subbed him back into the game. He finished with a 31-point triple-double, leading the Mavs to the Game 1 win. The blowup was business as usual.

Carlisle privately joked he had developed selective hearing, choosing to tune out Doncic yelling at him during games. Doncic was often bombastic in his disagreements with coaching decisions on the court, but refrained from sharing those criticisms of Carlisle in media availability.

"If we talk, we're going to talk," Doncic said following a close loss last season in Milwaukee, during which he angrily gestured that he thought Carlisle should have called a last-minute timeout. "It's not going to be in the media. It's between us."

But, for all of the friction, the partnership between Doncic and Carlisle wasn't fruitless.

Carlisle quickly gave Doncic, who many scouts and executives around the league doubted could play point guard due to his limited speed and quickness, the keys to the Mavs' offense. The former Mavs coach spread the floor as much as possible and gave Doncic more creative freedom than he ever allowed any point guard, including Hall of Famer Kidd, who had won a title with Carlisle in 2011.

And Doncic thrived, winning Rookie of the Year and joining Kevin Durant as the only players over the past five decades with a pair of first-team All-NBA selections before turning 23.

DALLAS' ORIGINAL PLAN was for Carlisle to return for the 2021-22 season, but it had become clear the coach would have been on the hot seat from the start.

After last season's opening-round Game 7 loss, there were legitimate questions about Carlisle's job security. For the first time, people in the organization weren't sure Carlisle would be back, and Mark Cuban's lukewarm vote of confidence shortly after the final buzzer confirmed the coach was on shaky ground.

"Let me tell you how I look at coaching," Cuban told ESPN that day, after Doncic had 46 points and 14 assists, but the Mavs were blown out inside Staples Center. "You don't make a change to make a change. Unless you have someone that you know is much, much, much better, the grass is rarely greener on the other side."

Carlisle had intended to travel to Doncic's native country several days later in June to observe the Slovenian national team's camp and spend time with the Mavs' star. Those plans, however, were canceled at Doncic's request, sources said. Doncic, particularly in the wake of Cuban firing longtime Mavs president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, wanted no distractions as he prepared for the qualifying tournament in which Slovenia clinched the program's first Olympic bid.

Carlisle, who had two seasons remaining on his contract, broached the subject of an extension with Cuban around that time, sources said. Cuban shot down the idea, confirming Carlisle's suspicion his job status was tenuous.

Later that week, the winningest coach in franchise history informed Cuban he was resigning.

Doncic, who hasn't yet exercised his superstar privilege of influencing personnel decisions, never called for Carlisle to go, sources said. He ultimately didn't have to.

"You never want to get to a point where you ever feel like you're overstaying your welcome," Carlisle told ESPN this summer, "and I just felt like this is the right time."

Carlisle decided that he'd determine the right time -- when he could immediately land another job. A week later he agreed to a four-year, $29 million deal with the Pacers.

"I have extreme gratitude for my 13 years with Mark Cuban and the Mavericks," Carlisle told ESPN this week. "I cherish the memory of our 2011 title run and all I learned there as a coach. It's been an honor to work with generational players like Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic, and to see a long list of players develop with the Mavs organization.

"It was a privilege to witness Luka's genius for three years," Carlisle continued. "He does and will continue to do amazing things every night. I am excited and appreciative for the opportunity to coach in Indiana and wish the Mavs organization all the best."

Carlisle, whose Pacers are 12-17, declined to comment further for this story.

Less than three weeks after Carlisle's departure, the Mavs hired Kidd, who sources said was the only candidate seriously considered.

Doncic has not had any public outbursts toward Kidd, who has prioritized communication with his players, appointing Doncic, Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. to serve as a three-man leadership council. At the council's suggestion, Kidd played all 15 players in their home-opening win against the Houston Rockets, a rarity meant to highlight the Mavs' improved camaraderie and connection to the coaching staff.

"The more you talk, the better," Doncic said that night. "Talking solves things, so I think it's a good idea."

Jason Kidd is 14-13 in his first year as Mavericks head coach. Glenn James/NBAE via Getty Images

While Kidd has been generally upbeat and positive -- an attempt to correct the cultural flaws from Carlisle's tenure -- he has publicly challenged Doncic throughout the season.

During the preseason, Kidd pushed Doncic to "trust his teammates." After a recent loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, Kidd said Doncic needed to be more selective with complaining to officials, noting that the griping often prevented Doncic from getting back in transition.

Porzingis has felt refreshed after Carlisle's resignation, team sources said. Kidd has made a point of giving Porzingis the green light to take the kind of shots Carlisle wanted to eliminate from his arsenal.

Porzingis' overall offensive numbers are similar to last season -- he has been more effective on post-ups but has slumped from 3-point range -- but he's noticeably happier. His chemistry with Doncic has improved, as both were eager to start the new season, part of the better "vibe" several Mavs have cited under Kidd.

"If you're not having fun, then it's tough to play and give your all," Porzingis said after a recent win over the Clippers. "I feel like this year we have that kind of environment."

But while the team culture seems to have improved, at least through a third of the season, the performance on the court has not.

Dallas, like last season, has gotten off to a disappointing start as Doncic again plays his way into shape. The Mavs (14-13) have lost nine of their past 14 games, a slump that started when Doncic missed three games with a sprained left ankle, which hasn't healed. Doncic, who turned the ankle again in Friday's loss to the Pacers, will miss a third consecutive game Wednesday when the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Mavs (7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN).

For the season, the Mavs are 17th in the league in offensive efficiency (108.4), a steep drop-off from ranking first and eighth, respectively, the last two seasons.

Kidd has referred to the Mavs, who didn't make any major offseason additions, as a team that "isn't built to play defense" and "a jump-shooting team that isn't making jump shots" after recent losses. He has repeatedly noted that the Mavs tend to "hang our heads" when shots aren't falling, publicly pushing his team to be more mature and mentally tough.

"We've got to stick together," Doncic said after a lopsided home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. "This is what real teams do in tough times, is stick together. It's easy to stay together when it's all good, you know? The tough times, that's when you have to stay together."

[dnowit41]

Inside the Mavericks front office, Mark Cuban’s shadow GM is causing a rift with Luka Doncic

Tim Cato and Sam Amick 6/14/20

In early February, during the second quarter of a home game against the Golden State Warriors, Luka Doncic carelessly turned over the ball and received feedback from a Dallas Mavericks employee he didn’t care for: Haralabos Voulgaris, a well-known sports gambler hired by team owner Mark Cuban in 2018.

Voulgaris, sitting with an open laptop in his typical courtside seat across from the Mavericks’ bench, motioned downward with his hands, which Doncic specifically interpreted as Voulgaris telling him to calm down, multiple team and league sources tell The Athletic. Doncic snapped back, telling Voulgaris, according to one source’s recollection, “Don’t fucking tell me to calm down.” The same sources say Voulgaris later professed that his motion wasn’t solely directed at Doncic, but regardless of intent, it only worsened an already inflamed relationship between the two.

Doncic, multiple league sources say, intends to sign the supermax extension — which he will be eligible for once named to this season’s All-NBA team — with Dallas, worth more than $200 million over five seasons after his rookie contract expires next summer. “I think you know the answer,” he said, smiling, when asked whether he would at last week’s exit interview. But a high-level power broker within the league says the Mavericks recognize that there’s urgency to build a contending team around Doncic after losing in the first round in each of the past two seasons. The clock is ticking.

Internally, there are concerns the front office’s dysfunction has hurt its ability to do so — and that poor relationships Doncic has with key members of the franchise, including Voulgaris, could impact his current desire to remain in Dallas long-term. The team’s most recent postseason defeat against the LA Clippers served as a direct indictment on the roster constructed around him. Can Mavericks management remedy that in time? Or, as some team sources fear, will they pay the price for the dysfunctional dynamics that exist in some corners of the organization?

Dallas announced Voulgaris’ hiring in the fall of 2018 with a title — director of quantitative research and development — that vastly understated his actual role. Multiple league and team sources tell The Athletic that Voulgaris has been the most influential voice within the Mavericks front office since joining the team, either initiating or approving virtually every transaction made over the past two seasons. Those same sources add that Voulgaris has frequently gone as far as scripting the starting lineups and rotations for longtime head coach Rick Carlisle.

That influence has spanned Doncic’s three seasons in Dallas. While he had been drafted prior to Voulgaris’ arrival — Donnie Nelson, the team’s longtime president of basketball operations, was the driving force behind trading up to acquire the Slovenian wunderkind, a process he described in detail to The Athletic last year — Cuban had sought out Voulgaris’ basketball advice in the years before putting him on the team’s payroll. As one team source says, “Mark Cuban is the most powerful person in the organization, but whoever he’s listening to is second.” Cuban was won over by Voulgaris’ vision: an analytics-driven spread pick-and-roll offense with Doncic as the focal point which he has tried implementing in the past seasons.

It’s unclear when the Cuban and Voulgaris relationship began, but their coming together is perhaps unsurprising given Cuban’s origin as a self-made tech billionaire whose first major purchase was the Mavericks. Voulgaris has never been shy about his desire to run a team. In an ESPN feature from 2013, Voulgaris is quoted as saying, “The whole process (of becoming a highly successful gambler) has led me to believe that I’d be able to put together a better team than almost any general manager in the league. If not maybe all.”

The way Voulgaris tells it — the ESPN feature is the only notable reporting ever focused on him, and he declined an interview request from The Athletic shortly after being hired — he began gambling on the NBA in the late 1990s and had made millions by the early 2000s. His success, he says, came in part from an instinctual reading of certain coaches. It finally failed him during the 2003-04 season, causing him to lose much of his gambling wealth and step away temporarily, only returning once he’d developed an analytics model that brought back his old edge. He says he did exactly that, his new model beating the odds at a rate higher than five percent. In 2009, he gave up gambling again to consult for an unnamed NBA franchise. The advisory role lasted one season; he returned to his previous life afterward and began publicly promoting himself. In the coming years, he became a well-known presence in the basketball world.

Voulgaris spent a limited amount of time around the Mavericks during his first season of employment, attending about one-quarter of the team’s games. He attended fewer games the following season, but his imprint on the team’s roster grew substantially that offseason. It was Voulgaris who initiated the team’s acquisitions of Seth Curry and Delon Wright, with multiple sources telling The Athletic that Voulgaris believed Wright should start next to Doncic. “He was the only person that believed that,” one team source says. Wright did start the season opener before being moved to a full-time bench role the following game, barely playing in the team’s first-round defeat in the 2020 postseason. He was traded that offseason.

Because Voulgaris’ influence was greater than his official role, those within the front office — and executives around the league who interacted with them — were often confused about who actually held power. “We had two general managers,” a team source says. Nelson remained the team’s president of basketball operations, a role he has held since 2005, and other executives and agents continued largely communicating with him or Cuban regarding personnel matters. Nelson continued to spearhead major moves, including trades for Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. in 2019, Josh Richardson in 2020 and J.J. Redick in 2021. But team sources say Voulgaris was supportive of the transactions — or explicitly approved them.

Multiple league and team sources point to the 2020 draft as a particularly egregious example of Voulgaris’ power, an evening one source described as “embarrassing.” Most members of the scouting department joined the team’s war room remotely through Zoom and were surprised when Voulgaris, attending in person, didn’t consult them for either of the team’s first two selections (Josh Green and Tyrell Terry) despite disagreements they held with at least one of the players he picked.“

What did (he) sell to Mark to make him believe (he) can do this?” asks one source with an intimate knowledge of the situation. “Nobody knows.”

It marked another throughline of Voulgaris’ tenure with the Mavericks: that his personality and decision making has steadily irritated and exasperated the team’s front office employees and players over the course of the three seasons he’s been employed. “He doesn’t know how to talk to people,” that same source says.

That’s best exemplified by Dallas’ franchise player disliking him. Doncic’s strained relationship with Voulgaris predated their incident in February, multiple sources say. It wasn’t the only incident, either. This season, Voulgaris attended his first game in mid January, frequently appearing courtside at home and also traveling with them on the road in the months that followed. In mid-April, during the final minute of a home defeat to the New York Knicks, Voulgaris was seen on the game’s broadcast footage standing up and leaving with about 45 seconds remaining. While the Mavericks were trailing by 10 points at the time, they cut the deficit to six and extended the game seven more possessions before eventually losing.

Doncic noticed Voulgaris’ early departure. In the locker room after the game, multiple league and team sources say he told teammates he viewed Voulgaris leaving before the game’s conclusion as him quitting on them. Voulgaris would not attend another game the rest of the year.

Multiple team sources confirm Voulgaris remained involved in the team’s gameplans and in-game adjustments in a remote role. But Voulgaris, who earlier this season appeared likelier than not to wrest further control over the front office and perhaps even drive out Nelson entirely, now heads into a summer with his contract set to expire and uncertainty surrounding his future.

When reached for comment on Monday, Cuban defended Voulgaris’ involvement. “I really like what Bob brings to the table. He does a great job of supporting Rick and the front office with unique data insights.”

Cuban added: “Bob has a great grasp of AI and the opportunities it creates for gaining an advantage. Which is important to me. But he isn’t any more influential than any other data source on the team.”

Voulgaris declined to comment for this story when reached on Sunday.

Doncic’s relationship with his head coach, Rick Carlisle, has been publicly scrutinized since joining his team. It’s expected Carlisle will return next season, multiple league sources say, something Cuban publicly voiced support for last week shortly after the first round defeat.“

Let me tell you how I look at coaching,” he told ESPN. “You don’t make a change to make a change. Unless you have someone that you know is much, much, much better, the grass is rarely greener on the other side.”

Multiple sources were surprised to see Cuban’s prompt backing of Carlisle, however, even though Cuban’s support for Carlisle has hardly wavered over the past decade. During the season, it was believed Carlisle’s future could be reconsidered following the season, partly due to a belief Doncic had tuned him out.“

It was very much up in the air,” one source with intimate knowledge of the situation said.

Sources say some players have been frustrated with Carlisle after they lost playing time despite doing exactly what they felt he had asked of them, and for stiff rotation patterns, the latter of which they viewed — correctly, team sources confirm — as being dictated directly to him by Voulgaris. Early on, Doncic also disliked Carlisle’s timeouts and frequent calling of plays.

But Carlisle, who’s “adaptable as a motherfucker,” as one league source put it, began to modify his coaching style as a way of relieving some of the pressure from this sensitive situation. Beyond Carlisle’s obvious coaching acumen, he has always been able and willing to, in essence, read the room when it came to which personal battles he could win and which ones he couldn’t. This was no different.

Doncic’s greatness, so evident so early on, clearly compelled Carlisle to consider the changing hoops politics at hand. Since being hired in May of 2008, Carlisle has had his fair share of friction with key players, in large part because of his well-known tendency to be controlling. But Rajon Rondo, this was not.

In truth, it was far closer to the difficult dynamic that he’d successfully navigated with then-point guard Jason Kidd en route to winning the franchise’s first and only title in 2011. It took an intervention of sorts to get through that friction back then, when then-Mavericks assistant coaches Tim Grgurich, Dwane Casey and Terry Stotts stepped in to tell Carlisle that he needed to loosen the reins on Kidd. In the end, of course, it was a wise and necessary move.

The championship took Carlisle’s credibility to another level in those coming years. He was, with good reason, virtually untouchable when it came to the job insecurities that most coaches face. Such is life when you reach the NBA’s mountaintop for a franchise that has never been there before.

But as Doncic started to look more and more like a modern-day Dirk Nowitzki these past three seasons — the kind of once-in-a-generation player who the Mavericks could build around for the next two decades — the landscape that surrounded Carlisle began to change. And Carlisle, quite clearly, decided to change along with it.

“You can’t win against the next Nowitzki,” one source said.

Doncic has a healthy relationship with the Mavericks organization at large. League sources say he angled to be drafted by the team in 2018, and he has been particularly complimentary of his relationship with Nowitzki, whose final season coincided with Doncic’s first. Those feelings could change if the team’s postseason struggles continue, as the Mavericks haven’t advanced past the first round since their 2011 championship run. It’s not that Doncic’s situation with the team is at a critical inflection point right now. Multiple team sources simply fear that it’s heading that direction.

Those concerns mostly center on Cuban and the decisions he makes regarding who he trusts and imbues with power. Sometimes, it’s examples like Voulgaris, a sports gambler with no league experience being given near total control of the team’s roster. Other times, it’s the relationships he doesn’t sever: The Mavericks’ front office has come to be known around the league for its long-existing power structure that, Voulgaris aside, has barely changed.

Doncic has provided the Mavericks a chance to return to prominence. He’s a generational star the team was fortunate to draft, seamlessly taking the mantle from the franchise player before him. But after beginning another offseason sooner than hoped for, the focus falls upon the organization around him: on how the dynamic that existed over the past seasons was allowed to operate in such a haphazard manner, and whether it can be fixed before it’s too late.

[dnowit41]

Luka Is in a League of His Own, for Better or Worse

By:Jonathan Tjarks

6/7/2021

Doncic nearly single-handedly took down the Clippers. But for the Mavericks to get much further, he’ll need to get others involved.

With 40 seconds left in the third quarter of Game 2 of the Mavericks’ first-round series against the Clippers, Luka Doncic pushed the ball up the court, looking for a two-for-one opportunity. So he pulled up from 3 feet behind the 3-point line and took a one-legged fadeaway across his body with Rajon Rondo draped over him:

The shot wasn’t necessarily impossible. It’s that Luka had the audacity to even attempt it in the first place. A two-for-one is essentially a free shot for the offense; JJ Redick called this one the “freest” shot he had ever seen.

Luka always plays with that kind of confidence. Some might call it arrogance. It didn’t matter that he was in the middle of a tight playoff series. He looked like he might as well have been putting up circus shots after practice. Only a player as accomplished as Luka would expect some of the shots that he takes to go in. Ask him about his early success in the NBA and his answer will always come back to how long he has been a pro. He signed his first contract with Real Madrid at 13, made their senior team at 16, was the best player in Europe at 18, and earned first-team All-NBA at 20. Doncic has succeeded his entire career. Until now.

The Clippers eliminated the Mavs in the first round of the playoffs for the second straight season with a 126-111 victory in Game 7 on Sunday. It was the first win for the home team in a wild series with dramatic swings of momentum. Luka was even better than he was last time around, when he made his grand debut on the playoff stage with an overtime buzzer-beater. His numbers don’t even seem real: 35.7 points on 49.0 percent shooting, 10.3 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game. There was nothing that Los Angeles could do to stop him for most of the series. He orchestrated the Dallas offense every time down the floor, almost always creating a high-percentage shot for himself or one of his teammates.

The incredible part is that there may not be a defense in the NBA better suited to guarding him. The Clippers have two elite perimeter defenders in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, as well as waves of long and switchable wings around them in Marcus Morris, Nicolas Batum, and Terance Mann. But it doesn’t matter how many good defenders are on the floor. Luka needs only one weak link to attack, regardless of position. He ran both smaller guards like Patrick Beverley and slower big men like Ivica Zubac off the floor.

Doncic is the closest thing we have seen to a prime LeBron James on offense. Both are supersized point guards who double as one of the best scorers and passers in the league. They use the pick-and-roll to play like seek-and-destroy submarines. They can always find the mismatch, as well as the open man once the defense sends help.

The difference comes in how they attack. Prime LeBron was one of the best athletes in NBA history, with an awe-inspiring combination of size, speed, and leaping ability. Luka makes up for what he lacks in those categories with incredible shotmaking and touch. He shot 57.0 percent from 2-point range over the last two seasons, the type of efficiency usually seen from big men who catch lobs at the rim, not guards who create most of their own offense.

Three things happened in the Clippers series that pushed him to an even higher level. The first actually began in the last week of the regular season, when the Mavs inserted Tim Hardaway Jr. into the starting lineup for Josh Richardson. The latter had been acquired to help their defense, but couldn’t space the floor for Luka, allowing defenses to overload against him. Doncic had a net rating of plus-0.3 with Richardson in the regular season and plus-8.9 without him. Replacing him with a shooter like Hardaway opened up the floodgates for the Dallas offense.

The second is that Luka got hot from deep. He has always been a good-but-not-great outside shooter, largely because of the difficulty of his attempts. But he shot 41 percent from 3 against the Clippers, a huge improvement on his mark (35.0 percent) from the regular season.

He also shot incredibly well from midrange, a weapon that he didn’t have in his game last season. Luka was 25-for-47 (53.2 percent) on shots between 10 and 19 feet from the rim against Los Angeles, compared to only 8-for-21 (38.1 percent) when he faced them in the bubble. He pulled up when bigger defenders sagged off him, and posted up smaller defenders at will. His ability to score from every area of the floor is why Zubac, who was surprisingly effective against him on switches last season, became unplayable this time around.

What Doncic did to the Clippers was the closest thing to a one-man offense you will ever see in the playoffs. He had the most total points either scored or assisted (77) in a Game 7, as well as the highest percentage of his team’s baskets (84) in any playoff game in Game 5. No. 2? LeBron (81 percent) in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against Golden State in 2015, when he was without Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love and nearly won a title single-handedly.

But there are downsides to being a one-man offense. Basketball is a zero-sum game. There are only so many points, rebounds, and assists to go around. The more Luka gets, the fewer there are for everyone else. He’s so good that he inevitably turns the players around him into bystanders. That was always LeBron’s issue, too. It never made sense for him to give up control of the offense, even for a moment.

There have been rumblings all season in Dallas about the strained relationship between Luka and Kristaps Porzingis. Mavs owner Mark Cuban even acknowledged them in an interview. Playing in such a Luka-centric offense can be difficult for a former All-Star like Porzingis. The initial idea when the Mavs traded for him was that he would be the 1B to Luka’s 1A. But Porzingis’s average time of possession was a sixth of Luka’s during the regular season. He became more like a fourth or fifth option because Luka was options 1, 2, and 3.

The counterpoint to his frustration is that Porzingis hasn’t been good enough to justify a bigger role in the offense. He has never seemed healthy after returning from offseason knee surgery, a decline that has been glaring on both ends of the floor. Taking the ball out of Luka’s hands to allow Porzingis to post up and isolate from the mid-post doesn’t make a ton of sense. But it’s also a vicious cycle. The more that Porzingis is used as a spot-up shooter, the less rhythm he has in the rare chances that he does get to create his own offense.

Basketball is a rhythm game. Most players need to touch the ball and be involved in the offense to feel comfortable. That becomes difficult when one player dribbles it into the ground on every possession. Talent isn’t the only reason that Luka is putting up historic individual numbers. He’s in a league of his own when it comes to dominating the ball in the playoffs.

NBA Advanced Stats has been tracking average time of possession going back to the 2013-14 season. The only two players to average more than 11 minutes per game in the playoffs are Luka in 2021 and Russell Wesbrook in 2017, his MVP season and first without Kevin Durant.

The dispute between Luka and Porzingis sounds similar to what happened multiple times with James Harden in Houston. Harden, like Luka, was a one-man offense who shattered NBA records in eight seasons with the Rockets. But the front office could never find a long-term costar. Everyone they brought in eventually asked out. Dwight Howard lasted three seasons. Chris Paul lasted two. Westbrook lasted one. There were valid reasons for each to be relegated in the offense, just like there are for Porzingis. Howard was too unskilled. Paul was slowing down. Westbrook was too inefficient. None were anywhere as good as Harden. But that didn’t make it any easier for them to take a back seat.

All three had spent their whole lives being the centerpieces of an offense. It’s hard to give that up, especially on a team that doesn’t win a title. Sacrifice has to be a two-way road. You have to give to get.

That’s what separates LeBron from everyone who has tried to follow his path. Playing with LeBron was almost a guarantee of a trip to the NBA Finals, if not a title; but prime LeBron could guard players at all five positions, protect the rim, and quarterback the defense. He was more than a one-man offense. He was a one-man team. All a front office had to do with LeBron was surround him with shooters to space the floor for him. Luka needs more versatile players around him who can both shoot and defend at a high level.

t goes back to the problem with Hardaway and Richardson. The Mavs acquired the latter in a draft-night deal for Seth Curry to improve their defense. It didn’t work out because Richardson shot only 33 percent from 3 as he struggled after contracting COVID-19 and lost confidence. But the need he was brought in to address was real. Dallas spent huge chunks of games 5, 6, and 7 playing zone defense in a doomed attempt to slow down the Clippers. They couldn’t guard them in man. The same problem would have reared its head if they had advanced to face the Jazz in the second round. Dallas needs someone who has Hardaway’s offense and Richardson’s defense in one package. But those players are few and far between in the league.

The more likely scenario is that the Mavs will bring most of their team back next season. They had been hoarding cap space for this summer to chase Giannis Antetokounmpo, and there’s not much of a Plan B available now that he signed an extension with the Bucks. Dallas might be better off re-signing Hardaway, a free agent who made himself a lot of money by averaging 17.0 points per game against the Clippers, rather than chasing an upgrade that isn’t there. The only other avenue to improve the team is trading Porzingis. But moving him will be difficult considering his lengthy contract, injury history, and struggles in Dallas.

They may have no choice but to try and make it work with Porzingis. Dallas has never been much of a free agent destination. There’s no guarantee that Luka will change that. He has to convince another star to want to play with him. And that means giving up some control of the offense.

It wouldn’t be easy for him. The best version of Luka, the one that looks like the best player in the world on many nights, is in charge of everything. It’s not even selfish of him to not want to give that up. He has good reason to trust what he has been doing. The Mavs had the no. 1 offensive rating of all time last season before that record was broken this season. And he just put together a historically great first-round series against the Clippers.

There’s still plenty more for Luka to accomplish as an individual. He hasn’t won an MVP award, which is typically given to the player who posts the most outrageous stats. Luka has been a pro for a long time, but he’s still fairly early in the life cycle of an NBA superstar. The typical pattern is that they come into the league with boundless confidence in themselves and learn to play a more team-oriented game over time. Even if they start on a superteam, like Kobe Bryant, they still need a period of their career when they do everything, so they can push their game to the limit and see what happens.

That’s where Luka is right now. These are his young and wild years when he takes on the world by himself. There are more mountains to climb, more stats to rack up, and more impossible shots to take. He’s not ready to take a step back. But the Mavs won’t move forward until he does.

[dnowit41]

‘He was just different’: Kobe Bryant stood out among the high school Class of ’96 By Etan Thomas

I was playing NBA 2K21 with my son Malcolm, and I was the all-time Los Angeles Lakers. My lineup was ridiculous. Shaquille O’Neal and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar down low, LeBron James at the 3. Kobe Bryant at the 2. And Magic Johnson at the point. Malcolm was running with the Milwaukee Bucks and abusing me with Giannis Antetokounmpo. But during the game, he said, “They make Kobe too good. I know he was nice, but dang.”

Then he asked, “He was your high school class, right? Class of ’96, so you played against him. Was he just nice like that his whole life?”

I told him Kobe was nice for a few reasons: He worked out harder than anyone I had ever seen in my life; his concentration and focus was on a whole different level even at a young age, he was a student of the game and he studied tape, and he wanted to play like Michael Jordan, so he copied and perfected all of his moves. He just had that Mamba mentality way before it became his mantra.

Even back in high school when we were coming up. I never played against him in high school, but others from our class did.

Tim Thomas was in our class. In high school, Thomas was actually ranked ahead of Kobe. He was bigger, stronger and could play every position on the floor. But Thomas soon found out Kobe was different.

“What sealed the deal for me was the McDonald’s All American game in ’96,” Thomas said. “His approach was completely different. In an all-star game, you’re gonna go hard, but you’re not gonna go as hard. So the practice is gonna be where you just wanna get the sets, and kind of go through it. They didn’t really want guys to get hurt. Just get in, get out. But Kobe was on 1,000. He wanted to show everyone that he was the best player in the class. We were going through the drills and everyone else is walking through it and he’s going full throttle, dunking the ball, boom, boom, boom. So we all kind of knew at that moment: This guy is different.”

He set the tone for the rest of the class that day.

“When the game started, everyone knew not to come out and treat it like another all-star game,” continued Thomas, who went on to play 13 seasons in the NBA. “If you don’t bring it, you may be embarrassed because at least one guy is definitely bringing it.”

Mike Bibby remembers that game, too. Bibby was one of the top guards in our high school class.

“You could tell his work ethic was second to none at that age,” Bibby recalled. “You could tell he was loaded with confidence. Going out there and knowing he was the best player on the court every time he stepped out there.

“You would’ve thought he was a pro back then.”

Bibby says watching Kobe back then was like watching a young MJ.

Bibby would go on to play 14 years in the NBA and had many memorable battles with Kobe’s Lakers. He said Kobe was the hardest worker he’s ever seen.

“To be on top of the game like he was and still work like he did, it’s something you don’t see even back then, even nowadays,” Bibby said. “You get a lot of guys who are at the top of their game and they kind of start coasting, taking it easy. I did it. I felt sometimes I could take the day off, but he never did that. … People were going out, he’s in the gym.

“His will to win was tough to match.”

Mateen Cleaves, also a member of the ’96 class who played in the aforementioned McDonald’s game, remembers that same mentality during an NBA preseason game.

“To understand the Mamba mentality, let me tell you this story,” said Cleaves, who won a national championship with Michigan State and played six seasons in the NBA. “I’m playing against Kobe in the league, and I was playing with another superstar player – I won’t say his name – that made a comment about Kobe being selfish. So we’re playing the Lakers in preseason. And you know, top players in preseason, it’s just to get a little sweat. Get up and down a little, find your rhythm. Kobe told this guy before the game, ‘I’m coming at you.’ And it’s preseason. So I’m sitting there like, ‘Uh-oh, this about to be good.’

“And I’m telling you, the first 10 plays, Kobe went at this guy so hard Phil Jackson had to take Kobe out, because he was going playoff speed, in preseason, just because a guy made a comment about him before the game. He was just different.”

When I entered the league in 2000, I finally witnessed firsthand what the Mamba mentality was all about.

Kobe and I had the same agent, Arn Tellem, at the time (this was before he made the switch to Rob Pelinka, but Rob was still one of the agents under Arn). I was sitting in Arn’s office in LA talking about plans to work out for the summer. Kobe had just finished signing about 100 basketballs, walked by and heard us talking.

He had been in the league for four years by then, and I wasn’t even officially a rookie yet. He told us about pickup games at UCLA and the sand dunes we should definitely do. Then he told us about his regimen in the offseason. He would go to sleep around 10 or 10:30, sleep for a few hours, get up and work out, go back to sleep around 4 a.m. for a few hours, get up around 7 a.m. and work out again. That way he could get extra workouts in throughout the day and didn’t have to waste time sleeping through the entire night. Honestly, at first I thought he was joking, but he was all the way serious.

When I told my son this story, he looked at me like it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. I have to admit, if I wasn’t there to hear it myself, I would’ve thought it was pretty far-fetched too, but that’s what Kobe said. And Pelinka backed his story and told me, “Yup, that’s his regimen in the offseason.”

I didn’t pick up his offseason program – I did not have the Mamba mentality to work out at 1 a.m. – but the message was received.

Kobe became what he became because of that mentality. That’s what pushed him to never be satisfied no matter how many awards and accolades he received. To always feel the need to prove himself. To outwork everyone no matter what the situation. To step up to every challenge no matter how big or small.

We had a super talented high school class, which also included Jermaine O’Neal, Shaheen Holloway, Richard Hamilton, Stephen Jackson, Jason Hart, Ed Cota, Kenyon Martin, I could keep going. But there’s only one Black Mamba, and it was an honor to have come out of the same high school class that produced Kobe Bryant.

Rest in peace, Kobe aka the Black Mamba.

[dnowit41]

The Rise of Luka Doncic Happened Faster than Anyone Predicted

Tim Macmahon

1/29/2021

THE BALL BOY, too young to tie his sneakers, made quite the impression on Goran Dragic.

The kid was the son of a veteran player on Geoplin Slovan, an Adriatic League first-division club where Dragic began his professional career. The boy, 5 years old when he first met Dragic, always had a basketball in his hands and put up shots any time a basket was open. Occasionally, he entertained the crowd with halftime dribbling exhibitions at midcourt.

"It's really hard to predict how the future would go," Dragic says more than a decade-and-a-half later. "But the one thing I could say is as a young kid, he already had a passion for basketball."

Luka Doncic soon grew out of ball-boy responsibilities and halftime entertainment.

It didn't surprise Dragic when he later heard that EuroLeague powerhouse Real Madrid recruited Doncic to join its academy at the age of 13. He was dominating the junior levels and making headlines in their native Slovenia.

"Everybody started talking about him," Dragic says. "At that age, we figured out that he was probably something special."

Dragic had no doubt after sharing the backcourt with Doncic during the 2017 EuroBasket tournament, where they led Slovenia to the nation's first title. Dragic earned the tournament MVP, but he was certain that Doncic was destined for stardom after the then-18-year-old stood out against NBA players, displaying a deep skill set and an uncanny combination of competitive fire and calm under pressure.

"He's going to be the best player in Europe in a couple of years, trust me on that. In the NBA, too," Dragic declared after the championship game.

"Mark my words, he's going to be one of the best in the whole world."

Dragic has been proved right. After all, Doncic became the youngest MVP in EuroLeague history after leading Real Madrid to Liga ACB and EuroLeague titles the next season. His honors after two seasons with the Dallas Mavericks include Rookie of the Year and first-team All-NBA selections, becoming the first player to accomplish that in his second season since Hall of Fame inductee Tim Duncan. At 21, Doncic entered his third NBA season as the odds-on MVP favorite.

Dragic's expectations are far from the only ones that Doncic has wildly exceeded. Doncic somehow managed to be both the most hyped international prospect in basketball history and drastically underestimated as he arrived in the sport's premier stage.

"I thought he was going to need some more time to develop and to figure out the NBA style and NBA game," Dragic says. "I knew that in four or five years, he would be one of the best players in the league. But, yeah, he demonstrated that I was wrong about that.

"It happened a lot faster."

WHEN JOSH RICHARDSON returned to Miami after training on the West Coast, he couldn't wait to talk about one of his workout partners.

"Yo, I just met this kid," Richardson recalls telling his friends. "He's going to be the first pick in the draft."

It was the summer of 2016 and Richardson, who was entering his rookie season with the Miami Heat, was training at P3's facility in Santa Barbara, California, working out under the watchful eyes of biomechanical experts in the morning and playing in world-class pickup runs in the afternoon.

In Spain, the buzz around Doncic was similar to the hype generated by Zion Williamson at Duke, according to Salah Mejri, who played for Real Madrid then and the Mavs when Doncic arrived in the NBA.

"When he played guys his age, he was killing them!" Mejri says. "We always checked his numbers."

But Richardson had never heard of the young Slovenian who was in the same weight room one morning. Doncic was fresh off his first full season with Real Madrid's top team and his agent, Bill Duffy, who also represents Richardson, suggested that both players train at the facility.

"No way," Richardson recalls thinking when someone told him that the broad-shouldered, 6-foot-6 guy was a 16-year-old kid. After watching Doncic display a smooth shooting stroke, precise footwork and rare handle for a player his size, Richardson was impressed.

Doncic wowed Richardson during pickup ball, hitting some step-back jumpers, flicking some pretty passes and setting the pace in a game that included established pros.

"He's got it. He's got it," Richardson recalls thinking to himself.

"I still think he should have been [the first pick]," adds Richardson, who is now Doncic's backcourt partner after a trade in the offseason.

"I knew that in four or five years, he would be one of the best players in the league. But, yeah, he demonstrated that I was wrong about that. It happened a lot faster."Heat guard Goran Dragic

Doncic went third overall in the 2018 NBA draft, when the Mavs made a deal with the Atlanta Hawks to move up two spots. Dallas always considered Doncic the best prospect in the class -- "far and away," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson says -- and the team's Europe-based scouts had been closely tracking Doncic since he joined Real Madrid's junior program.

Nelson first scouted him in person during Doncic's third professional game as a 15-year-old. He would time trips to Europe to see Real Madrid play lower-level teams, understanding that Doncic wouldn't play much against elite rivals at that age.

"Every time I would go see him, it was just another validation of how unique and special he is," says Nelson, who has long had an affinity for European prospects, dating to when he facilitated the arrival of Sarunas Marciulionis from Lithuania in 1989 to play for the Golden State Warriors team coached by his dad, Don.

Nelson was the first member of the Mavs' organization to identify a German wunderkind named Dirk Nowitzki as a lottery target and was convinced long before Doncic declared for the draft that the Slovenian teen could be a worthy successor.

"He was really hyping the kid up, which Donnie really never does," says Mike Procopio, the Mavs' former director of player development.

"Donnie Nelson was spot on this the whole time," Duffy says.

"I had this feeling and thought that [Doncic] could play point guard, that he was like a cross between Magic and Bird. That's the first thing I saw. He's a triple-double machine. I saw that, and then Donnie saw that. I just remember him saying, 'He's a point guard. He's like Magic.'

"You're damn right he is."

Nelson unsuccessfully lobbied for Dallas to draft Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2014, but he completely sold owner Mark Cuban in 2018. Doncic was the target as the Mavs tanked during the 2017-18 season. Commissioner Adam Silver fined Cuban $600,000 for "public statements detrimental to the NBA" after the billionaire blurted out on a podcast midway through the season that he told the team's veterans that "losing is our best option."

When Dallas, which had the third-best odds to win the lottery after a 24-58 season, ended up with the No. 5 pick, Nelson was crushed. "I was honestly devastated," Nelson says.

Doncic was never considered the consensus best player in a draft that saw Deandre Ayton go No. 1 to the Phoenix Suns and Marvin Bagley III go No. 2 to the Sacramento Kings. Some questioned whether Doncic had "maxed out," as Duffy put it, wondering if a player who was so polished could improve.

"I was glad every time he lost a foot race or didn't look very athletic, to be honest with you," Nelson says, cracking up with laughter. "I was cheering for him to screw up in the European championships [days before the draft].

"I just wanted him to drop!"

PLENTY OF PEOPLE around the NBA doubted whether Doncic, who had grown to a shade taller than 6-foot-7 and more than 230 pounds, could play point guard in the NBA. One talent evaluator for a team picking a little later in that lottery compared him to Hedo Turkoglu, a skilled forward with playmaking ability -- a good player but far from a superstar.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle admits that even he considered Doncic's NBA position to be "unclear" when he studied his European film. He knew Doncic had the savvy and vision to be a primary ball handler, but he wasn't sure a player that size could play point guard against the world's premier athletes.

"There's just a perception that players that are big and strong just aren't going to be able to do it, because how could they possibly be quick enough," Carlisle says. "But one of the things that you find out about Luka when you see him day to day is that he's not only strong, but he's quick and powerful and fast -- and deceptively so in all those areas."

It took about a day or two of watching Doncic play pickup ball at the Mavs' practice facility in the fall before his rookie season for Carlisle to be convinced.

"He was playing the point and he was seeing everything, he was making amazing passes look so simple," Carlisle says. "He was impacting every part of the game. He was getting a lot of rebounds. He was finding people on time, on target. It was clear that he could play point guard, let's put it that way."

There was one problem: That position was already manned by Dennis Smith Jr., the previous year's lottery pick and an All-Rookie selection the Mavs had proclaimed to be a foundation piece. Doncic began his NBA career officially listed as a forward and sharing facilitating duties with Smith, although Smith got a larger share of playmaking assignments because he struggled playing off the ball.

"I was glad every time he lost a foot race or didn't look very athletic, to be honest with you. I was cheering for him to screw up in the European championships. I just wanted him to drop!"Mavericks president Donnie Nelson

Doncic made his first start at point guard six weeks into the season, when Smith missed a game due to injury, and recorded 15 points and eight assists in a home win over the Boston Celtics. Doncic then averaged 19.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.8 assists during an 11-game stretch in December, when an injury sidelined Smith for all but one outing.

The Mavs soon came to the conclusion that they needed to move on from Smith to maximize Doncic's potential, which Nelson acknowledged he anticipated even before Doncic's arrival. Smith ended up being part of the package Dallas sent to the New York Knicks in the Kristaps Porzingis trade at the end of January 2019.

"In the first year, we were trying to figure things out," Nelson says. "How quickly do we put [Doncic] in that position? Things really opened up once we made that New York trade. ...

"He was born to be a quarterback."

DONCIC RAN AWAY with 2019 Rookie of the Year honors but made such a leap in his second season that he was a Most Improved Player finalist, averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game. The only players to stuff box scores with statistics that matched or exceeded Doncic's in those categories over the course of a season: Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson (four times) and Russell Westbrook during his MVP season in 2016-17.

Doncic was more productive during the playoffs (31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds, 8.7 assists), when the Mavs pushed the Clippers to six games despite losing Porzingis to a knee injury midway through the series.

"Once that ball was given to him, you could tell that it sort of shifted -- everything ran through him," says Procopio, who left the Mavs after Doncic's rookie year. "You could really tell that he could be an MVP-type player."

That is the standard now for Doncic, who turns 22 on Feb. 28. He'd be the youngest MVP winner in NBA history if he earns the honor this season.

"It's good and bad," said Doncic, whose conditioning was heavily scrutinized in the early weeks of the season after he came back from the short offseason carrying a few extra pounds. "A lot of people expect a lot from me. You have a lot of pressure, but on the other hand, people know I can do it."

Those high expectations also create a sense of urgency not typical for a team building around such a young superstar.

Dallas expedited its rebuilding process during Doncic's rookie season. The biggest step was acquiring a potential co-star in Porzingis. The Mavs also traded Harrison Barnes, the team's leading scorer the previous season, before that year's deadline in a move motivated by creating salary-cap flexibility. Dallas had planned to swing for another superstar next summer, a strategy that hit a roadblock when players scheduled to become free agents agreed to extensions with their current teams.

The Mavs have remained aggressive in pursuing complementary pieces around Doncic, such as the offseason trade of premier shooter Seth Curry for a stopper in Richardson, a move made because Dallas felt upgrading its defense was the only way to contend.

Despite the Mavs' rocky 8-10 start, the hype around Doncic has only gained momentum.

Any lingering doubts since his arrival as the most accomplished European teen in NBA history have been replaced by a sense of anticipation only a handful of players can command. And it happened much faster than many predicted.

"At any time," Carlisle says, "you can see something you've never seen before.

"I played with Bird. For three years straight, I watched, and that was the feeling when you watched him every single night. Magic Johnson was the same kind of player. Really, LeBron James is the same kind of player, too. These guys can do anything on a basketball court."

[dnowit41]

HOW LUKA DONCIC IS EVOLVING AS THE LEADER OF THE MAVS

JAN 18, 2021 ISAAC HARRIS

It was a somber day in early December when the table was set to say goodbye to a legend. It would be J.J. Barea’s final day as a player for the Dallas Mavericks.

Donnie Nelson spoke to the media and offered his bittersweet remarks about Barea’s career. J.J. took questions as it was an emotional day for everyone. In Rick Carlisle’s interview, I wanted to ask him one question.

Obviously, the day was all about Barea’s success story and career in Dallas. But at the same time, I also wondered about the young Mavericks team Barea was departing in the middle of training camp. A team that is made up of 15 players under the age of 30. With Barea’s departure, it left just James Johnson and Boban Marjanovic as the only over-30 players. On top of that, Barea was a franchise legend and beloved by everyone. He was a leader.

So the question I wanted to ask Carlisle was about that leadership baton. With Barea now departing, who gets it next? After I uttered that question to Carlisle, he responded pretty quick and in a firm manner.

“Luka Doncic is our leader,” Carlisle said. “There is no question about that.”

I had put too much weight into the age part of the conversation. In the back of my mind, like a lot of Mavs fans, the 2011 title team still feels like yesterday. This was a squad that started three guys over the age of 30 in the Finals with four more coming off the bench. It was a veteran-laden team from top to bottom. But what about a 2020 Dallas Mavericks team, that by age and experience, is built virtually the opposite of the 2011 group?

Can Luka Doncic, at the age of 21, be the leader of a playoff team in the NBA?

Absolutely—because age doesn’t make a leader.

“There are certain players who have a certain leadership personality,” Carlisle said.  “They have a charisma and magnetism. He [Luka Doncic] has that and that is no secret. Each year he becomes more and more that guy.”

When Doncic was acquired by Dallas in a draft night trade in 2018, the Mavs knew what they were getting: a European prodigy who was arguably the most decorated young European basketball player of all-time. Doncic went pro at the age of 13 at Real Madrid and over the course of his teenage years won the MVP of the Liga ACB, EuroLeague, and EuroLeague Final Four. It wasn’t just the highlights and stat lines that made Doncic stand out, it was also the fact that on a professional team with grown men, veterans such as Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez were deferring to the 18-year-old Doncic. And by following Doncic’s lead, Real Madrid found themselves hoisting several championship trophies in his last season in Europe.

Doncic then arrived in Dallas, a city and franchise that had been led for the past two decades by another European: Dirk Nowitzki. As Nowitzki was at the end of his career and the Mavericks still had long-standing veterans like Barea and Devin Harris, Doncic was just a teenaged rookie—no matter how accomplished he had been overseas. But Doncic, a natural leader, had respect for his new vets and didn’t want to step on any toes.

As Doncic tight-roped the rookie-role, once he was on the court, it was clear that he was a natural leader. In the first week of voluntary scrimmages and workouts he was handing out instructions and telling teammates where to go. But as his first few years in the league went on, the veterans on the team, prior to Doncic’s arrival, slowly departed. In the same week, the Mavs traded DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and Harrison Barnes. Nowitzki rode off into the sunset a few months later. Harris is working for Fox Sports Southwest and Barea is no longer on the team.

There was no doubt remaining. This is Luka Doncic’s team.

But it isn’t just because he’s the best player on the team. It isn’t like a quarterback situation in football. For a lot of NFL teams, whoever starts at quarterback is deemed a team captain by default. Some might think that for an NBA team that whoever the best player is on the team is naturally thrust into the top leadership role when that simply isn’t the case every time.

“There are instances where the best player is not a leader,” said a former scout for the Boston Celtics. “They either don’t have the characteristics of a leader, or they lead in different ways. Some players lead vocally and some are introverted and lead through example.”

The scout continued by using Paul Pierce as a prime example of that. “Pierce was clearly the team’s best player, but he was quiet for the most part and let his game and work ethic do his leading for him. Antoine Walker was an All-Star level player but not as talented as Pierce. He was the team’s backbone and heart. He did most of the talking and the players looked to him for leadership.”

Leadership is basically the process or method in which someone motivates or influences the behavior of others—but how that is done looks different for everyone. Leadership styles differ by the person. Some leaders like to direct, point and vocally coach people into reaching their fullest potential while some leaders tone it back vocally and lead by example. On a recent episode of The Old Man & the Three Podcast, Barea was talking about Dirk’s incredible 2011 run while also describing him as a leader to the team. “He doesn’t talk much,” Barea said. “If you know him, he leads by example. But he doesn’t lead by talking.”

That was Nowitzki’s style of leadership. His work ethic, hours in the gym, and play on the biggest of stages earned him the respect in the locker room. In a way, the leadership path has already been paved in Dallas for Doncic. And in the first few years of his young career, he is doing exactly that.

“He’s an MVP candidate and is a born leader on the floor as you can see,” says a former assistant coach. “He’s not one of those guys it seems that will be on everyone all day every day, but once he’s on the floor it’s a completely different story.”

Doncic set the records and served up magical highlights. He dished out fun passes and put-up stat lines as a rookie that put him with some of the greats. His play on the court earned him the respect, but it was the fun, carefree style and charisma that opened up a lane of leadership that loosened up the mood for everyone.

“He is the type of guy who leads by his play,” Willie Cauley-Stein said. “And when he does, it is fun. He’s a kid. He has fun with the game and you can tell. The way he crafts and approaches the game is fun.”

Nobody likes the uptight, all-serious boss, the one you dread seeing every Monday morning and Chick-Fil-A being open on Sunday is more likely to happen than seeing a smile on their face. That type of leadership isn’t motivating to a lot of people. But Luka is the opposite of that. When you have a leader that breaks the ice, it enables the people around them to fully spread their wings.

“For him, I think he leads by making everything fun instead of so serious all of the time…Luka is always coming in with something to lighten the mood,” Cauley-Stein continued.

When talking to Kristaps Porzingis about Luka as a leader, he too pointed not just to his leading on the court, but how that care-free mentality is a way of leadership. “It comes natural to him because he is capable of doing great things on the court,” Porzingis said. “He is leading by playing great basketball. He has that I-don’t-care mentality when he needs to. I mean that in a good way. He is not afraid of the big moments. He can be careless and that is why he can play so freely. That is just Luka.”

There is never a moment too big for Luka. His basketball knowledge is off the charts and he already has a LeBron-like ability to maximize everyone’s strengths around him on the basketball court. When he was given the Matador nickname early on in his career from former assistant coach, Mike Procopio, it wasn’t because of the Spanish background, but because of the control he has on the court and the entertaining show he puts on for the crowd. Luka has a gravitational force about him that not only draws in the crowd and fans, but teammates too. “Luka is in control from tip to final buzzer and his teammates know it,” one former assistant told me. “He reminds me of Tom Brady to be honest. Someone that was born to lead an organization and has the generational type talent to back it up… he’s a fantastic kid that people gravitate to. He’s great with teammates, coaches, fans. It’s easy to see how all of Europe loved the kid…well besides the fans of the teams he destroyed in the ACB & EuroLeague.”

Doncic is a leader, but he’s an evolving leader in my opinion. When you talk to anyone around the team about Doncic as a leader, you will naturally hear about him leading by example. After losing to the Hornets at home earlier in the season, Doncic didn’t go immediately to the ice bath nor did he leave the arena. He stayed on the court after the game getting up shots with assistant coaches for more than 30 minutes. This is what leaders do. When the team and head coach preached about defense to start the season, it is Doncic that has set the tone defensively (Carlisle’s words, not mine) for what is now a top five defense in the NBA over the first few weeks. That is what leaders do.

Doncic leads by example, but where he has evolved is in his leadership when the ball isn’t in his hands. Luka the leader looked different as a rookie. The majority of his leadership came from the play on the basketball court. But as the past year or so has gone along, Luka the leader of men has evolved.

“He has grown with his chemistry with the guys,” Brunson said. “He has been able to connect with everybody. Guys feed off his energy. That is our go-to guy. He has definitely evolved [as a leader]. There is obviously a lot on his shoulders at the age of 21 and we have to be there to protect him and help him every step of the way.”

When the Mavs went to Orlando for the bubble experience last fall, the only access to the team for fans across the world was what social media provided. Pictures and videos of the team fishing, swimming, playing pickleball and plenty of other activities circulated on social media. The Mavs became the source for fun content and the team’s chemistry was off the charts. So, who was getting the team together for all of that?

“When you got your leader in Luka, and Luka’s a guy that he loves his teammates and he’s always texting ‘hey let’s do this, let’s play cards, let’s go to the pool, let’s go fishing,” Barea said. “It’s all about the team and about having fun.”

When the Mavs were up at pick 31 in the 2020 NBA draft and selected Tyrell Terry out of Stanford in the second round, who was the first Maverick to reach out to him a short time after?

Luka Doncic.

Going back to Barea, there was more to the quote. In describing Dirk’s leadership, he said, “He doesn’t talk much. If you know him, he leads by example. But he doesn’t lead by talking.”

The second half of that quote was this.

“But that year [2011], in timeouts and before the games, he was talking. He was talking loud, pointing fingers. He was on all the time.” Barea said.

Nowitzki evolved as a leader. He picked his spots to be more hands-on and vocal. James Johnson, who has only been with the Mavericks a few short months, had this to say about Doncic as the leader of the team.

“Emerging,” Johnson said. “He is definitely emerging, if not already, as the leader of our team. He is still building and letting his game do the speaking and yet still being able to voice his own opinion in practice.”

It’s that balance that Luka is now discovering in his third season. Dirk paved his own leadership path with the Mavs for over two decades, but Luka isn’t Dirk and that is OK. He is paving his own leadership path and it’s one that brings the best out of his teammates. It maximizes their strengths and inspires them to be better. It allows everyone to have fun and brings the team together both on and off the court.

Luka isn’t Dirk or anyone else. He is Luka Doncic and the leader of the Dallas Mavericks.

[dnowit41]

LIVE FROM THE WORLD: LUKA DONCIC’S GLOBAL RISE

BY FRANKLYN CALLE 

“His feet [are] slower than rush hour traffic. Really slow feet…When I look at him on tape, he struggles with quick defenders. Guys getting in his pocket, getting after him… So, his NBA comparison is Hedo Turkoglu.”

“That’s my takeaway—He doesn’t pop athletically.”

“I mean, he’s better than Ricky Rubio but he doesn’t look special to me.”

“Doncic, at 6-7, will get exposed for all of the inadequacies that Dirk had. Dirk is not a great athlete. Dirk doesn’t have explosiveness. Dirk isn’t physical. That’s what is going to happen to Doncic…I’m not saying Luka is setting the NBA world on fire—I’m not sure he’s going to be a dominating NBA player.”

“The athleticism, that’s a problem. The lack of athleticism.”

“I believe Luka should go to a good team. I don’t believe he’s a lottery pick. No, I don’t. I think he falls right outside the lottery.”

“I don’t give a damn about how this kid in Europe looked.”

“We tend to over-sensationalize European basketball. There [are] restrictions that cater to him. You can’t have nine Americans on the floor in Europe. There’s going to be nine bred Americans on the floor with you 95 percent of the time in the NBA. That changes the dynamics of the game.”

—

These weren’t from randoms on Twitter purposely throwing out hot takes for some retweets and follows. These were hoops analysts on ESPN and FS1 talk shows (which, on second thought, sometimes spiel absurd hot takes for the same reasons as the Twitter randoms) giving their thoughts on Luka Doncic’s potential in the lead up to the 2018 NBA Draft. We’re not here to judge or air any of them out, so purposely not attaching any names to these. But you’ve probably seen some of these clips on your own social feeds or on YouTube already. Even Damian Lillard quote-tweeted an 80-second video compilation with some of these very same soundbites the morning after the Mavs star dropped a monster triple-double during last summer’s (still super strange saying that) playoffs. Dame’s caption was simply an “Lol”—which perfectly sums it all up in hindsight.

Doncic had proven himself overseas—going pro at age 13 (he left Slovenia by himself and relocated to Spain to play for Real Madrid—his mom didn’t join him there until three years later), winning MVP of the Liga ACB, EuroLeague and EuroLeague Final Four at 19 years old. The accolades actually made him the youngest MVP in the EuroLeague’s history.  

But a lot of fans (and media, seemingly) in the States had increasingly grown skeptical of highly-touted international prospects after many had not lived up to expectations upon their arrival to the Association. For the sake of consistency, they shall remain nameless here too. There’s that dude from Eastern Europe that got drafted really high in the 2003 NBA Draft by that team that had just played in the Eastern Conference Finals a month earlier. Or that other guy in the previous draft class that went really high too but was never able to make it work in the Mile-High City. Or even three years prior to that when the Knicks drafted a player in the teens that ultimately never saw a single minute of action in the League. There are plenty of posts online attempting to rank which international players were the most disappointing.

Hey, it’s the NBA. It’s not supposed to be easy or for everybody. There’s a reason why the average NBA career length is barely four years. It doesn’t make any of the guys that weren’t able to take off in the Association are any less as hoopers. Luck, timing, fit, politics—whatever the case is, it doesn’t work out more often than it does. Nevermind the complexities in scouting and the challenges of evaluating players competing in leagues of various talent levels.

Nonetheless, it happened. And will continue to. Can’t-miss prospects will miss when they finally get there. And many of those that were overlooked, underrecruited and slighted on social media (and on TV) will turn heads.

It didn’t take long for the very same TV analysts to change their tune about Luka. Like, literally just a few games into his career. And now only two seasons in, the 6-7 Slovenian guard has accumulated a ridiculous amount of shattered records. Forget the two regular seasons worth of games (which include records like surpassing Michael Jordan for the most consecutive 20-5-5 performances since the ABA/NBA merger), just the very first playoff series of his career alone is enough to justify everything you hear about him. The six-game series against the L.A. Clippers dissipated any lingering doubts.  

Game 1: 42 points—most points in a playoff debut by any player in NBA history, first 21-year-old to drop 40+ in a playoff game since LeBron James, fourth player to do it in general (after Magic Johnson, Tracy McGrady and James).

Game 2: 28 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists—most points (70) by a player through his first two career playoff games in NBA history.

Game 3: first player in Mavericks history to record a triple-double in the playoffs, third youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double in the playoffs after Magic and LeBron.

Game 4: a gazillion records. So much that Mavs PR Twitter had to create a Twitter thread just to be able to list them all. And even then, there were others they missed. Media members soon chimed in with the additional data.

His 43-point, 17-rebound and 13-assist stat line, which included a buzzer-beater to tie the series at 2-2, made him: the youngest ever to record a 40-point triple-double in the playoffs, the youngest to ever hit a playoff buzzer-beater, the only player aside from Wilt Chamberlain to finish with 43+ points, 17+ rebounds and 13+ assists in a game, the only player aside from Jordan to put up a 40-piece to go with a buzzer-beater while trailing, the third ever 40-15-10 performance in the playoffs after Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley, second ever 21-year-old to record a 30-point triple-double in the playoffs, the third player ever after Magic and LeBron to have multiple playoff triple-doubles by the age or 21. The list went on and on, but you get the point.  

Although the Mavs went on to lose in six games, they still managed to come away as the real winners in the grand scheme of things—in front of the whole world, they confirmed they had THE one.

In the aftermath of Game 4 and in the weeks that followed, players across the League reacted to Luka’s insane performances. Props were given by the biggest names around.

Even before Luka played a single game in the NBA, back-to-back reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo saw all of this coming from a mile away. In the summer of 2018, the Greek Freak, speaking with Marca, a local newspaper in Madrid, showed that he was better equipped than anyone else to evaluate Luka’s NBA potential as an international player himself.

“He is the most exciting player that has appeared in basketball in recent years. This past year in Europe he has won every competition he has played. EuroBasket, EuroLeague, Liga Endesa. He has been MVP of the EuroLeague, of the Final Four,” said Antetokounmpo. “He has shown that he is more than ready to play, that he has matured faster than the rest. He has played against professionals, as Charles Barkley said. The other rookies played against schoolboys.

“People in the United States sometimes forget that in the EuroLeague they play very well and very hard, more than in the NCAA. You have to be very good to stand out in the EuroLeague, and Luka is. Doncic has a lot of talent. He will have a great first year and, if it is not in the second, he will explode in the third.”

Looks like that explosion may have happened in the second year after all. Unless, of course, that wasn’t the explosion Giannis was talking about. There’s a chance we’re about to witness a whole other level that Luka could tap into. It’s worth noting, as of mid-December, he is the betting favorite to win MVP, according to Caesars Sportsbook with a +400. Defending MVP Giannis is right behind him at +450.

Giannis isn’t the only MVP who’s had high praise for the former Real Madrid star. The King himself, while appearing on Uninterrupted’s Road Trippin’ in early December, made it known that at one point he had intentions of starting a subset of his brand with Luka as the centerpiece.

“I wanted to begin Team LeBron and have Luka as my first signing with Nike,” said LeBron. “I don’t even know if Luka knows this, but he will know it now. I wanted Luka to be the first signing of Team LeBron when he was going through his situation…That’s how much I believed in him.”

In July, Paul Pierce went as far as to suggest that there’s already been a passing of the crown.

“You talk about a kid who made one of the biggest leaps in recent memory from a Rookie of the Year to MVP-caliber player,” said the Celtics legend. “He has won at every European championship that you can think of, every European MVP that you can think of. So, I expect special things from this kid. Clearly, he’s special. He’s a talent. To me, he is the most talented player in the NBA today. The lights are never too bright for him.”

The amount of individual records he’s been able to set and break are so many that his Wikipedia page has an “achievements” section specifically dedicated to that, where people have been able to create a list with 43 different bullet points detailing where his performances have landed him in the history books. Forty-three. Two years in.

“I just feel confident. I know I have the confidence of my teammates and my team, so I just feel confident [in] myself and I love taking those shots. I get motivated. I have to make the last shot,” Luka told Rachel Nichols in a sit-down interview in 2019. When he sat down with her again in 2020, he added: “Pressure was in my life when I was 13, when I had to move from Slovenia alone to Madrid. I live with pressure every day, so I just don’t feel it anymore.”

[dnowit41]

Meet the Gen Z Dallas Mavericks

Dallas is pairing Kristaps Porzingis with the reigning Rookie of the Year, Luka Doncic, in hopes that a young core will return the Mavericks to the glory days of Dirk Nowitzki and NBA title contention

By Kevin O'Connor

“Drinking early this weekend?” That’s what my Uber driver asked as she dropped me off at Community Beer Company in Dallas on a Friday morning in October. I had to explain myself: No beer would be consumed by me. It just so happens that you have to walk through a brewery entrance to get to the Dallas Mavericks practice facility, where I had some meetings that day. She laughed and said, “The Mavs? Oh. My son loves Luka.” As I would soon find out, so does everyone in Dallas, from the fans drinking beer inside the taproom to the employees working down the hallway at the Mavericks headquarters.

“We are as excited as we were 20 years ago. The hope is that over time this builds into a 2011-type run,” Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said from his office. A big American flag hangs behind his desk, but when it comes to looking for good players in far-off places, the Mavericks are well traveled. Today, it’s Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis; 20 years ago, it was Dirk Nowitzki, then a 21-year-old German entering his second NBA season. Dirk’s emergence in the 1999-00 season injected hope into a franchise with the NBA’s second-worst record in the 1990s. Since that year, the Mavs have the second-best record, have made many deep playoff runs, and in 2011, finally won a title.

Now, Dallas is following a blueprint similar to the one it followed with Dirk and Steve Nash at the turn of the century, or Dirk and Jason Kidd from 2007 through 2012. Doncic and Porzingis alone give the Mavs a shot to be good now, and someday, a chance to be special. If you’re looking for the next young team to enter the championship chase, look no further than the Mavericks.

Dirk’s jersey no longer hangs in the locker room, but soon it will hang in the rafters. Throughout his influential 21-year career, Nowitzki helped shape the league by making it cool for tall guys to shoot 3s, and changed the perception that international players would wilt in the face of the NBA’s physicality. It’s appropriate the baton was handed to a pair of European stars in Doncic, born in Slovenia, and Porzingis, who hails from Latvia.

Expectations are high in Dallas, but before Nowitzki won a championship, the Mavs went through heartbreaker after heartbreaker. Doncic and Porzingis “haven’t been through that, yet the light shines white-hot on the both of them,” Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle said at the team’s 2019-20 media day. “We got to help them navigate through all that. It’s a challenging thing. It takes love. It takes understanding. It takes empathy.”

No, Carlisle has not been body-snatched by a self-care guru, he’s just adapting to a new generation of players. “Rick is a lot more touchy-feely … just a lot lower key,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told me. “He’s always demanding and detail oriented, but Rick is smart. He recognizes where the Mavs are in our life cycle. We’re the Gen Z Mavs.”

Dallas’s core is young, so patience is required. Doncic is only 20 and entering his second season. Porzingis is 24 and the last time he played competitive basketball, LeBron James was a Cavalier and Kawhi Leonard was a Spur. Porzingis returns to the court this season following time away from the game. Porzingis was traded from the Knicks to the Mavericks in January. In March, a woman reported to the New York Police Department that Porzingis raped her in February 2018. The department’s Special Victims Division is investigating the case, and Porzingis has not been charged with a crime. The player’s legal representative has said the account is untrue and is part of an extortion attempt that, according to the lawyer, was being investigated by the FBI. In late March, Cuban told the New York Post, “We have been instructed by federal authorities not to comment.” Since then there has been no public comment by Porzingis or Mavericks officials on the matter.

The Mavs aren’t ready to compete against the pair of teams in Los Angeles (headlined, respectively, by LeBron and Kawhi), but they feel they’re at least ready to speak up in the Western Conference playoff conversation. Dallas has paired a 6-foot-7 playmaking savant who averaged 21-8-6 as a rookie with a 7-foot-3 shot blocker who can launch 3s from anywhere and averaged 23 points when he was last healthy. And the roster is deep and full of versatile bigs who can shoot 3s, switchable wings, and guards of different styles. “It’s a step-by-step process,” Nelson said. “We know what we’re up against in the West, but we’re all internally hoping for the playoffs.”

A collegiate vibe surrounds the Mavs. You can feel it after practices when Luka and Porzingis compete in laughter-filled shoot-outs against Dwight Powell and Justin Jackson. You can feel it with every word Boban Marjanovic speaks. It’s on sports radio and message boards. It’s on billboards plastered to the sides of freeways and high on buildings. In downtown Dallas, there’s a massive image of Doncic with spotlights shining from the top and bottom that keep him visible at all hours. At the top, it reads “HALLELUKA!” The Mavs themselves have a heartwarming affection for Doncic, too. After all, he’s been their basketball crush for many years now.

Nelson described scouting Luka as “love at first sight,” just like when he first saw Dirk at the Nike Hoop Summit in 1998. Cuban said the Mavericks knew two years before picking Doncic that they wanted him, but the only question was whether they’d ever be in a position to get him. So the Mavs tanked the 2017-18 season and Cuban got fined $600,000 after publicly admitting losing was their best option. “We worked hard to try and put ourselves in position,” Cuban said. “It was expensive for me.” After the lottery, Dallas was left with the fifth pick. They were crushed. Nelson never thought there’d be a way to trade up for Doncic. But they eventually did, by sending the fifth pick (Trae Young) and a future first (which would eventually become Duke forward Cam Reddish) to Atlanta. “When we were knocked down a couple spots in the lottery, I was absolutely sick,” Nelson said. “No disrespect to anyone else, it’s not that we wouldn’t have been happy, but guys that are 6-foot-7 with those skills are special.”

The Mavericks sacrificed to land Doncic because of the player he can become. “What’s Luka’s gift?” Nelson asked me. I said playmaking. “That’s why we’re so excited about him,” he continued. “The ability to make his teammates better is not only his greatest strength but also where he gets his greatest joy.” Nelson said Doncic has DNA like Kidd or Magic Johnson because of his blend of vision and mind-set. Doncic is a transcendent playmaker who manipulates defenders with his eyes and body, and then delivers passes in every direction all over the court with precision. There’s a Larry Bird–like quality to him: He’s not overly athletic, but his passing skills and instincts are already elite and could someday reach an all-time level.

Having a target like Porzingis can help Doncic reach his potential. Doncic will serve as the primary shot creator, and Porzingis as the finisher who stabilizes the defense. “They complement each other,” Carlisle said at media day. “Both of these guys can create problems on their own. When you get them together, we feel like they can create even bigger problems for opponents.”

Those problems will be created using the pick-and-roll: Carlisle’s offenses regularly rank near the top of the league in pick-and-roll frequency. Last season, Doncic was throwing lobs to Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber—both high-level finishers on the roll—and now KP can join in. Porzingis will be a major alley-oop threat whether he’s finishing with loud slams or with volleyball touch tap-ins.

Doncic puts passes where only his intended target can get it. Notice above how Doncic floats the ball, giving Porzingis time to elevate for the finish. In the past, Porzingis might not finish here. But during his time away he added 16 pounds of muscle, according to Mavs director of athletic performance Jeremy Holsopple, which should help him absorb bumps like the one here to score through contact.

Of course, Porzingis’s bread and butter is, and will always be, his jumper. Ever since he was a teenager playing for Sevilla, he’s been an effective shooter off movement, not just from a standstill. In the NBA, he’s hit a career 37.2 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s, and his 80.4 percent from the line is a positive indicator for his jumper. So far in the preseason, KP is clearly shaking off nearly two years of rust, but at least he’s receiving open looks.

All three of Porzingis’s 3s clank off the rim in the clips above, but who cares? He’s open, and Doncic’s passes are mouthwatering. There’s a behind-the-back pass, an over-the-head pass, and a leaning dart pass, all straight into Porzingis’s shot pocket. If there’s any doubt about KP’s shooting ability, watch this after-timeout play that Carlisle called:

Porzingis has notoriously gotten off to fast starts, and then seen his production fade fast through his first three NBA seasons because of fatigue and nagging injuries, particularly to his left leg. Playing with Doncic should help maintain his scoring efficiency with easier looks and simply less responsibility. “No disrespect to the Knicks, but KP hasn’t had a real point guard,” Cuban said. Porzingis’s three best point guards in New York were arguably Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack, and Derrick Rose. Oof. What an upgrade in Dallas.

Doncic’s rookie year in Dallas was smoother than Porzingis’s time in New York. Porzingis got booed on draft night as an unknown to many Knicks fans fed up with a franchise that hadn’t won for decades. While with the Knicks, he had to deal with James Dolan, Phil Jackson, four different head coaches, and a deteriorating hero-ball aficionado in Carmelo Anthony. Meanwhile, Doncic has been the golden boy ever since he signed his first professional contract with Real Madrid at just 13 years old. He had the benefit of being drafted to an organization with stability and continuity, and a living legend in Dirk ready to teach him the Force.

Doncic has long been the knight in shining armor. The comparisons to Bird or Magic or Kidd don’t really affect him. “I had pressure since I was 15, so I don’t care about pressure,” he told me after a practice. It shows on the court: Doncic posted an effective field goal percentage of 56 percent in clutch situations, which ranks seventh best in the NBA for players to attempt at least 25 shots in the final three minutes. Doncic makes his team better not just with his passing, but his timely scoring.

He can attack the rim and unleash nifty floaters and layups, or pull up or step back like in the clips above. Doncic shot 31.3 percent on 380 dribble-jumper 3s last season—only James Harden, Kemba Walker, and Damian Lillard attempted more—but should develop into a better shooter. Carlisle said that Doncic worked hard on his shot this summer. When I asked Doncic about what he did, he said it was mostly about consistency, though one tweak was made to his form: Last season, he flared his right hand away from his body as he’d release the ball. So he worked on having his fingers follow through and down to create a straighter release that led to even better results. Doncic shot 37.4 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s and a surprisingly low 71.3 percent from the line.

Better mechanics should help, too. So should improved conditioning. This summer he got a dietician and a chef, and according to Cuban, “his girlfriend was on him about it.” Doncic has more muscle definition now; cutting pasta from his diet every day seemed to have helped. In the same way that Doncic’s presence will take pressure off KP, the inverse is true. Luka won’t need to always create shots now that he has Porzingis.

Shot creation wasn’t KP’s forte before entering the league, but he’s gotten much better. In the clip above, he used a tight crossover to create space against Andre Drummond. Porzingis says he works to perfect one- and two-dribble pull-ups, and any improvement since the last time we saw him would raise his ceiling. Porzingis was once dubbed a “unicorn,” but bigs with perimeter skills are common today; the differentiator at the position is the ability to generate shots off the dribble.

The post still has value though, especially as a playmaking hub. The Mavs will run a lot of pick-and-roll, which will naturally lead to a lot of defenses switching screens. Mismatches will occur when putting a bigger, slower dude on Luka. There’s no question Luka can roast them, but Kristaps will need to beat the smaller guys, too. For years, Nowitzki made defenses pay with moves to the rim or shots over the top with his one-legged fadeaway.

KP has gotten better on the post, but opponents still succeeded when putting smaller players on him to start possessions. I asked Porzingis whether he’s dedicated time to improving the post. “Earlier in my career, smaller guys like Marcus Smart would get me off balance,” Porzingis said. “But now I feel comfortable playing against a smaller guy. A lot of times what works is a quick move with one bump or just turn into his face and shoot over him. I’ve gotten a lot better at reading those situations. It’s a lot of film study, but also just playing, knowing how to play against a smaller guy instead of a bigger guy.”

Porzingis hasn’t had a possession on a smaller player yet, but the importance of his post potency was on display against Blake Griffin.

It’s late in the clock, so the Pistons doubled but Porzingis immediately recognized there was enough time to kick the ball out to Doncic. If KP is a post threat worthy of attention, the Mavs will be significantly more difficult to defend in the half court since they’ll be able to pick the best matchup available to attack.

Doncic spots up from outer space in the last clip, just like Porzingis was in prior attempts above. That’s all by design, as Cuban explained to me. “See these blue lines?” Cuban asked. He was pointing at the two lines behind the traditional 23.75-foot 3-point arc: one 28 feet from the rim, and another two feet further back. Here’s what they look like:

There are also four blue squares, two at the wings and two in the corners. These are meant to signify where they want their players spacing the floor as part of their five-out offensive lineups. “Seven years ago, we tried to show Dirk and Vince [Carter] that they shot better two feet behind the line than they did on the line because nobody was guarding them,” Cuban said. “Now we’re forcing guys to do it. And we actually track all of it, both guarded and unguarded. If you’re shooting back at 30 feet, all the space that’s created, you can’t guard all the way out there. Even if it’s Boban.”

Yes. Even Boban Marjanovic, the star of John Wick 3, will shoot 3s. At media day, Boban was asked about the idea of him launching from downtown and said, “When I hear that news, I was like ‘Yeahhhhhhhh.’ Maybe I’m the best shooter. You never know.” The Mavs tried the second-highest share of 3s last season with 42.2 percent of their shots coming from beyond the arc. The number should rise for a seventh consecutive year. “We’ll be a better shooting team. We’ll be a better spacing team,” Cuban said. “While some people were asking, ‘Can they compete for playoffs?” I’m like, ‘If we stay healthy, we’ll do more than just compete for a playoff spot.’”

Cuban might be too high on his own team, but Dallas has two rising stars, plays an analytics-happy style, and one of the absolute best Xs and Os coaches in the league. They also have the personnel to play different styles. They can utilize jumbo-sized lineups with a KP–Kleber frontcourt, Dorian Finney-Smith at wing, and two jumbo guards in Delon Wright and Luka. Or they can go small with Powell at the 5, Finney-Smith, Doncic, and two guards in Seth Curry and Jalen Brunson. Dallas can match up against any team, and maybe even dictate matchups.

Maybe Dallas doesn’t have the role players of a Raptors or Clippers, but if the Mavs can improve this season, don’t be surprised if “Brunson” or “Kleber” gain some notoriety around the league. Nelson went as far to say he would “love for this to be the core moving forward,” which is exactly what he should say to a media member. But the Mavs did sign most of these players to contracts through the 2022-23 season. They are enamored of their current group.

One obvious thing these players share: the ability to shoot. “In the old days, if a big couldn’t shoot it, it was like, ‘Okay, at least he’s a great defender, and this and that,’” Nelson said. “Now you have to look real hard at guys that can’t shoot, and it’s almost to the point where those guys are almost not draftable.”

Dallas’s roster largely reflects Nelson’s comment. Gone are the days of Tyson Chandler throwing down lobs but unable to space the floor. Now, Powell and Kleber are emblematic of the changing nature of the position. “We have a great mix. Luka and KP are two amazing talents that can create different scenarios for us on offense,” Kleber said. “But obviously we can help them.” How exactly? Kleber can shoot 3s and roll to the rim, and on defense, he’s both an excellent shot blocker and perimeter defender. Defensive versatility is vital since Porzingis will stay closer to the rim, and Doncic is best served hiding against inferior threats.

Kleber will share minutes with Powell, who Porzingis told me is “an animal.” Powell isn’t as productive as a shooter or defender but he is one of the league’s best lob threats: He made 78.6 percent of his shots on rolls to the rim, per Synergy. If Powell and Kleber could do a fusion dance to combine their best traits, Dallas would have the perfect frontcourt partner for Porzingis. Both players are signed through 2022-23 for a combined $19.4 million annually. What a bargain.

Dallas could do better at wing. Dorian Finney-Smith and Justin Jackson are versatile, switchable defenders, but they aren’t consistent shooters. They will have to have hot shooting seasons for the Mavs to excel against top defenses, otherwise opponents will help off of the both of them. Dallas acquired shooting elsewhere though. Tim Hardaway Jr. is the inverse of Finney-Smith and Jackson as a limited defender but a microwave scorer. If he buys into his complementary role, he could end up being another player who takes shot creation pressure off of Doncic. Dallas actually has plenty of options in that department, though.

“When you have a 6-foot-7 ball handler, you can mix and match,” Nelson said. “You can go switchable or stretchable, so it depends on the emphasis, it depends on the opponent, it depends on how Rick wants to attack.” Last year, the Mavs drafted Brunson, a gritty, unselfish guard with savvy playmaking skill. This summer, Delon Wright and Seth Curry were added. Wright will start next to Doncic; he said after a practice that Carlisle wants him defending the opposing guards, but at 6-foot-5 and 183 pounds with long arms, he’s one of the most versatile defenders in the league. Then there’s Curry, an elite shooter who can serve as a spark plug off the bench.

“We have an opportunity to be very good. We have a lot of great talent,” Brunson said. “Luka and KP have a lot on their shoulders, but everyone else will have to step up and help those guys out.” For all he can do, it’s not ideal for Doncic to be the team’s sole source of shot creation. After the trade deadline, Doncic averaged 97.1 touches per game. That’s more than Russell Westbrook, Nikola Jokic, and LeBron James. It was more than everyone—as a rookie! Many primary ball handlers, such as Westbrook, aren’t as effective off the ball. So it becomes necessary to keep the ball in their hands. That’s not the case with Doncic, so Nelson constructed a roster with multiple ball handlers to take the burden off Doncic, minimize any wear and tear, and allow Carlisle to get creative.

Doncic could be used as a screener, he could take pick-and-pop for 3s and attack off the dribble, or he could even roll to the rim to make use of his greatest gift: playmaking. Nelson said in the long term, he sees a world in which Doncic is used more like the Warriors use Draymond Green. Makes sense. Luka is large, smart, and can pick apart defenses with the pass. I asked Doncic about whether this role would work for him and he smiled as he said, “You gotta ask coach. He makes decisions.” The better person to ask is Nelson since he configures the roster, and the proper personnel is required to make that vision a reality.

What Dallas needs is the Splash Brothers—just one would suffice. Maybe even a distant cousin. But Dallas doesn’t have anyone who can even approach the floor-stretching brilliance of Steph Curry or Klay Thompson. Maybe Carlisle will experiment by utilizing Steph’s brother. Dallas’s next big acquisition should be a perimeter-oriented player who can unlock a new dimension of Doncic.

Nelson said the goal this year is to make the playoffs, then draft a player in 2020 and take the next step on the court, and then add more talent in 2021 when they could create tens of millions of cap space. “It’s a good draft in 2020, and then we have [free agency] the following year, so I think you can see a nice little … ” Nelson said as his voice trailed off and he gestured with his hands as if he were building steps.

The Mavericks sent their 2021 and 2023 firsts to the Knicks for Porzingis, but they still own their firsts in every other year. The 2020 draft is rich with talent, and then they could create max cap space in 2021 to pursue a player like Bradley Beal or Giannis Antetokounmpo. Even if the cap drops, they’ll still have enough to splurge on second-tier or third-tier free agents to build around their Big Two—that’s one of the big benefits of having your best player still on his rookie contract.

For now, the Mavericks are focused on their present. “You go through this transition and guys are excited for that to happen,” Cuban said. “The rise, right? The growth into becoming a winning team that can compete for a championship, that’s fun.” In the next two years, Doncic and Porzingis need to grow as leaders much like Nowitzki did many years ago. Dallas has organizational goals, and they aren’t shy about sharing them. “We liked the parade we had here in 2011,” Nelson said. “We want another one—well, everything but Dirk’s rendition of ‘We Are The Champions.’”

[dnowit41]

The many stories of Mavs icon Dirk Nowitzki as told by Donnie Nelson, Rick Carlisle, and Mark Cuban

Brad Townsend

Donnie Nelson met then-19-year-old Dirk Nowitzki in the lobby of Dallas' Hyatt Regency late one night in March 1998.

A most likely drunk Mark Cuban briefly met Nowitzki and Steve Nash in Dallas' Starck Club in early January 2000, with the players not realizing that Cuban would become their boss the next day.

Rick Carlisle met Nowitzki at the 2004 NBA All-Star game in Los Angeles, then, more formally in May 2008, when Carlisle came to Dallas to interview for the Mavericks' coaching job.

The 2008 meeting was the merger - Cuban, Nelson, Carlisle and Nowitzki, gathered in Cuban's Preston Hollow home - that laid the groundwork to the Mavericks' 2011 NBA championship and the final 11 seasons of Nowitzki's 21-year career.

Cuban and Carlisle have unique perspectives of the Nowitzki Era. Here are their oral accounts of a 22-year timeline, from the Mavericks' great fortune of landing Nowitzki, to his retirement this week: Meetings, first impressions, pivotal moments and lasting takeways.

When Dirk met Donnie

Q: When did you first hear of Dirk?

Donnie Nelson: "The first time I heard the name, I was working for the Phoenix Suns and I was working on our draft board and I overheard Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen talking about a kid that they played against and they couldn't pronounce his name - Numinski, Rumanski.

"It was just a pregame conversation and they were talking about this guy in Germany that was good. That was the first time I heard the name being attempted."

Pippen, Barkley, Michael Jordan, Jason Kidd and other top NBA players had faced teenager Nowitzki in 1997, when the Nike Hoops Heroes exhibition tour stopped in Berlin.

"The next time I recognized his name was when the list came out for the 1998 Nike Hoops Summit and I said, 'Man, that's got to be the same kid from Germany.”

Q: When and how did you meet Dirk?

Nelson: "In the lobby of the Hyatt Regency. I was the assistant coach of the [Hoops Summit] international team. I was the assistant coach for the event's first three years because I was the 'international guy' and was familiar with a lot of the players and worked the Euro camp overseas and was the Lithuanian [Olympic team] assistant.

"I just kind of donated my time, with permission of course from my team, the Suns. And then ironically -- this was very serendipitous because as you can remember I came to the Mavericks halfway through the season. If I still was with the Suns I would not have been able to help with the Hoops Summit because the Suns were playoff-bound and the Summit was moved [to late March] because they wanted to couple it with the Final Four in San Antonio.

"So all of a sudden, halfway through the season, I go from the Suns to the Mavericks and I find out that they're going to have the international team training camp in Dallas. And it just happens that I called and I said, 'Hey, listen, now that I'm with the Mavericks we're obviously not going to be playoff-bound, so I'm free to help again if you guys need me to help.'

"I think we can thank DFW Airport for having this be the training camp site because the players came from all over the world and DFW Airport is DFW Airport. Largely for logistical reasons, training camp would be in Dallas and that we would jump on a Southwest flight and go down and play in San Antonio."

Q: And that first Dirk meeting?

Nelson: "The first time I saw him, my first reaction was, 'Well, holy crap, he really is close to 7-feet.' Because a lot of these guys, you hear about them and then by the time they show up on American shores they've shrunk by six inches.

"I had really very little background. Him and Holger [Geschwindner] show up in the middle of the night, literally they were the last ones in, he and Holger. Because Holger thought it was very important for Dirk, he had to sneak him out in the middle of the night from his team over there, get him on a plane and bring him over here.

"It was so late, the team was already in the spaceball in the Hyatt having dinner. The Nike guy leans over to me and says, 'Hey, the German kid has shown up. Go get him and bring him up here.'

"I go down into the lobby, I guess they'd had some hellacious flight that had a couple of redirects. I didn't know Holger was going to be there. I called up to the spaceball and said, 'Hey, Dirk is here, his coach is here, should I bring him up?' The Nike guy was like, 'Dirk can come but his coach can't.'

"I took Dirk up to the spaceball up there and did like anyone would from the friendship state and that was went back down and there's Holger sitting on a chair in the same flannel shirt and jeans that he wears today, and the leather jacket that's like out of some movie. ... I bought him dinner and beer and just kind of made him feel welcome.

"And that's basically how our relationship started, which was just extending the hand of goodwill. Any red-blooded American would have done that, but I did it and that just happened to be how Holger and I kicked off our relationship."

When Dirk met Cuban

Q: When did you and Dirk meet?

Mark Cuban: "It was the night before I took over the team, at the Starck Club, and he was there with Steve. And I knew I was going to take over the team the next day, so I was out celebrating with my buddies and we were looking stupid and acting stupid.

"And I tried to buy him and Steve beers and they looked at me like, 'Uh, no.' I'm like, 'OK, I'll see you tomorrow,' and walked off. They just thought I was some idiot trying to buy the drink, and if you saw the picture you'd think I was an idiot, too.

"Then I saw them the next day when I got introduced to the team."

Q: How did Dirk react?

Cuban: "Dirk and his 20-year-old face, I'm sure he's was thinking, 'What a [expletive] circus. This is what we're getting?'"

When Dirk met Carlisle

Q: When and where did you meet Dirk?

Rick Carlisle: "The first time I met him was at the 2004 All-Star Game in L.A. I was coaching the East. There was an organizational meeting of both teams and coaching staffs. I ended up sitting near him. We struck up a conversation, talked for five or ten minutes about things.

"He had known that I had played with Larry Bird back in the day. We talked a little bit about that. For me, I could tell from that conversation the purity of who he was as a person and a player and a competitor.

"The next time I met him, officially, was when I came down here to talk to these guys about the job in the spring of 2008. It was a meeting at Mark's house and I just remember, when I said 'Hello' again it struck me, 'Wow, I can't believe how tall this guy is. He's taller than I even thought from coaching against him.

"We had a three-hour meeting at Mark's house with me, Mark, Dirk, Donnie. Just talked about a lot of things, philosophically, competitively. I just got the same vibe that I did in L.A., that the guy was a sincere competitor that was only interested in winning a championship."

First impressions

Q: In those Hoops Summit international practices, at the Dallas YMCA, what stood out about Dirk?

Nelson: "I actually didn't know what to expect. The first day in practice and then you're just seeing a 7-foot fluid athlete. And then when he started shooting I was like, 'Man, that's not bad.'

"You'll hear this adage in scouting: One look can be dangerous. ... But about the second, third day, I was like, 'Boy, that wasn't a mirage and that second day wasn't a mirage. He sure looks like he could be a player.'"

Q: When did you alert your father [Mavs coach and GM Don Nelson] and put Dirk on the Mavs' radar?

Nelson: "I would say it was probably a couple of practices in. We in the NBA, it's like a pretty girl walking into the room. You can't not notice those things. Especially if you're in coaching, you definitely understand that success is 90-percent Jimmys and Joes and 10-percent X's and O's.

"We get through training camp, go to San Antone, the first half, we had a challenged backcourt and the U.S. team in the first half literally was putting on the full-court press. Dirk, we just couldn't get the ball to halfcourt.

"After halftime, Dirk, on his own, starts coming over halfcourt. If you're one of these poor guys trying to get the ball in and you see this 7-foot target and you can just lob it up there and go over the press.

"It just shows the software of Dirk and the problem-solving and team player is he just starts, on his own volition, going to the backcourt and they hit him with the ball and he just does what he's been taught by Holger to do since Holger started coaching him and that's going coast-to-coast and shooting threes.

"Every NBA team was there in droves. The first half was, let's call it less than stellar on the part of the international team. But I think once Dirk started being Dirk and kind of taking the bull by the horns."

Nowitzki finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds as the international team rallied for a 104-99 victory over the USA Team.

"There again is the adage of one look being dangerous. Other GMs, they're literally going off a half a game. They didn't have the luxury of seeing him at additional times like we did."

Q: What did you think when you first saw Dirk play, as a Mavs fan, before you bought the team in January 2000?

Cuban: "Back then it was hard to know. Because our track record wasn't very good at picking international guys. Like every Mavs fan I had high hopes, but I really didn't know. All I knew is he did really stupid commercials about being tall and pulling things out of trees."

Q: Donnie Nelson has said he and his father are fortunate because when you bought the team, you could have cleaned out, brought in your own basketball people. It's not like the team was winning.

Cuban: "Yeah, but I didn't know any better. What was I going to do? How was I going to pick anybody? I didn't know (expletive). I figured I was just going to take time to learn and there was no downside. I mean, it wasn't like the pressure was on to keep winning games. There was no downside to me just keeping it as it was and learning."

Q: When did you notice the tide turn for Dirk?

Cuban: "The first year when I bought the team and was there and I got to pay attention. From the time I took over, for the rest of the year we had a winning record. You saw progress from Dirk and everybody. Teams weren't really taking us seriously because when I bought them we were like 9-23, but you could just see it from all three of those guys [Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Michael Finley]."

Q: What was it like coaching against Dirk when you were with the Pacers and Pistons?

Carlisle: "It was him, Finley and Nash together. And then their team changed. They became more defensive-oriented and changed their style when Avery [Johnson] got here. They presented different challenges then. But you have a 7-foot-1 guy that can score from any point on the floor, I mean, that's a big problem, trying to find someone to guard him.

"How are you going to deal with him in the post if he goes in there? How are you going to find him in transition? All those things. He sets a screen, it's like a double-screen on your guys because you've gotta hug him. It was a myriad of problems to deal with. It was very difficult."

Q: What was your perception of Dirk before you took over as coach in 2008?

Carlisle: "He was a perennial All-Star and a great player, a guy that I had really felt at that point of time had redefined the power forward position, for sure. I watched the 2006 series with Miami very closely. And I knew how close they had been and how painful that was.

"When I got here in 2008, we were fortunate to make some really critical moves to get the team in position and then get on a historic run, at the exact right time. He had everything to do with that.

"Dirk, one of his real legacies is going to be the way that he has helped this game evolve to what it is today.

"In the 90s and early 2000s, there was a real crisis. Scoring was down. It was, people in decision-making positions were trying to figure out what to do. But the way Dirk approached the game and the way Nellie converted him from a 3 to a 4, helped nudge the game along, open up space. Eventually the value of the 3-point shot to open up space became a reality.

"So the game today now, you don't hear anybody talking about how there's not enough scoring, or it's not exciting, those kind of things."

Q: What do you remember about your first game of coaching Dirk?

Carlisle: "The first game was an exhibition game. I do remember that. I think we were playing against Washington. He had a very short-hair thing going at the time. I was just trying to get the lay of the land around here. Dallas, I was so new. We had a new coaching staff, still getting used to what Mark was all about.

"But in that summer leading up to the first particular game, [Dirk] had established he was going to be on an even keel all the time, unwavering, all those kinds of things. I know he played well in that game. He was coming off of the Olympic appearance by Germany that year. We had kind of watched his reps in training camp and stuff. But it was pretty clear to me at that time that this guy was an absolute rock in terms of being that guy."

Pivotal moments

Q: What do you remember from the draft night of 1998 trade with Milwaukee that brought Dirk here and sent Robert Traylor to the Bucks?

Nelson: "That trade was contingent upon Dirk being there and available. And then we traded down and rolled the bones on Nash. So, yes, it was agreed to before, but if Dirk would have gone 3 or 4 or 5, the deal would have been off.

"When it got to 9 and he and Paul Pierce were still there. We had them both in the top three of that draft. We were floored.

"It's funny because when that happened, my dad looked at me and said, 'What are you going to do now, son?' It was tongue in cheek, but it was also, I think, in his mind, he knew the challenges that we were going to go through with Dirk. He also knew that Paul Pierce was plug and play.

"We're at the conference table and I think he knew we were going to do what we were going to do. But I think he wanted me to understand the weight of the decision of what we were about to do.

"When you're a guy like my dad and you've coached a lot, the difference between Paul Pierce that is a plug and play, he's going to come in his rookie year and he's going to put up 20, 8 and 6 and you've got Dirk and he's going to put up 5 fouls and three points. It's a much steeper learning curve.

"Even after we got him on draft night, we still had to convince him that we were the best option. Honestly, we were about two years ahead of Holger's plan. Holger's plan was to take him to the Hoops Summit and then give him a couple of years, whether overseas at Benetton or a Real Madrid or Barcelona, or go to colleges. He had Cal and Kentucky and I think it was Kansas. He had three full rides.

"In Holger's mind Dirk wasn't quite ready for the NBA. It became Nellie and myself, going to Germany, sitting down with Holger, mom, dad, Dirk, and a big part of it was playing time. We had to commit to, 'Look, Dirk's not just going to come sit the bench. We're going to take Dirk in like he's our own. We're going to put the ball in his hands. We're understand we're going to lose, to develop Dirk, that's part of the rebuilding plan.'

"Then, look, when Mark came in as owner, he really embraced us in our darkest hour. We had everyone who wasn't happy with the win-loss record at the time. Mark had every right to come in and say, 'Hey, I'll take the keys from here in, boys. I appreciate it.' And he embraced us and Dirk and Nash and the whole program."

Q: How has your relationship with Dirk evolved during the 19 seasons you've owned the team?

Cuban: "I don't how many players and owners have gotten drunk as many times together as Dirk and I have. Or sat for 10 hours together at a blackjack table. Or gotten kicked out of places.

"The good and the bad and everything. It's more off-the-court, really where you connect with Dirk. He's in his own little world when he's working out and when the game starts. The rest of the time, it's been an adventure, to say the least.

"We've been through a lot of hassles. A lot of sorrow, on the court and off. And we were always there for each other. That bonds you. You just can't help it. It bonds you.

"It's not like we're best friends, but it's like where we have a really, really strong relationship that we both know we can go to each other any time and we're always there for each other.

"We usually make sure we spent a couple of times over the summer just to hang out and have fun. Up until last year, we went to Vegas together 15 out of 16 years or something ridiculous."

Q: Is he a good gambler?

Cuban: (laughing) "No, he's horrible. He plays like $25 hands so he can sit there and drink. His drinks have evolved over the years, I guess. Being at his sister's wedding in Vegas was a treat, too."

Q: What were your impressions as you got to know Dirk, the player and person?

Carlisle: "One of the special things about Dirk is he is a guy who has never looked for attention, never wanted to be in the spotlight, other than to serve his teammates, fans and certainly ownership, because he and Mark certainly have a special relationship.

"The points were obvious. That's never going to go away. But for those of us who have had the great privilege to be in the trenches with him for a long time, the competitive integrity, the way he prepares on a daily basis, the way he gives of himself to his teammates, to the franchise, to the community in such a humble way, those are the things that, for me, really are big-time things about who he is."

Q: What did winning the championship mean to you personally, in terms of your relationship with Dirk?

Carlsile: "That moment obviously was a very emotional moment for him, but very gratifying for me and Mark and Donnie, too, because being able to get this team in a position to have that kind of success for guys like Dirk, Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Tyson Chandler, Shawn Marion, was very special."

Biggest takeaways

Q: It's one thing to have your face of the franchise be a uniquely talented player. It's another thing for him to have an NBA-record 21-season career, all with one team. But it's still another to have that player be humble and self-deprecating and community-minded. How do you place a value in having all of these things in one player?

Nelson: "In this business, it's so easy to get big-head. With Dirk, he's in a lot of respects the same guy that had the Scottie Pippen poster his room and living in mom and dad's flat. He just never let any of that outside stuff get to him. He always saw himself as part of a team that wanted to win a championship.

"He didn't see himself as a brand. He could have had millions and millions of dollars of endorsements, his 'own this and that,' TV shows. He could have gone in so many directions, but his entire career saw himself as a basketball player that wanted to be the best that he possibly could be. And he let nothing else distract him. Nothing.

"One big reason is Holger. From day one, Holger was the one who saw him playing pickup and saw promise and wanted him to be what he's become and showed him, both on the court and off the court how to get there. Dirk's dad is an absolutely hard-working competitive former athlete, as is mom. They understand the value of athletics and staying humble.

"Things like power and money and fame and fortune, all that stuff that generally takes a young mind and twists it and warps it, it never happened. The only thing I can do is credit mom and dad and Holger and the people who surrounded him. When you're sitting there with a guy like Steve Nash and Michael Finley, Nellie back in the formative days, these are people that are honest, straight-shooting and are workaholics and passionate about the sport and winning. That's it.

"It's a very, very special human being who has occupied that locker and that uniform that's got 41 on it."

Q: What's next for Dirk?

Cuban: "Dirk's family. I'm happy for him in a lot of respects because the best part of his life comes afterwards. You think in any career that, 'OK, this is what you've done and this is who you are,' but Dirk's so much more than just being a basketball player.

"It's going to be hard for him to adjust initially, but the best part of his life is yet to come.

"Twenty years on the court here, plus when he was a kid. But he's got a lot longer off the court. I think that's where he'll continue to be the guy we all know and really blossom. Because I think everybody will get to know him better because he doesn't have to focus on being so disciplined. He doesn't have to have that same discipline.

"It wouldn't shock me if we saw him at 280, 290 with a pot belly."

Q: You're kidding, right?

Cuban: (laughing) "No, no, no. I'd be willing to bet. He already knows he has any job with us that he wants. He'll probably spend most of his time designing his statue."

Q: What will you miss most?

Carlisle: "I'll miss everything, but the way Dirk approached things, each day was a set of challenges. There was almost a checklist of things he would do to prepare. It was so meticulous. It was so precise, and yet it was so workmanlike. You could set an atomic watch to it.

"When it came time to throw the ball up, he was going to be ready to play. If he wasn't a hundred percent, you weren't gonna know it, really, because he was going to slug through it and he was going to find a way to make a major impact on that game."

[dnowit41]

The Dirk Nowitzki stories: An oral history of the Mavericks legend

-James Herbert

Before a Dallas Mavericks practice in January, Dirk Nowitzki lined up for a race with Dennis Smith Jr. The 40-year-old started at half court, the 21-year-old at the baseline.

3 … 2 … 1 … Smith took off. Nowitzki did not.

"He was like, 'Nah, not ready. Not ready. Let's get to practice,'" Mavericks forward Ryan Broekhoff said.

Smith does not buy the idea that Nowitzki wasn't warmed up.

"It took him too long to start," Smith said. "I accelerated quicker than he did. Once he seen that, he looked back. He was like, 'Oh, he's behind me.' He just gave it up. Smart."

The genesis of the race, according to Smith, who is now with the New York Knicks: "He was in the locker room selling woof tickets basically, saying everybody say he moves slow, and this, that and the third. He bet $10,000 in a foot race that nobody will beat him if he starts at halfcourt and they start from full court. So I came in there and I heard. I got wind of it and I took the bet immediately, and of course I won the bet two times. And he ain't pay my money yet. So this summer, I'ma probably go shake him down in Dallas."

Before any summer shakedown, the Mavericks will celebrate Nowitzki's career at their final home game of the season Tuesday. Nowitzki has not officially announced that he intends to retire, but during the stretch run, owner Mark Cuban told CBS Sports, "It's really just starting to hit me that he only has a few weeks left." Dallas will finish things off Wednesday in San Antonio.

Over the course of Nowitzki's 21st season, more than 30 people who have been around him -- current and former teammates, opponents, Mavericks staff -- participated in interviews for this oral history to capture how the superstar from Würzburg made his mark in Dallas and beyond.

"Why do people want my autograph?"

Mavericks general manager Donnie Nelson scouted Nowitzki and coached him at the 1998 Nike Hoop Summit. Nelson saw a "long, tall, skinny German drink of water," and took a liking to his shooting ability and competitiveness. Nowitzki had skipped a playoff game with the DJK Würzburg X-Rays, the second-division team in his hometown, in order to be in San Antonio. It paid off.

"The Hoop Summit, I guess you can call it his American Idol coming out party, where in front of pretty much every GM at the time he erupted and scored 30-plus points," Nelson said. "And did so in spectacular fashion."

Dallas acquired the No. 9 pick in the 1998 draft to select him even though Paul Pierce-- also ranked in the Mavs' top three -- was unexpectedly available. An apprehensive, perhaps even reluctant Nowitzki came to Dallas several months later, at the conclusion of the NBA's lockout. He and third-year guard Steve Nash, acquired in a trade from Phoenix, sported bleached blond hair at their introductory press conference. "I thought a couple members of the Beach Boys got lost," Nelson said.

Greg Buckner, Mavericks wing, 1999-2002; 2006-07: People were booing him in Reunion Arena. People were upset with Nellie for drafting him and making the trade for Tractor Traylor.

Donnie Nelson, Mavericks assistant coach and director of scouting, 1997-2002; general manager, 2002-present: We were like eight years in the Bataan Death March, the Maverick walk in the desert, where we hadn't made the playoffs.

Greg Buckner: It was a weird year. It was a lockout year. The season then didn't start until January. You get one week of practice. Then you have three games in three nights, for a kid. It was hard even for vets at that time. And the language barrier. High expectations on the kid. And he definitely struggled with that. He definitely didn't have the confidence.

Al Whitley, Mavericks equipment manager, 2005-06; special assistant to owner, 2018-19, childhood friend of Nash: Early on, Dirk would always be like, "Why do people want my autograph or want to high-five me or take a picture with me?" He didn't really understand it, but he always made time for those people. And he just had a connection with them.

Marc Gasol, Raptors center: There was nobody ahead of him. He was kind of the pioneer for many, many things. And kudos for him for being ready for that, and to Dallas to have that open mindset of allowing him to change things and to believe in something different that nobody at that point believed in. I think it makes franchises feel safer. It gives an example. To me, the bravest part is, like, Dallas. It was never done before, and they did it. They saw Dirk work every day and the way he interacted with his teammates and, obviously, it worked. But it takes bravery because there's uncertainty in all that that it might not work and we might look like fools.

Donnie Nelson: Brave is one word. Scary is another.

Greg Buckner: And he struggled early. He didn't come out like Luka [Doncic], like gangbusters in the beginning. He came in and he struggled. And they knew it couldn't be tough love with him, it had to be nurturing to make sure he was successful. Because he was struggling mentally going through it, and didn't know if he belonged or not.

Donnie Nelson: For us and my dad [coach Don Nelson], we had literally thrown our reputations, history, everything we've done in the league in the hands of two young guys that were completely unproven. A lot of times, those guys have kind of a high casualty count. Especially guys from Europe. So it was exhilarating, fun and frightening, all at the same time.

Greg Buckner: People don't remember when Dirk first got here, he was a 3-man. He was a small forward. He was not a 4-man or a center. He was a small forward. And the things that he was doing in practice, with the perimeter skills and his size, I had never seen anything like that. So I said this kid is going to be a Hall of Famer. I said, "I don't know what the hell, how good Larry Bird was, or what Larry Bird was, but there's no way he could have been as good as this kid is going to be." And they were like, "Yeah, you're crazy, whatever."

Nick Van Exel, Mavericks guard, 2001-03: I just knew he was a rookie. I didn't know who he was. Didn't know anything about him. And I don't even think he had a good game, but just the things that he was doing on the court, I was impressed. And me and Antonio McDyess, even Chauncey Billups, we was like, damn, that dude's going to be good. This is what we're saying in the locker room. So I'll never forget, after the game, I'm walking out and I'm in front of him. I hear somebody coming behind me and I turned around and it was him, so I actually waited. I probably was about 20 feet in front of him and I waited for him. I said, "Man, you're going to be a good player, man. You just keep balling. You're going to figure this shit out, and you're going to be a good player. We just had that little brief moment, and then when I got traded to Dallas, that's the first thing he brought up to me. He was like, "You remember when you told me?" I said, 'Hell yeah, I remember that shit 'cause I knew you were gonna be special."

"A little bit more 'I'm going to cut your head off'"

Nowitzki was fortunate to start his career playing for Don Nelson, a forward-thinking coach who didn't try to turn him into a traditional big man. It helped, too, to have Nash and Michael Finley at his side. Nowitzki's talent and work ethic were undeniable, and the soft touch on his jumper stood out to anyone who was paying attention. He needed time, though, to develop into the Mavericks' undisputed franchise player, and there is some debate about how clear it was that he would.

Mark Cuban, Mavericks owner, 2000-present: I didn't know how good he would be. Had no idea.

Greg Buckner: After his rookie year, they'd take us all, us young guys, and we do summer league. We do summer league that year in Utah and L.A., I think it was back then, and he f---ing put on a show. I mean, he put on a show. He even turned me into a scorer, and I couldn't score to save my life. He just put on a show. He was clearly the best young player out there. It wasn't even close. And then after you see that success in those two, three weeks that we had in summer league, that next year, it was just too easy for him. He just became confident.

Adrian Griffin, Mavericks wing, 2001-2003; 2005-2006: His second year, I was with the Celtics and we were playing Dallas and I had never heard of Dirk Nowitzki before. So, I switched on him, BANG! Just drilled a 3. And I was like, that's probably just a glitch, probably just a mistake, he probably got lucky on that. Came right back down, I got right back on him again in transition, BANG! Rick Pitino is now giving me an earful. He was cussing me out, calling me every name. "You gotta get up and play him!" That's the first time that I was introduced to Dirk Nowitzki, and then I became a fan from afar.

Donnie Nelson: Dirk just needed time to physically, mentally mature, and I think that's where a guy like Michael Finley and Steve, Holger certainly, my dad and the Dallas community really made him feel welcome in the early days.

Adrian Griffin: I was there to witness almost a total transformation of his mental approach, mental game. The first stint when I was there, we had Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash, Michael Finley, and I can recall at the end of the game, when we needed a basket or a certain play, they all three would defer to each other like you go ahead and take it, or you take it. My second stint, Dirk was like give me the effing ball. That was the difference.

Greg Buckner: I mean, obviously Dirk never wanted the attention. He's never going to be the guy that is going to say, "Yeah, it was about me," or whatever. But Dirk always knew he was going to be the franchise guy. And Dirk always knew after that second year, it was Dirk's show. It was not Nash's show, it was not Finley's show, it was not Van Exel's show. It was Dirk's show. Dirk was the franchise from his third year on. And let's not get that messed up. And we all knew that. We all knew who the man was.

Calvin Booth, Mavericks center, 2000-2001; 2004-2005: It was a legitimate Big 3. I think all three of those guys were equally important to us winning. Dirk and Finley were usually going to be the leading scorers, Steve obviously did what he did to help everybody else out and make shots. I think by the time I got there, I got there midseason, I think by that time he's starting to get his footing and he's having more big games. He ended up making third team All-NBA that year.

Mark Cuban: He had Nash and Fin working with him continuously. Encouraging him. Plus we started winning and he knew he was the best player on the team. If you heard all the shit he would talk, you would know he was OK with growing into the role of the best player and a leader.

Al Whitley: When Steve left, as hard as that was for both of them and for all of us, it actually did help Dirk's career and kind of pushed him into that kind of leadership role that he wasn't necessarily comfortable with before Steve left.

Nick Van Exel: Once he got along in his career, he started to see how good he was and how good he could become and he started to take his approach to another level. And one thing about him is he's so cool off the court, but on the court he got kind of a fire inside of him to where he was a little bit different. He was a little bit nastier. He was a little bit more I'm going to cut your head off.

Adrian Griffin: He was always cool and calm, especially my second time with him. That's the confidence that you have. It's almost like the Jordans and the Kobe Bryants. You just have this aura that we can't lose or we're never out of a game. We're down 20 in the fourth, so what? We got Dirk Nowitzki. That's how you always felt. You always had a chance. He'd come in and bang three 3s in a row, and now you're back in it and then everyone's juices are going. He could just have that impact. He's a game-changer. In a couple possessions, you put the ball in his hands and he'd just work magic.

"I used to call him the black German"

In the 2006 playoffs, weeks before the Mavericks lost to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, Nowitzki revealed that, in order to relieve pressure at the free throw line, he liked to sing to himself under his breath. His song of choice at the time was David Hasselhoff's "Looking for Freedom," which was a No. 1 hit in Germany when Nowitzki was 10 years old. There is more, however, to Nowitzki's musical stylings than the work of former Baywatch stars.

Nowitzki's coach and mentor, Holger Geschwindner, wanted him to see basketball as a dance. In one of 2014 documentary The Perfect Shot's more memorable scenes, Geschwindner's former teammate Ernest Butler plays saxophone during a training session as a bunch of German players try move and dribble a ball to the rhythm. Butler and his saxophone are in the foreground, with a basketball hoop on the gym wall behind him -- a perfect shot, indeed.

Geschwindner bought Nowitzki a sax of his own for Christmas and, after Terry Porter's elbow cost him a front tooth in the 2001 playoffs, Nowitzki lamented that he couldn't play it like he wanted to in the summer. Just before the Outback portion of his head-clearing trip to Australia after the top-seeded Mavs lost to the eighth-seeded Warriors in the first round in 2007, the reigning MVP and Geschwindner hit the Sydney Opera House for Beethoven's Fourth and Seventh symphonies.

Anyone who knows Nowitzki, though, is aware that, for more than two decades, he has fancied himself a rapper.

Greg Buckner: Gary Trent took him under his wing and played hip-hop music for him. I mean, Dirk is the biggest hip-hop junkie in the world at this time. He's quoting all hip-hop songs and stuff like that.

Nick Van Exel: He was just real goofy. Real goofy. Singing songs. Trying to sing the rap songs. I used to call him the black German.

Justin Anderson, Mavericks wing, 2015-2017: You can tell he hung out with a lot of black guys when he first came into the league, and I asked him about it because, like, all his slang, he's on point with it. Like, "Nahmsaying?" He says all types of things. Gary Trent was his vet, so he was like, "Man, I had all the OGs with me." Those are all usually the funny things.

Greg Buckner: Nash is obviously from Canada and has a different-type background. Michael Finley is from Chicago. Gary Trent is from the Midwest. I'm from the South in Kentucky. We had Cedric Ceballos from L.A. He's just a sponge, soaking all this stuff in, and it created, as we say, a monster, boy, because he could hit you with all kinds of things from all walks of life. It really rounded him out to be a great jokester in all different realms of life.

Seth Curry, Mavericks guard, 2016-18: The guy's from Germany. He doesn't really have an accent as much anymore, but he's in touch with the culture. He knows the music, knows the movies, knows that sense of humor. It's always funnier when it comes from Dirk.

Adrian Griffin, Mavericks wing, 2001-2003; 2005-2006: What people probably don't know is that Dirk and Steve used to bring their guitars in sometimes. They would play, try to teach each other how to play the guitar. I don't know how it ended. Maybe they could be Van Halen by now if they stuck with it. They were in the early years.

Greg Buckner: We all hung out together. We all went to Cedric Ceballos' house and hung out played cards and played dominos. Dirk then was playing the guitar. The funny thing about it, they would bring those guitars on the road and work at it.

Al Whitley: The instruments, the guitar, the saxophone, stuff like that, his mentor, Holger, has always encouraged him to learn different things outside of basketball. To advance your career and be the best you can possibly be, you have to expand your mind in certain things outside of the game of basketball. And musically, Holger is a big advocate of learning instruments helps you do that. I think that's how that all originated.

Adrian Griffin: He was learning. You wouldn't book him for a gig just yet back then, but they say 10,000 hours.

Nick Van Exel: It's probably our first road trip we go on, and I see my phone is lit up. You know, the blinking light. I'm like damn, who in the hell? I'm thinking maybe it's the front desk or something leaving a message. So I check it, and next thing you know, it's Dirk on there singing a damn song, playing a guitar. But I guess that was his way of welcoming me, breaking me in and whatever.

Al Whitley: He just sings and jokes around all the time. Sometimes even he'll rap in German just to keep the mood light for the guys. Half the songs he sings, if it's not hip-hop, a lot of our players, especially our younger players, have no idea who it is. It could be a classic rock band, the Rolling Stones, who Dirk loves, and these guys have no idea.

Ian Mahinmi, Mavericks center, 2010-2012: You see him sing and rap. And this is before important games.

Chandler Parsons, Mavericks forward, 2014-16: Tennis, he's unbelievable. His serve is a pro-level serve. Obviously he doesn't have the agility anymore and the foot speed, but his serve is next level. Singing, dancing, anything of that level, no shot. No good there. He's a Hall of Fame basketball player, not a dancer or a singer.

Dennis Smith Jr., Mavericks guard, 2017-19: It's horrible. The confidence level is high, but the tone is trash.

Nick Van Exel: I was just like, you know, I'm glad you chose basketball because that other path probably wouldn't have worked out for you.

Mark Cuban: Mick Jagger is lucky Dirk took up basketball.

"Man, how is he getting past people?"

The Mavs call it "the flamingo." You probably just call it the Dirk. It's the one-legged fadeaway jump shot that is to Nowitzki what the skyhook is to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "That's a shot that terrified a lot of opponents because you didn't know when it was coming and you knew you couldn't block it anyway," Warriors star Kevin Durant said.

Nowitzki vexed opposing coaches because normal rules didn't apply to him. He was a master at making contested midrange shots, precisely the kind of looks that defenses were designed to allow. A simple pick-and-pop inspired nightmares.

DeAndre Jordan, Mavericks center, 2018-19: He's a monster, man. He could drive and get to the basket easily. You couldn't really block his shot because he fades away, he shoots with a high arc and he gets that knee up there. And for me, I was a young player, playing against him, so I wanted to really guard him hard or try to block his shot or do something that took him out of his game. But more times than not, it did not work.

Marc Gasol: He's a right-handed guy, high release, high arc, so you gotta be really close to contest that. Then if you take away the right hand -- which, he rarely drove right hand, but you still gotta honor the drive -- you cut him off, he's going to back to a little spin move, one-leg fadeaway. You're not getting to that shot. Everything was a counter to a deadly weapon, which was his jump shot.

Antawn Jamison, Mavericks forward, 2003-2004: I felt like the best defense was I had to make him work on the defensive end and try to score against him.

Mike Procopio, Mavericks director of player development, 2013-present: You watch these guys with these Instagram workouts in the summer that are bogus, like dribbling seven balls and jumping over shopping carts to get to a shot. Some guy's got a 40-foot pole that he's gotta shoot over like he's in the MTV Rock N' Jock game. Like, that's not him. He just does all these simple shots. He just knows his kill spots on the floor and he knows where he has to get to, and he gets to 'em.

Yogi Ferrell, Mavericks guard, 2016-2018: I've never seen him do a between-the-legs or a behind-the-back dribble ever. Probably not even a crossover.

Jae Crowder, Mavericks forward, 2012-2014: Really, how are you going to guard the pick-and-roll with him popping? If you hedge, he's big enough and tall enough to get the shot off. If you switch it, he sees right over the top of the smaller defender. When he's got it going, it's tough to stop him. It's tough to put the fire out. Obviously.

Vince Carter, Mavericks wing, 2011-2014: You look at him, he's the slowest guy out there, but yet you can't stay in front of him. He knew who he was and how to be effective, man. I tell you, in his day, he was a force to be reckoned with as far as, like, you sit him, you post him up at that free throw line, and he's just a smart player. He knew how to make defenses pay. You just look at it, like, man, how is he getting past people? But you have to respect the great shooter that he is. He knew how to get buckets. Obviously, 31,000 points speaks for itself.

Elton Brand, Mavericks center, 2012-13: I remember one game against Carlos Boozer, I know Boozer wants to go left. I'm screaming at Dirk, at Dirty, "Send him right, send him right!" Boozer goes left and scores. And then scores again. And I'm frustrated. I'm just like, "Goddamn, Dirty! Send him right!" And then Dirk hits two dagger 3s to win the game. I go back and apologize: "Look, you never have to play defense again, man."

Mike Procopio: He's not just like a hired assassin, hired gun who's going to get you 35. He's smart, he can pass. Back in his day -- before electricity -- he could actually get off the floor and get by guys. You watch him, I don't think he wants you to know this, but the reason why he invented the fadeaway is because Bill Russell kept on blocking his shot at The Garden. He needed his shot to go over him.

Ian Mahinmi: You can see KD now, Porzingis, all these 6-11, 7-footers, 7-foot-1 players, they all watched Dirk. They all watched Dirk shooting 3s and putting it on the floor and having this high release. This is Dirk. Ain't nobody who was doing it like that before him. From time to time when we have talks, especially with the younger generation, and we brought up the name Dirk and they're so quick to be like, "Uhhh." Like, no, man. Nah. Dirk is like that. You just haven't seen it. Do your research. Look some tape up. The man is great.

"The holy grail of his career"

In Nelson's view, Nowitzki's game had reached "a whole different stratosphere" by the time he returned to "the scene of the crime." That would be the 2011 NBA Finals, again meeting the Heat. Surrounded by veterans who knew they might never get back to the Finals, Nowitzki upstaged LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. Then-Mavericks guard Jason Terry said it was hard to describe how he owed Nowitzki for the championship ring, but called it "phenomenal" to reach the pinnacle alongside him. Fans feel the same way.

"The people of this city view Dirk and their relationship with Dirk as a precious relationship," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's been based upon all the right things. It's been based upon a singular vision to provide the ultimate moment, which came to fruition in the form of a championship in 2011."

Carlisle made sure to cite Nowitzki's "amazing sense of loyalty and giving" and mention the "untold of millions of dollars" Nowitzki sacrificed in free agency, which allowed the Mavs to sign Tyson Chandler. Without the addition of Chandler, there would have been no title, no parade and no incredible photos of Nowitzki wearing Ian Mahinmi's glasses at Miami nightclub LIV, where Cuban spent a reported $110,000 in four hours.

Donnie Nelson: Dirk felt (in 2006) not only did he let down people in the locker room, let down people in Dallas, but also around the globe. I mean, he was carrying a baton that has never been carried before.

Al Whitley: Disappointment and devastation. We did sit in the locker room for many, many hours till the wee hours of the morning. And I know it still hurts him. But if you look back, in order to reach the top of the mountain, you gotta go through peaks and valleys. And at the time, it felt like we got punched as hard as you can get punched, but in the end, I think it was meant to be along the journey to get to where we got to in 2011. The sun came up the next day -- we watched it -- and it is what it is.

Rick Carlisle, Mavericks coach, 2008-present: The only thing he's ever cared about is winning. In the 11 years that I've known him, that's the only thing. He was a 29-year-old guy about to become 30 when I got the job here, and the championship had eluded them in 2006. It was very painful.

Donnie Nelson: It's like somebody ripped your heart out.

Rick Carlisle: That was his only goal. And it wasn't just a goal that he had for himself. It was a goal that he had for the city of Dallas. And a lot of that had to do with his feelings about the fans here and of course his feelings about Mark Cuban. That was the only focus.

Donnie Nelson: You hear things like, "You'll never be able to win a championship with someone with a European mentality, they don't understand our game, there's no defense, people won't follow that kind of a leader." Blah blah blah, this and that. You hear everything. And when you fail, those things, whether they're real or not, become true in people's minds. And so when we're sitting there, about to stick a flag into Mount Everest in our first Finals run, and that cup is literally ripped from our arms, then you hear all of the naysayers.

Jason Terry, Mavericks guard, 2004-2012: Dirk and I had a very special relationship. You gotta understand, when I was traded to Dallas and then Steve Nash departed Dallas, Steve Nash was Dirk's best friend. He was the teammate that he had played with that they had that sort of relationship and chemistry. When I was brought in to replace Nash, people thought that relationship would kind of happen, it would be automatic. But we had to let that relationship grow organically, and we had to go through it -- trials and tribulations, adversity, losing in the playoffs, that sort of thing -- for our relationship to develop and for it to evolve. Besides Stockton and Malone, I say we had the best two-man game ever in NBA history.

Rick Carlisle: The amount of emotion that overcame him at the end of Game 6 on June 12, 2011 was amazing. He had to leave the court, he went back to the locker room just to try to collect himself. There were tears in his eyes. You look into the stands, if you looked up into the stands and saw Holger Geschwindner, there were tears in his eyes as well. These guys had basically captured the holy grail of his career, and it was an amazing moment that will never be duplicated.

Al Whitley: All the hard work and the blood, sweat and tears that he put into doing that, to see that come to life was one of the greatest moments of my life.

Donnie Nelson: It literally took me probably about two weeks of waking up, "Honey, that wasn't a dream, right? We've got the trophy, right?" It's like, "Yeah, remember you had the parade?"

Ian Mahinmi: Those glasses are not prescribed glasses. They're fake glasses. They're just a fashion statement, whatever. And then after we won, he was like, "Man, come on, man, let me see what I can do with this." And I remember he snatched them from me and he put them on. Little stuff like that, me as a young kid, this made me feel so special. That's just Dirk right there. He's that type of guy, man. He made fun of me wearing those glasses so many times. Almost every single day. And then here we go, Finals, we win and he's wearing it. It don't get no better than that.

Al Whitley: I was two seats down from him. It was hilarious. I don't even think he could see through them. The drinks were flowing so much at that point. But I actually thought he pulled the look off pretty good.

"We go at it in QuizUp"

"He trolls you," Dallas rookie Jalen Brunson said. "But also, like, he takes jokes, too."

Players new to the Mavericks do not always know about Nowitzki's trash talk, and then they inevitably find themselves on the receiving end of it during a scrimmage. Cuban's favorite Dirkisms are "Happy Birthday," "What a circus" and the immortal "He's a burger."

No one is more in tune with Nowitzki in this regard than Mike Procopio, the Mavs' head of player development. Procopio is a man who is willing to spend an hour and a half editing a video for the sole purpose of trolling the face of the franchise.

"Instead of The Perfect Shot, it was called 'The Perfect Limp,'" Procopio said. "And it was about all his follies on the court, falling down or getting shaken up on a pick-and-roll. I just sent it out on the group chat with all the players and stuff. And he's cool with it. He's laughing."

The day after our interview, Procopio followed up via text message. "I was going to stop but this old f--- just made fun of me again," he wrote. He had four more things to say about Nowitzki:

He's so old that his calcium deposits have calcium deposits.

He sometimes says I can't wait to retire. I tell him statistically he retired in 2014.

National Geographic is doing a ranking, who's the least mobile: The Titanic, Stonehenge or him. He came in fourth.

I tell his legs every day what the late, great Jim Valvano said: Survive and advance.

Wesley Matthews, Dallas Mavericks wing, 2015-2019: Obviously he's getting older, but he's still as good of a shit-talker as ever.

Zaza Pachulia, Mavericks center, 2015-16: I've been following him on social media. First of all, it took him a while to get on social media because he's so slow in everything. I saw a couple of tweets of his, clowning his teammates, and you could tell the guy has humor. But I didn't know that he had that much humor till I became his teammate. The guy is nonstop. Nonstop, and I mean that.

Greg Buckner: "What up, Work?" He says that to everybody. When he says that to you, you know you've been around Dirk, you know you've been one of his teammates and you've had a great time with him and you've been on his coattails, riding the ride, enjoying the show and watching him do his thing. It was really big when we first got in. Burger is almost disrespectful. When somebody calls you a burger, that's not a good thing. It's not like a good In-N-Out Burger. It's a bad thing. Burger is about him joking with you, telling you that you ain't shit.

Jae Crowder: If he calls you a burger, it feels like you're not on his level.

Dennis Smith Jr.: Somebody playing trash or if somebody's trash, he'll call 'em a burger.

Elton Brand: He'll call you a burger. I'm trying to defend him in practice and he'll be like, "Too little! E.B.'s too little!" Because, you know, he's 7-foot and I'm 6-7 3/4. He just talks trash. It's just love, though.

Greg Buckner: He was a burger on defense.

Mike Procopio: When he gets subbed out, he will look at my outfit and destroy what I'm wearing and I'll politely tell him that his defensive plus-minus reads like the Dow did in the stock market crash of 1929.

Ian Mahinmi: Let's say like during the game I would miss a bad shot. So it was for sure the next day at practice or shootaround, he'd look at me and he'd do the exact same shot. But he'd overexaggerate.

Mike Procopio: [Dirk and Doncic] are two clowns. They clown on each other. Dirk clowns on his weight and just sort of him butchering the English language. He'll just go at Dirk about how old he is. It's cool 'cause those guys are different because of obviously the age and what they've grown up with, but they're the same in the sense that they're competitive as hell. I mean, competitive as hell. But they're funny as hell. They're good to be around. Teammates love them. It's awesome to watch those guys. You could go 0-82 and you'd still have fun going to work every day because of those two guys.

Ian Mahinmi: Dirk will crack a joke at the most random time and he'll relax the atmosphere. When your leader is capable of taking a joke and making fun of yourself and laughing out loud, it's kind of like OK, this guy is human, this guy is actually just like me.

Mike Procopio: Right now, it's our endless games of QuizUp on our apps. 'Cause we talk trash to each other all night. We'll play all night. We'll go at it about Mavericks history, NBA All-Star Game history and 90s music. And every time somebody wins, we screenshot the scoreboard and we say something pretty outlandish about the other person. After a game, after he chips off the iceberg that sank the Titanic and soaks his feet in it, and all his battered-out joints, and when he's out of it, he's on the bus, I know that I'll get a text on my phone that he challenged me in some game. We were like 78-79, we were like neck-and-neck for a while and then I went on a cold streak. Because we're playing Dallas Mavericks history. The f---ing guy, half the answers are about him anyway. How the f--- do I know how many offensive rebounds he had in his career? I thought Eric Montross was the leader.

Nick Van Exel: He's still trying to play, and I played with him in 2003, 2002, and I'm sitting behind the bench talking shit to him. So we were playing the last game in Dallas. He was at the free throw line. I said, "Dirk, man, you might as well come on sit back here with me, man. Let this shit go." He looked at me and starts laughing.

Mike Procopio: Our current score on QuizUp is 106-80 as of now. I hung in there for a while but, like Dirty's joints and legs, I'm on a tremendous downward spiral.

"You'd think he was the 15th guy"

If you really want to know what an NBA player is like, try to find out how he treats team staff. Whitley, who was Dallas' longtime equipment manager before his promotion this season, said that Nowitzki has "the biggest heart of any person of his stature that I've ever been around." He added that Nowitzki has "no diva in him" -- he never even asked for new socks, shirts and shoes.

Ask teammates about Nowitzki, and many of them will tell you it has been an honor to play with him. Mavericks center Dwight Powell is one of them, and he said he has been inspired by Nowitzki quietly finding ways to help the community and change lives in Dallas. Ex-Mavs guard Darren Collison will never forget watching Nowitzki slowly walk through a crowded airport, signing autograph after autograph, brushing nobody off. According to Whitley, countless players have told him over the years that they "never thought he was like this" because of his intensity on the court.

One of the peculiarities about playing until you're 40 is that you end up sharing the court with people who grew up cheering for you. "I've got his jersey," Joe Ingles said. "Only one I've got." When Ingles and Nowitzki got in a scuffle, the Utah Jazz forward "felt bad 'cause I really like him."

Justin Anderson: The team that I would always choose on 2K, the poster that was on my wall, the jersey that I begged mom to buy was Dirk's. Coming to the league, being drafted by the Mavericks was obviously a surreal moment to me. I remember when I first got to see him in the locker room, just being able to kick it with him.

Chandler Parsons: We would always have a group that we would go to get dinner on the road. I remember the girl I was dating at the time I played in Dallas was German, so we'd always go to his house and we'd play tennis or we'd just hang out. Just little things like that that I would never think I'd get the chance to do with one of the greats. And it's just crazy how the world works. It started off with idolizing this guy and now I would consider him a close friend. It's crazy that basketball brought me to someone I looked up to as a role model my whole life.

Ryan Broekhoff, Mavericks forward, 2018-present: When I started basketball, I was like, "I want to be like Dirk." You'd go into the backyard or play against friends and throw up the one-legged fadeaways. It didn't go in too much, but you'd yell, "Dirk!"

Doug McDermott, Mavericks wing, 2018-2018: When I was in college, I kind of started shooting those fadeaways because of him. I watched him in the Finals that year against LeBron. I posted a lot in college, so I added it to my game and it ended up being really huge for me.

Ryan Broekhoff: It's come up in a couple of interviews. Whether he's paid much attention to it or not is a different story. I haven't gone up to him and just gone, "I was a big fan," all this sort of stuff. When I first came in, I was like, "Oh, wow, there's Dirk walking in." Now it's, "Hey, Dirk, how you doing? How's your day?" I know him as a person and he's such a down-to-earth, funny, warm character that it made it easy for me to not just see him as an idol growing up but a teammate and, now, friend.

Doug McDermott: I didn't want to be a fanboy around him. He doesn't know how big of a fan I am.

Elton Brand: It was refreshing because you hear a lot of stories about other superstars, and you go to the Mavericks and the initial team dinner is at his house. His wife is setting up the food. It's like a normal, just everyday teammate. You wouldn't think he was the Hall of Famer, you'd think he was the 15th guy just trying to hang on at times, with his demeanor.

Dennis Smith Jr.: He's willing to allow you into that aspect of life, letting you know how he is. He even told me that I need to go by his house and start babysitting his kids. He told me that my rookie year.

Al Whitley: He's a superstar player that's always thinking about the staff and enjoys hanging out with them outside of basketball. Some of his closest friends are the Mavs staff. I mean, we've grown up with him.

Rick Carlisle: He's not high-maintenance. He's not needy. He's a giver, not a taker. And you gotta be real careful because all those qualities point to a guy that's easy to take for granted. My level of respect for him is so high, and my understanding for how special he is both as a person and as a player is so high that I refuse to take that guy for granted.

Adrian Griffin: Dirk Nowitzki was very content about being Dirk Nowitzki. He didn't feel he had to live up to any persona. He didn't feel he had to be a prima donna or be out in the media and put on a certain image. He was cool with being Dirk, and that's what made him so special. He'd come into practice with jeans on an a T-shirt. On the court, he was a killer. Off the court, he was a gentle giant. I don't know if you'll ever find a Dirk Nowitzki ever again.

"Dude, you're 38, are you going to be able to walk tomorrow?"

When Avery Johnson coached the Mavericks, he had to resort to punishments. "It would be like, 'Hey, tomorrow's off; if anybody comes in, they're getting fined," ex-Mavs center Calvin Booth said. Johnson said it to the whole team, but the message was for Nowitzki, who did not seem to respect the concept of an off-day.

This is not to say that his extreme commitment to his routine is a problem. "No one sets a better example than Dirk Nowitzki," Nelson said, speaking reverentially about the way his game evolved under the tutelage of Geschwindner. The two of them wanted to add to what they called his "toolbox" every summer, and Nelson still sounds mystified by the way Nowitzki improved as a rebounder early in his career.

"Dirk is like a son to all of us, but particularly Holger who, really, in a lot of respects, birthed him from a basketball perspective," Nelson said. "He was working with him back in the day when he literally was this kid that was just a little colt on the court, trying to figure out life. He's been his agent, he's been his mentor, he's been his motivation, he's been, really, everything from soup to nuts. And Holger's skill set and his ingenuity perfectly matched up, I think, with Dirk. It was one of these really cool time-and-place happenstances where these two planets came together."

Nowitzki put the Mavericks on his shoulders, but loud, vocal leadership was never his thing. "He showed me the ropes, he showed me without telling me," former Dallas wing Justin Anderson said. Anderson is one of many ex-Mavs who said they made a point of doing shooting drills with him and watching what he was doing. When Nowitzki went to the cold tub, Anderson followed him to the cold tub. When Anderson noticed Nowitzki was eating before treatment, he decided to eat before treatment.

"He taught me so much about the game, whether it's taking care of your body, how much water he drinks," Anderson said."I mean, he drinks an insane amount of water. Every time I saw him he had a big glass bottle of Mountain Valley water with him."

Elton Brand: I saw Holger, his coach, come in from Germany, and I'd get shots up at night and they were there all day and night, working on his form, doing his, like, squatting all the way down to the ground and shooting high-arcing shots.

Ian Mahinmi: I asked Holger to work me out just so I could see it. I worked out a few times with him and his stuff is hard. You get to a point where you master that shit, no wonder why you're a Hall of Famer.

Elton Brand: It was fascinating, watching him do like squats and not even shoot the ball. And bear crawls.

DeAndre Jordan: Some of it is very unorthodox, but, shit, I mean, if it works for you, it works for you. Obviously it has been proven to work over 21 seasons. We all could take a page out of his book.

Seth Curry: It's about routine. It's about what you do every day. If you do something every single day, you can master it, you can figure out what works for you. Even today, you see guys like KD and Steph take some of those things they've seen Dirk do with Holger and apply it to their workouts, like getting extra low, shooting it super high arc. He definitely changed the game in the way people practiced shooting.

Donnie Nelson: We would give Dirk and Holger things that they needed to work on over the course of the summer, and when the season was over, it was almost like they went right back to Würzburg and got in that gym. And by the time training camp came around, not only did he have it, but he had it mastered.

Jason Terry: To watch Dirk work, to watch him prepare the way he did, it made me a better professional and a better player. There was many nights where I would be on one end of the court, he would be on the other and he would be working on his craft. And I would just peek down to the other end and just watch him work and what he was doing and with the efficiency that he was doing it with. That routine alone, I implemented and it gave me the longevity that I've had to this day, to be able to play 19 years. Had I not been Dirk Nowitzki's teammate and been able to witness that greatness every single day and sit by him in the locker room during my time in Dallas, I don't think I would have played as long.

Donnie Nelson: In all the years that I've been here, we haven't had a single guy that's outworked him. We get rookies that say, "Oh yeah I'll be here every day that Dirk's here, I'll work harder," and this and that. Yeah, that lasts about a week.

Harrison Barnes, Mavericks forward, 2016-2019: He'd always brag. He'd be like, "I heard you were a hard worker." I'm like, "Yeah, likewise. Hey, if you want to get in the gym, let me know." And he was coming back and he's in the gym for like an hour and a half, two hours after practice. I'm like, "Dude, you're 38, are you going to be able to walk tomorrow?"

Ian Mahinmi: You get on the tip of your finger when you do your pushups -- Dirk is the first guy that I actually saw doing that type of pushup. So one day I was looking at him, and he was like, "Man, what are you looking at me for? Get down with me and let's do a series." I started that 'cause of him.

Chandler Parsons: I'm looking at my free-throw percentage this year, I'm shooting 90 percent. I used the breathing technique that he taught me. I've always breathed out on my free throw. Before he shoots, he breathes in and kind of holds his breath at the line, which I thought was different. Most guys exhale and he said that kind of puts motion through your whole body. It's a little thing like that that I've picked up on that I'm still using today that I would have never learned if I didn't play with him.

Mike Procopio: He just never goes away from what works for him. And I talked to Don Kalkstein, our sports psychologist, and he says, "Pro, he's been doing it for 20 years. The same thing." The same workout with Holger. The jokes are the same. Everything is the same. It's like a Twilight Zone episode, where everybody else is dead but he's still coming in, doing the same thing, like he's talking to mannequins every day. I literally think if you set up 40 mannequins of our staff and he walks by, he'll just say the same thing without even noticing.

"Cut out of a different cloth"

"It's tough to see him like this," Dallas guard J.J. Barea said last month. Nowitzki had just shot 2-for-13 in a blowout loss to the Brooklyn Nets, missing his first nine shots and all seven of his 3-point attempts. The fans at Barclays Center screamed for Dirk and booed other Mavericks when they didn't pass him the ball. Barea knows how much Nowitzki loves to compete. Everyone around him knows that, 21 years in, losses and bad games still get to him.

You don't need to be a longtime teammate to know that this season has been challenging for Nowitzki. He has spoken publicly about the setback that kept him out until mid-December after spending last offseason recovering from ankle surgery. Over the last few years, he has been honest about the frustration that has come with his body no longer being able to keep up with his mind, just like he was honest about his Finals heartbreak.

Nowitzki never pretended to be invincible. He owned his failings, deflected praise and answered questions. According to Cuban, players can learn a lesson from this: "Being humble, open and vulnerable are signs of strength."

Al Whitley: He put in so much work this past summer and was actually feeling really good. The setback was tough to watch. I don't think many people, if any other than himself, could get through that and continue to play on and keep fighting every day at his age and at his stature. It would have been easy to just hang it up and say, "I gave it a go and it just didn't work out." But instead he was the first one at the gym getting treatment, rehabbing, trying to figure it out and get it right 'cause he wanted to come back and play so bad.

Mike Procopio: He's got a lot on his mind. He's hurting. I think if you invested in ice this past couple years, it went up about 300 points in the stock market because we've monopolized it. But the guy's going through some tough times sometimes, so joking around and making the guy smile and laugh is pretty cool.

Greg Buckner: He's Mr. Maverick. The Dallas Mavericks' legacy is all because of Dirk. And a little bit of Mark Cuban, don't get me wrong. But Dirk is the legacy. And he knows this is his baby. You never want to give up your baby. He feels like the Mavericks is his baby, and I think that's why he's grinding and grinding can play as long as he has.

Donnie Nelson: Dirk a number of times could have gone a different direction and said, "Hey listen, let me go finish up with Golden State." Look, he's gotten calls from all the big boys. I mean, anyone that's been in the Finals run -- L.A., Miami, he gets calls from all of those guys. Recruiting calls from some of the best players that have ever played the game: "Hey, come on and join us. We're assured that we'll get to the Finals. We got a shot to get you another ring." Dirk has turned down all of those sirens to stick it out here in Dallas. That's, beyond words, appreciated.

Rick Carlisle: Dirk's a great friend. This is my 11th year. We arrived here in 2008 when my daughter was going into preschool. She's now in eighth grade and my present contract runs through the end of high school for her. I'm well aware that the reason my daughter is going to likely be in the same school for 14 straight years, with pre-K, kindergarten and then grades 1 through 12, is because of Dirk's greatness and all these very unique qualities. He now has a young family with three kids, and he's learning what that's all about. But he and I have been through a lot, and if you look at what's happened with the team since the championship, there's been a lot of upheaval. There's been significant change virtually every year. But he's kept a consistent approach, a positive mindset, a positive bent on the whole thing. And it's made my job lightyears easier than what it could have been.

Donnie Nelson: This is almost like a time warp because you really can't believe this is potentially coming to an end. You can't imagine your life without that person. And it's not like he's leaving forever or anything like that, but you've been so used to having him be the rudder of the franchise for so long, you don't really know how to react to it.

Mike Procopio: I love him. he's a good dude. I'll never admit that to his face. I'll Frank Underwood this thing and just lie and put a spin on it if anyone ever says it, but I love the dude. He's a good guy. He's one of the best. I'm glad I got a chance to spend six years with the guy.

Rick Carlisle: I've been in teams with superstars for decades. I can categorically say that Dirk is cut out of a different cloth. I can also say with the utmost confidence that we will never, ever see a guy in the NBA game quite like him, in terms of his humility, loyalty and all-out level of greatness. The interesting thing about Dirk is the humility and loyalty make it easy to marginalize certain parts of his game and certain huge contributions that he's made to the game. And at the end of the day, that's what makes him the most special.

Donnie Nelson: If San Antonio is the last hoorah, will be his last game, that ironically is where everything started. We're going to be playing right next door to that little gym to where the Hoop Summit was played, that little 5000-person gym. So Dirk's period is going to end literally about 50 yards from where his American Idol moment happened. Ironically, Holger and I, we're going to have a date at the same place that we did however many years ago. If that is in fact the last game, it's ironic serendipity. It's almost like a song.

[dnowit41]

'They couldn't stop him': The oral history of Dirk's 1998 Nike Hoop Summit

Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer

Before stepping foot on American soil, 19-year-old Dirk Nowitzki played on a second-division team in his German hometown of Wurzburg that occasionally canceled practices to work on a farm owned by a teammate.

Sure, Nowitzki had managed to play his way onto the radar of some NBA teams and college programs. But he was far from a phenom.

That all changed during the 1998 Nike Hoop Summit in San Antonio's Alamo Stadium, when the lanky kid, who was so unheralded that his surname was misspelled "Nowitzski" repeatedly on the ESPN broadcast, blew up for 33 points and 14 rebounds to lead the World team to an upset over the U.S. in a matchup against future NBA stars.

More than two decades later, with Nowitzki likely in his final days of a legendary NBA career, we take a look back through the eyes of those who witnessed the big German's introduction to America and world-class basketball.

'Ahh, we'll just sneak out.'

Never mind facing world-class competition for the first time. Just getting out of Germany was a challenge for Nowitzki due to unfortunate timing. The Wurzburg X-Rays were in the middle of the playoffs with a chance to be promoted to the first division for the first time, putting Nowitzki in the uncomfortable dilemma of having to decide between loyalty to his hometown team and chasing his personal dream.

Dirk Nowitzki: I was invited [to the Hoop Summit] I think the year before, maybe even two years before. It's always a bad time, because at that time [the Wurzburg X-Rays] were in relegation to get moved up. Our dream was with the home team to go to the first division, get promoted, and we fell short every year. That year, again, we were in the promotion zone and we had big games.

Holger Geschwindner, Nowitzki's longtime mentor and then X-Rays assistant coach: We played really a risky game [leaving Germany]. We had been a second-division team and Dirk was a top guy.

Nowitzki: So 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 like, "Are you crazy? This is what we dreamed for, what we played for the last couple of years."

Geschwindner: I knew one thing for sure: The Hoop Summit was the only chance to perform on the international high level because we had no idea how [good] he really was.

Nowitzki: So 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 and it's for a big tournament or something. We had permission to go. Then we kind of had to ask the team. But Holger was kind of like, "Ahhh, we'll just sneak out." So I played the game Sunday night, and I think Monday morning we flew out of Frankfurt without really telling anyone. Holger might have talked to a manager or something, but I didn't say anything. So we snuck out.

Geschwindner: [Nowitzki's] dad did not know. I talked to the mom, and she said, "You have to tell his dad." The next morning I came in and said, "Did you tell him?" [Nowitzki] said, "I will tell him now." I said, "Listen, we have to drive two hours from Wurzburg to [the airport in] Frankfurt. We do not go onto the plane if he does not know."

Donnie Nelson, then Mavericks and World team assistant coach, now president of basketball ops: They were looking haggard when they finally got to Dallas. What was supposed to be a two-leg journey had turned into something like four legs. I was an assistant coach, so my job was to fetch coffee and get Germans when they arrived. I met them in the lobby of [Reunion Tower], and Holger was wearing the same jeans he's had since 1973 and still wears today. And, of course, the flannel shirt and leather jacket I'm sure he still has.

'My concern was that he was too nice of a kid to be a killer'

The World team had already practiced a couple of times in Dallas by the time Nowitzki arrived. It did not take the German long to make a strong impression.

Donnie Nelson: I had only seen [Nowitzki] on bad, grainy tape. A lot of international players tended to shrink six inches on the flight over. I looked at him and said, "Wow. He didn't shrink."

Geschwindner: On Wednesday afternoon, [the World team] had a scrimmage game where they decided who of those guys would go to the San Antonio game. We had to really get serious. The key thing was to get him in the first five.

Nowitzki: In [Don Nelson's] office you could peek through the blinds [and see the practice court]. I guess he did that, which I didn't know at the time. Apparently, they really liked what they saw.

Don Nelson, former Mavericks head coach and GM: Actually, Donnie got the team to work out the week before they went down to San Antonio at the YMCA in Dallas, the one downtown. It was closed, of course, to anybody except Donnie and I.

Donnie Nelson: You could tell [Dirk had] good footwork, handwork, could shoot it. We went through just intrasquad stuff.

Don Nelson: He was one of the most gifted young players I'd ever seen, and besides all that, the guy was 7 feet tall. I mean, he was just an incredible basketball player!

George Raveling, former Nike director of international basketball: I knew more about Dirk than most people because of my relationship with Holger, so he had already painted the picture for me mentally. Then when I saw the picture hanging up in the Louvre, I was like, "Wow!" All this stuff that Holger was telling me started to manifest in Dirk's play.

Donnie Nelson: My concern was that he was too nice of a kid to be a killer. He's such a kind, big-hearted guy. Most of the guys that go into those forums are guys that would just as soon rip your heart out and show it to you. He didn't strike me as that kind of human being, so my concern was, "Is he tough enough?" He certainly had the work ethic -- you could tell.

Nowitzki: At the time, I was kind of a less swag guy. I'm a little nervous and not sure if this is going to work and how good the kids are going to be. So I wasn't sure what to expect.

Don Nelson: We made a commitment after a few practices that we would hide him the best way we could from anybody seeing him. We committed to drafting him with whatever pick we had. We couldn't convince him not to play in that game.

Donnie Nelson: I think we saw the true tiger come out in San Antonio.

'They're going to blow them out. This isn't even going to be a game.'

The U.S. team was considered heavy favorites entering the game on March 29, 1998. The Americans jumped out to an early nine-point lead, overwhelming the international players with their quickness and athleticism -- they tallied a record 20 steals for the game -- and causing concern that the game wouldn't be competitive.

Geschwindner: The game in those days was on the Saturday between the Final Four.

Dan Shulman, ESPN play-by-play announcer: I remember knowing more about the American kids than the World team, and I remember thinking, "Boy, this team's stacked." I remember some size on it. Stromile Swift was on the team. Rashard Lewis was on the team. Al Harrington was on the team. And these were serious big-name guys coming out of high school.

Geschwindner: The only thing we talked with Dirk over was, "They cannot get the courage out of you. If you get the ball, drive to the basket. Try to dunk it. If they smash you down, keep going."

Nowitzki: I knew all of these guys are obviously some of the best that we have in the world at this age, so there was a respect level, but in Germany I'd never heard of any of their names.

Donnie Nelson: The first half of the game, the U.S. came out and put on this killer full-court press, and let's just say that our frontcourt was a lot better than our backcourt. And I think maybe in the entire first half, my recollection is we got the ball over half court a total of 10 times. We were in trouble!

Shulman: The U.S. got off to a hot start. I remember us thinking, "They're going to blow them out. This isn't even going to be a game."

Nowitzki: I figured they were going to be super-athletic. I figured they were going to press us the whole game and we were going to turn the ball over 100 times.

Raveling: Alessandro Gamba was coaching the team, and he was a legendary international coach from Italy. They're probably about 10 minutes into the game and there's a timeout. I'm sitting right by their bench at the scorer's table, and he comes over and he whispers in my ear, "George, who in the eff is that guy sitting behind the bench telling me how to coach my team?" I knew he was talking about Holger. He said, "I need you to get his ass out from behind my bench and stop trying to coach my team." So Dirk had two head coaches, and the most familiar voice was Holger's.

Donnie Nelson: Of course, going into halftime, we looked like we were going to get drilled by 100, and Dirk made his own adjustment going into the third quarter.

Shulman: Then the skinny kid from Germany started fouling everybody out of the game. About six U.S. guys fouled out of the game.

Donnie Nelson: After the first couple of possessions were like the first half, Dirk was in when they put the press back on by the top of the key, so then he starts going up over half court and tall as an oak tree. The poor guy taking the ball out was 5-10, just trying to get the ball in, and then he sees a German oak. And he's like, "Oh, thank goodness," and just throws it up there.

Nowitzki: We actually held up OK.

'We didn't know how to guard him. We had never seen him before.'

Nowitzki dominated the second half, scoring 19 points after the break. He finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds in the World team's 104-99 win, setting Hoop Summit records that would stand for more than a decade.

Shulman: The World made a comeback, and Dirk was the reason, because they couldn't stop him, whether he was shooting from the outside or shot fake and driving.

Donnie Nelson: Dirk does nothing less than the very thing that Holger taught him for years. That is, catch the ball, coast-to-coast like a guard, shoot 3s.

Darius Songaila, World team forward who played eight NBA seasons: It was like that game was created for him to show off to the whole world what he was capable of.

Al Harrington, U.S. team forward who played 16 NBA seasons: He was just impressive. Seeing a tall, lanky white kid that you never heard of coming out there with all that skill was just amazing. He just surprised us.

Raveling: I think he mesmerized the players on the other team, because he was doing things that they'd never seen a big guy do. They didn't think he could shoot that far out, and Dirk was active handling the ball. This was his coming-out, so-called party.

Donnie Nelson: A 6-11 guy taking the ball, throwing it left and right, shooting 3s, and we ended up making a game out of it. That's when you really saw the true Dirk coming out.

Don Nelson: Oh, the skills. I couldn't call him a great passer because the game was so easy to score for him. He just dominated. The game was so easy for him, and he was so fluid.

Songaila: Obviously he ended up with ridiculous numbers, so after the game there was a lot of hype that the guy was going to be a really good player. I don't think anybody thought that he was going to be that good.

Harrington: What really pissed me off about that day was that they won the game. I don't know how we lost that game.

Nowitzki: We hung in there and ended up stealing the game at the end. It was the first time the World team had won. We were hyped! We were hyped in the locker room! That was good times.

Harrington: We didn't know how to guard him. We had never seen him before. I hadn't heard of him until during the game. I had never heard of him, but I knew about him after the game. That's what's up.

Shulman: At the end of the night, all we were talking about was Nowitzki, who I think I called "No-WIT-ski" then because we didn't even know [the proper pronunciation]. He was an unknown at the beginning of the game, and he was the main attraction by the end.

'I knew everybody was going to want to have him'

Nowitzki's Hoop Summit performance established his status as a rising star in NBA circles -- he became the No. 9 overall pick two and a half months later -- but he didn't quite return home to Germany as a conquering hero.

Donnie Nelson: That was really the first unveiling, when Dirk did it against world-class talent and athleticism in that age group on a big stage. There was every team in spades that was there that saw all the same stuff that we did. That was when it was, "Holy cow, this can be a pretty good player."

Geschwindner: After the game, we had to fly immediately home. I thought I would be smart, and I got the newspaper from San Antonio in the airport. "International team beats U.S. boys" or whatever. I thought it would be more or less an excuse coming home.

Nowitzki: The team was kind of pissed. But they ended up winning the game that I missed. Then I was able to play the following game, and we won that. And that year we actually got promoted.

Geschwindner: They killed us [in Germany]. They killed us badly. Dirk was not at the [Wurzburg X-Rays] game. The boys won it anyway, but it doesn't matter. They were really mad. I was the guy that misleads youngsters. They really killed us. The press killed us in Germany.

Nowitzki: I think the most pissed was one of our foreign players, because he had a promotion bonus in his contract. It was a nice sum of money, I think, at the time for us playing over there. So he's basically saying, "You're playing with my money."

Donnie Nelson: That [Hoop Summit] was really, in a lot of respects, Dirk's "American Idol," the basketball version, where he crushed it. After that game, Dirk's life got a lot more complicated in a good way.

Raveling: The guy who really foresaw all of this was Donnie Nelson. He was more certain than anybody that Dirk was going to be a superstar, so he went to work doing his due diligence to make sure the Mavericks got him.

Don Nelson: I knew everybody was going to want to have him work out and do the circuit [before the draft]. That's when Donnie and I figured out a way to kind of have him disappear in Donnie's basement. [Laughs.] It just so happened Donnie had a little cot down there.

Nowitzki: Through Holger and hearing from international agents, I was the talk of NBA circles and scouts. That came out of nowhere to me. I guess I didn't realize how big that game was and what it meant until I came back home and all these agents came up to me and were like, "Hey, you're projected in the lottery now." I was like, "What?! That's insane."

Don Nelson: I knew then he'd be an All-Star for many, many years. I knew he had the skills to be one of the best. He fulfilled all those dreams and many, many more.

[dnowit41]

Dirk Nowitzki Had Doubts About Breaking Wilt Chamberlain's Scoring Record

As the 2018-19 NBA season tipped off, Dirk Nowitzki sat just 232 points shy of passing Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time scoring mark of 31,419 points. In past years, reaching that number would have been easy for the Dallas Mavericks’ legend, who averages 20.8 points for his career. This season is different, however. The 40-year-old Nowitzki didn’t start off the way he hoped. Because of that, there were times when he doubted whether he would reach Chamberlain’s milestone or even pass it, for that matter. He finally got there Monday night, with only 12 games to spare in the regular season.

"It’s been a long time coming this season, knowing before the year it was only 200-something points," Nowitzki said. "And then there were times that I thought, 'I’m not going to make it,' the way the season went with the injury and coming off the injury was super slow."

In April, Nowitzki chose to undergo surgical debridement on his left ankle, which had bothered him for several months. He expected to have a full recovery with better mobility and return ready for training camp. It wasn't to be as Nowitzki tweaked the same ankle while scrimmaging, inflaming his tendon. The injury kept him out all of training camp and preseason. His drawn out recovery also caused him to miss the first 26 games of the season before he eventually returned to action in mid-December.

Even after returning, it was clear that Nowitzki still wasn’t right. He struggled mightily in games, plodding up and down the court, missing shot after shot. Before February, he was averaging just 4.4 points. His new role coming off the bench—the first time since his rookie season—certainly factored into his labored game. There were even times when Nowitzki looked defeated, as if someone sucked the joy for the game out of him.

"There were obviously times in December and January where I couldn’t really move and it wasn’t fun," Nowitzki said. "It wasn’t fun to compete. I couldn’t help the guys. I had to put in a lot of work—a lot of work on off days. Whether it’s conditioning, lifting—just to somehow get back to where I can enjoy the game a little bit."

Through it all, Nowitzki kept his spirits up and continued working to give himself a chance to compete each night. In the past several seasons, he has put in extended time in the gym and has undergone extensive treatment just to keep his body from breaking down. Without it, he almost certainty would not be able to cope with the physicality of game and the rigors of the NBA schedule.

"If you see the things that they are sticking in his body, from needles to everything else—all over it—just to be able to get out there and play then you’d be absolutely amazed," Mavericks Head Coach Rick Carlisle said. "Part of me is just, really more than ever, in awe of his will to compete."

Nowitzki displayed that same drive and determination as he crept closer to Chamberlain’s scoring record. He scored 14 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 16, coming within four points of breaking the record, before his shot left him in the fourth quarter. The following game, against the New Orleans Pelicans, Nowitzki came out focused and went to work early.

In front of a sellout crowd that was on its feet, he scored his first bucket with an assist from rookie Jalen Brunson with 9:51 remaining in the first quarter. Just over a minute later, he passed Chamberlain after Luka Doncic found him at the top of the key. Nowitzki turned and rose over Kenrich Williams with a signature fadeaway jumper and splashed it home.

After all the work that he’s put in to keep playing, Nowitzki says he is finally feeling better and it shows on the court. Since moving into predominantly a starting role in late February, his scoring average ticked up to 9.3 points per game. While this will likely go down as his lowest scoring season since his rookie year, Nowitzki can at least cherish overcoming a slew of obsacles to become the NBA’s sixth all-time scorer, again (LeBron James passed him earlier this season), and have his name alongside the game’s great players.

"Anytime you beat some of those legends up there, it’s incredible," Nowitzki said. "It’s surreal at times to be up there with some of these names. I’m going to really let that all soak in once my career is over and show my kids."

-Doyle Rader (Sports Money)

[dnowit41]

GOATs on GOATs: LeBron and MJ in their own words through the years

Stop us if you've heard this before: Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. Six championships. Count 'em. OK, stop us if you've also heard this: LeBron James is the GOAT. The King is simply bigger and stronger, and he has done it longer.

The two never faced off in an NBA game. Jordan played his last game for the Washington Wizards on April 16, 2003 -- two months before the Cleveland Cavaliers made James the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. But their paths have been linked for as long as we can remember -- and will cross again soon. James is set to serve as a captain for this weekend's 2019 NBA All-Star Game, being staged in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Jordan serves as the owner of the Hornets. Shortly after, James, now in his 16th season, likely will pass Jordan for fourth on the league's all-time scoring list. So who is the real GOAT? The debate rages on. On your television. In the comments section. In your Twitter replies.

But it doesn't matter what we say. Here are Jordan and James, in their own words, talking about each other over the past 17 years.

2001: The first meeting

LeBron James was a young high school star who had yet to make his big impression on the national stage when he first met Michael Jordan, who was preparing for a comeback with the Wizards. James spoke about that first meeting this past December as he prepared to play the Jordan-owned Hornets in Charlotte.

LeBron: First time meeting Jordan was 'godly'

LeBron James reminisces about the first time he met Michael Jordan in 2001.

"It was godly. I've said that over and over before, but it was like meeting God for the first time. That's what I felt like as a 16-year-old kid when I met MJ. -- LeBron James Dec. 15, 2018 (Source: Multiple, pregame media availability)

2002: LeBron hits the scene

Just a year later, James himself was getting compared to deities, being dubbed "The Chosen One" on the cover of "Sports Illustrated" as a junior in high school.

"He's very talented. But he's young, and there's a lot of things he doesn't know." -- Michael Jordan Jan. 18, 2002 (Source: Associated Press)

"If you have a chance to talk to him, you listen. More people listen to him than listen to the president of the United States."

-- LeBron James Nov. 5, 2002 (Source: Newhouse News Services)

2003: Jordan exits, James enters

"Is he capable? Yes. He has the skills that most 18-year-olds do not have. Now, if you equate that to playing in the league, I think he would be an average player in our league right now with the potential to be a better player. To say that he can step in at the same level as a Tracy McGrady or a Kobe Bryant would be unfair to LeBron James." -- Michael Jordan Feb. 4, 2003 (Source: MSG Network)

"Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever and ... if anybody in the world can criticize somebody, it can be Michael Jordan. There's no way I'm going to get mad at Michael Jordan criticizing me. There's no way. Michael Jordan is like a dad. If Michael Jordan is going to tell anybody to do something -- the players, the media, the coaches -- you should do it. Simple as that." -- LeBron James April 16, 2003 (Source: Associated Press)

"I'm not going to be able to do it the way Jordan did, I can tell you that. I think I can produce enough, contribute enough, on and off the court, to lift the city of Cleveland." -- LeBron James June 27, 2003 (Source: New York Post)

A changing of the guard was taking place, whether Jordan wanted to acknowledge it or not. Jordan played his final game as a member of the Wizards on April 16, 2003. Two months later, James was selected No. 1 overall by the Cavaliers, a team Jordan famously tormented during his NBA career. The next generation had arrived.

Before his first game as a professional at Chicago's United Center -- The House That MJ Built -- James tried to downplay the comparisons.

"I'm not trying to be Jordan. I'm not trying to compare myself to Jordan or Magic [Johnson] or [Larry] Bird. A lot of people are, but I'm not. They have their own legacies. I'm trying to build my own. I know Michael, but I don't communicate with him. I'm just trying to be me." -- LeBron James Dec. 19, 2003 (Source: Chicago Sun Times)

2004-2006: James on the rise

Though James downplayed the Jordan comparison, he was forced to face it again in 2004, when he made his Team USA debut -- wearing the same No. 9 that Jordan had worn with the Dream Team.

"It didn't matter what I said, I knew you guys would make that connection anyway. That was the greatest basketball team of all time." -- LeBron James Aug. 13, 2004 (Source: The Record -- of Bergen County, New Jersey)

"I think he's doing fine on his own. Obviously, you guys are comparing him with me. They did it with me when I came up with [Julius Erving] and Oscar [Robertson]. But I think the thing about LeBron and what makes him hopefully survive is that he does what's best for LeBron, not what people expect him to do, who think he should be Michael Jordan." -- Michael Jordan Feb. 10, 2005 (Source: New York Daily News)

"I've seen classic games of Jordan versus the Pistons and the Bulls versus the Pistons. To become the best, you've got to beat the best. It might not happen the first year or the second year or third year, but you just got to keep working at it and, hopefully, you'll get over that hump. [Jordan] was able to overcome adversity and overcome the beast. He became the beast." -- LeBron James May 9, 2006 (Source: The Globe and Mail, Canada)

Those classic Pistons-Bulls clashes -- four series from 1988 to 1991 -- saw Detroit's rough-and-tumble "Jordan Rules" blitz and bruise the Bulls star with a defensive scheme now outlawed. The Pistons overcame Chicago until Jordan got over the hump in 1991. Before Game 2 of the 2006 Eastern Conference semis during James' first postseason, James considered the obstacle of the modern Bad Boys, a Pistons championship group that would make six straight conference finals from 2003 to 2008. James, it turned out, was a year away.

2007: LeBron makes 'The Leap'

On This Date: LeBron scores Cavs' final 25 points.

On May 31, 2007, LeBron James scored 48 points as Cleveland beat Detroit in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.

In Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals, James put on a Jordanesque show, scoring the Cavaliers' final 25 points to lift them to a double-overtime win. Two days later, Cleveland reached its first NBA Finals by eliminating the Pistons, the same team Jordan had gotten past to reach his first Finals in 1991. Though James and the Cavs would end up being swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the Finals, Jordan was complimentary of James' accomplishments ... to an extent.

"What just transpired was something I felt was needed for the league, was needed for Cleveland, was needed for LeBron. Making 'The Leap' is where you do it every single night. It's expected of you, and you do it. ... Not one game, not two games. It's consistent. Every defense comes in and they focus on you and you still impact the game. I think he's shown signs of that." -- Michael Jordan June 4, 2007 (Source: Chicago Tribune)

"Anytime you get praise from the guy who basically laid down all the stones for you to get here -- I grew up idolizing his game and how he played the game of basketball -- it was definitely great to hear." -- LeBron James June 4, 2007 (Source: Associated Press)

2008-2009: LeBron strikes out on his own

"I'm a totally different player than Michael Jordan. As far as the next Jordan, there is no such thing. There's one Michael Jordan and only one, and no one compares with him." -- LeBron James March 6, 2008 (Source: Chicago Tribune)

On this date: LeBron sinks Magic with dramatic buzzer-beater.

LeBron James nails a 3-pointer over Hedo Turkoglu as time expires to give the Cavaliers a 96-95 win over the Magic in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern Conference finals.

"That guy is not in the league anymore. The other 23 is on the good side now." -- LeBron James May 22, 2009 (Source: Associated Press)

Of course, Jordan had been retired for six years, but the memories of his dominance hadn't faded, especially in Cleveland. That's why when James hit what he called the biggest shot of his career to that point, a buzzer-beating 3 over Hedo Turkoglu to beat the Orlando Magic in Game 2 of the 2009 Eastern finals, the hometown hero said it was out of his "Michael Jordan bag of tricks." But the Cavs would go on to lose the series in six games.

2009-2010: The Decision and the aftermath

"He's made his mark in Cleveland. I know New York fans would love to have him, but you need a lot more components than just one player. He's done a heck of a job in Cleveland, and they deserve to have him there." -- Michael Jordan June 13, 2009 (Source: New York Daily News)

"In a fantasy world, there are a lot of guys in the NBA you would love to see who could you be on the same team and see how you match up with the rest of the NBA. Not just myself, everybody in the league has visualized playing with somebody, even guys who are not in the league anymore. I visualized playing alongside Michael Jordan when I was a kid. Everyone has that vision." -- LeBron James Nov. 12, 2009 (Source: Toronto Star Newspapers)

"It's time. He's the best basketball player we've ever seen. Mike does it on the court and off the court. If you see 23, you think about Michael Jordan.You see guys flying through the air, you think about Michael Jordan. You see game-winning shots, you think about Michael Jordan. You see fly kicks, you think about Michael Jordan. He did so much, it has to be recognized, and not just by putting him in the Hall of Fame. He can't get the logo, and if he can't, something has to be done. I feel like no NBA player should wear 23.Nobody. If I'm not going to wear No. 23, then nobody else should be able to wear it." -- LeBron James Nov. 12, 2009 (Source: TNT)

Be like Mike: LeBron wants to own an NBA team

LeBron James has modeled his career after Michael Jordan's. Will he own a team like MJ does in the future?

Five names ready to dominate the next 10 All-Star games

With LeBron in MJ's house for this weekend's All-Star Game, here are five 25-and-under stars with the talent and star power to take the throne in a post-LeBron NBA.

Is LeBron overtaking MJ as the greatest player of all time?

LeBron's dominance at age 33 is forcing a reconsideration on the question of who is the greatest basketball player ever.

In retrospect, James' comments before and after that Nov. 12 game in Miami -- a game Jordan watched from a courtside seat -- should've been a sign. James talked about teaming up with "a lot of guys" (perhaps his good friend Dwyane Wade, for example), then said Jordan's 23 should be retired leaguewide -- like it already was in Miami, though Jordan never played for the Heat. James wore No. 6 during his time in Miami.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry [Bird], called up Magic [Johnson] and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.' But that's ... things are different. I can't say that's a bad thing. It's an opportunity these kids have today. In all honesty, I was trying to beat those guys." -- Michael Jordan July 18, 2010 (Source: NBC)

In an interview that aired 10 days after "The Decision," Jordan made it clear where he stood on James teaming up with Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. It was in line with many of James' critics who believed the NBA's best should be playing against one another.

2011: LeBron's Finals failure

Scottie Pippen, Jordan's co-star for six titles, had said that James could, someday, be better than Jordan. At 26 years old, James already had developed into one of the best all-around players in NBA history.

"I'm gracious. Humbled by Scottie's comments, especially with him being a teammate of his and seeing Michael on a day-to-day basis. But as far as me, I'm not going to sit here and say I'm better than Jordan. I'm not better than Jordan." -- LeBron James May 28, 2011 (Source: Associated Press)

Ten days after these comments, James would have perhaps the worst game of his career: a deer-in-the-headlights, eight-point stinker in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Heat would lose to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.

2012-2013: Count the rings?

"Jordan was my superhero growing up. He was the guy I feel helped me get to where I am today. As a competitor, who would not want to go against the best? That's like asking [Tom] Brady would he want to go against [Joe] Montana in the fourth quarter." -- LeBron James Dec. 6, 2012 (Source: Sports Illustrated)

James might have won his first title in 2012, but he still had a long way to go in Jordan's eyes. When asked which player he would choose if he was starting a team from scratch, James or Kobe Bryant, Jordan sided with the Lakers star, who already had a fistful of rings -- though still one less than Jordan himself.

"If you had to pick between the two, that would be a tough choice, but five beats one every time I look at it. And not that [James] won't get five. He may get more than that, but five is bigger than one." -- Michael Jordan Feb. 15, 2013 (Source: NBA TV)

"At the end of the day, rings don't always define someone's career. If that's the case, then I'd sit up here and say I'd take [Bill] Russell over Jordan. But I wouldn't take Russell over Jordan. Russell has 11 rings, Jordan has six. Or I'd take Robert Horry over Kobe. I wouldn't do that. ... You look at a guy like Jud Buechler, who has multiple rings. Charles Barkley doesn't have one ring. He's not better than Charles Barkley. Patrick Ewing is one of the greatest of all time. Reggie Miller is one of the greatest of all time. Sometimes, it's the situation you're in. Timing, as well. I don't play the game and try to define who I am over what guys say or how they feel about me." -- LeBron James Feb. 16, 2013 (Source: New York Post)

2013-2015: The debate heats up

"If I have to guard him, I'm gonna push him left so nine times out of 10 he's gonna shoot a jump shot. If he goes right, he's going to the hole and I can't stop him. So I ain't letting him go right." -- Michael Jordan Feb. 22, 2013 (Source: ESPN's Wright Thompson)

Like the ring-counting argument, James didn't side with Jordan here, either, calling Jordan's theory "wrong." Two weeks after Jordan's comments were published, James beat the Magic with a buzzer-beating layup off a drive to his left. James then did the same to Paul George two months later to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Was Jordan on his mind? We'll never know.

"I watch Jordan more than anybody; for sure, MJ wasn't perfect. MJ had bad games. He had turnovers. He had games where he felt like he should have been better. But I think the greatest thing about MJ was that he never was afraid to fail. And I think that's why he succeeded so much, because he was never afraid of what anybody ever said about him. Never afraid to miss a game-winning shot, never afraid to turn the ball over. Never afraid. That's one of my biggest obstacles. I'm afraid of failure. I want to succeed so bad that I become afraid of failing." -- LeBron James Oct. 19, 2013 (Source: ESPN)

Though James and Jordan never met on the court as opponents, they've been in the same building plenty of times, including during the 2014 playoffs, when James' Heat swept the Jordan-owned Charlotte Bobcats in the first round. During Game 3, Jordan had a courtside view for a vintage James breakaway dunk, one that seemed to follow James shooting a look at Jordan.

"No, no. Don't start that. Absolutely not, man. Absolutely not. I was able to read [Josh] McRoberts, get a steal and push the lead back up. I absolutely didn't look at MJ, for sure." -- LeBron James April 26, 2014 (Source: The Charlotte Observer)

"Why you guys ask me this question? You know this is an ESPN question. You know it's gonna be all over ESPN. If I was in my prime, could I beat LeBron in a one-on-one game? No question!" -- Michael Jordan Aug. 10, 2015 (Source: Bay Area HQ via MJ Flight School Camp)

Jordan was holding court with attendees at his Flight School camp when the question came up -- though it's unlikely it was the first time he was asked about it. We'll never know the results of a hypothetical matchup, but we can at least check out the tale of the tape:

2016: Chasing ghosts

"My motivation is this ghost I'm chasing. The ghost played in Chicago. ... I think it's cool to put myself in position to be one of those great players, but if I can ever put myself in position to be the greatest player, that would be something extraordinary." -- LeBron James Aug. 2, 2016 (Source: Sports Illustrated)

One day before his 32nd birthday, James was asked by a reporter if he studied a 32-year-old Jordan, whose game had evolved from all fire and fury at the rim to more fadeaways and jab steps. Jordan, as the reporter pointed out, last averaged over 30.0 points per game in his age-32 season. James didn't bite.

"No, I haven't [studied Jordan], because our games are so different. He was much more of a scorer. At that point, he did a lot of post work, but our games are just different. His body is different, my body is different than his. You recognize the dominance that someone had at that age, but there's no similarities in our game, at all." -- LeBron James Dec. 29, 2016 (Source: Cavs.com)

2017-2018: Mutual respect

"I think I fell in love with the game because of Mike, just seeing what he was able to accomplish. When you're growing up and you're seeing Michael Jordan, it's almost like a god. So, I didn't ever believe I could be Mike. I started to focus on myself, on other players and other people around my neighborhood, because I never thought that you could get to a point where Mike was. I shot fadeaways before I should have. I wore a leg sleeve on my leg and folded it down so you saw the red part. I wore black-and-red shoes with white socks. I wore short shorts so you could see my undershorts underneath. I didn't go bald like Mike, but I'm getting there. Other than that, I did everything Mike did. I even wore a wristband on my forearm. I didn't do the hoop earring, either. That was Mike. But I did everything Mike did, man. I wanted to be Mike, so for my name to come up in any discussion with Michael Jordan or Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] ... it's a wow factor." -- LeBron James May 26, 2017 (Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)

"I support LeBron James. He's doing an amazing job for his community." -- Michael Jordan Aug. 4, 2018 (Source: NBC News)

After the beef between James and President Donald Trump -- Trump tweeted that CNN anchor Don Lemon "made LeBron look smart, which isn't easy to do. I like Mike!" -- Jordan backed James, who has been a loud and frequent critic of the president. While Jordan mostly stayed quiet on political issues during his playing career, his level of involvement has increased in recent years.

"MJ made the game global. He made the game global. He made people all over the world want to watch the game of basketball because of his marketability, because of the way he played the game of basketball, because of who he was. He kind of transcended that era." -- LeBron James Dec. 15, 2018 (Source: ESPN)

2018: The last word?

LeBron feels he's the GOAT after Cavs' 2016 title win.

In the latest episode of "More Than An Athlete," LeBron James says his historic 2016 NBA Finals win made him the greatest player ever. Go to ESPN+ and subscribe now to view full episodes.

"That one right there made me the greatest player of all time. That's what I felt. I was super, super ecstatic to win one for Cleveland because of the 52-year drought. ... The first wave of emotion was when everyone saw me crying, like, that was all for 52 years of everything in sports that's gone on in Cleveland. And then after I stopped, I was like -- that one right there made you the greatest player of all time." -- LeBron James

-Anthony Olivieri

[dnowit41]

Letting Go of Dirk Nowitzki and Remembering Greatness

By Andy Tobo

The most important shot of Dirk Nowitzki’s life before 2011 was, of all things, a driving, baseline layup, Manu Ginobili’s hand on his wrist like someone trying to hold back history.

At the time it meant everything, and it should have meant more. It didn’t because of what happened in the Finals, and history swung away. After 2011, though, there were so many shots, and I almost feel like I remember them all. That game against OKC where a visibly frustrated Scott Brooks spread out a cornucopia of bigs for Dirk to roast, on his way to 48 points on only fifteen attempts. That three-pointer that arced so high it talked to god before coming down to barely bother the net on its way through. In the Finals, it happened almost every game. When it was all over, when the dust had settled, Dirk had secured his place in the basketball cosmos at the tender age of 32.

It should have happened earlier, a statement that has nothing whatsoever to do with Bennett Salvatore and whether Dwyane Wade deserved what he got. Had the rest of the NBA simply been watching Dirk between 2006 and 2011, which they would have had things gone better, they would have seen him average roughly 25 points a game while shooting .489/.391/.897, despite being so much the focus of other team’s defensive schemes, I’d be surprised if their coaches spent five minutes on anyone else.

And he did it with less: himself. A modern marvel of German engineering, Dirk is now sixth all-time in scoring despite shooting, on average, less than sixteen times a game (15.9). Jordan shot 22.9, LeBron is at 19.6, Kobe was at 19.5, and even Kareem, who also played forever, is at 18. He is one of the three or four deadliest offensive weapons in the game’s history, while taking about as many shots per season as Khris Middleton had last year.

He did so much with less, but the less counted against him, for so long, because he didn’t have the ring. He didn’t have a Kobe for his Shaq or vice versa, he didn’t have a David Robinson, or a Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker. If the guys he did have look comparable, today, for most of that time, it is almost exclusively because they were on his team, which gave them shots they hadn’t had since high school. You can’t find a guy who was important on the Mavs of the 2000s who is known for what he did after Dallas, and there’s a reason for that. Only nobody believed us.

The reality of Dirk

There’s nothing I believe in more than the fact that some day, some one will develop a stat that shows the reality of Dirk, how much more he did than the eye could see. It will explain how one great player took a team that, for example, started the first game of the 2006 Finals alongside Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Adrian Griffin, and DeSagana Diop to 145 playoff games and eleven straight seasons with 50+ wins.

I sometimes think he’d have been appreciated more if his teams were worse, like Kevin Garnett’s were, and like KG was. As if by making his teams better than Garnett’s wolf pups, he made it look too much like it couldn’t be mostly him. As if it’s somehow inexplicable how a titanic offensive force like Dirk would seem to be playing with better offensive players than a merely (sorry) really good offensive player like Garnett, by virtue of the shots that came their way. But then, in 2011, for no reason other than that his luck finally shifted, all that changed, and it has stayed changed. Nobody in the NBA is more universally beloved and appreciated than Dirk Nowitzki, now that his career is almost done. But 32 is too old for a basketball player to become famous and – unlike the rest of us, of course – he has since become older still.

Still, it might not have happened at all. It certainly didn’t look like it could when the series started – this was Mavs-Heat II, of course, but this was the mutant, Monstars version of what they had once been. It certainly didn’t look like it as the waning minutes of Game 2 ticked down, under the tense gaze of a scoreboard that showed a 15-point deficit, with a Game 1 loss already in the books. It certainly hadn’t looked possible before Game 2, when the Mavericks announced that, in addition to the loss of the game, Dirk would thereafter be suffering through a torn ligament in his left hand and a hundred degree fever. But it happened, starting with Game 2. The lead vanished. And with four seconds left, Dirk bounced right, rolled left, ducked between Chris Bosh and LeBron James, and hit a layup over Udonis Haslem with his broken left hand.

That night I said to myself the first time something I’ve told myself a hundred times since: sometimes, you have to hope even though there’s no reason to hope. And even when it isn’t safe to hope. And even though it hurts to hope. For the last three years I was caught in the waves of a brutal job market, never knowing where shore was. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think of giving up many times during that period, or that I think it ultimately worked out simply because I didn’t. But I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the worst times if I hadn’t been able to say to myself sometimes you have to be able to hope even when there is no reason to hope.

Reflecting on twenty plus years

I wanted to say something about a career that’s almost over. I don’t really know how. I want to say that if you just tuned in, in 2011, you were already too late. It’s not that Dirk in his early thirties wasn’t in some ways the best version of himself. The absolute best offensive players – and in my memory, only Dirk and LeBron have really gotten here – don’t beat you just by hitting impossible shots, they beat you with their complete mastery of the game. It’s a very hard thing to do, putting an entire team’s defense just where you want it, but that’s what they do, and did – they are planetary masses, shaping the gravity of the court, a higher basketball power. Nothing they do looks hard because they are where they want to be and you are where they want you to be.

That was certainly the Dirk who won the championship. Other than three-point percentage, nothing stands out about his 2011 numbers. Over his 145 playoff games, he averaged 25.3 and 10 while shooting .479/.892/.365, and in 2011 for the season it was 27.7 and 8.1 while shooting .488/.941/.460. But 32-year-old Dirk put the game in a cauldron and boiled all the fat off of it. Before you knew it, he’d have his back on you. If you jumped when he turned, he’d brush past you for a layup, and if you didn’t — and even most of the time when he did — he’d hit a jumpshot over you. And if you fouled him, he’d still make it, and hit the free throw. Simple as that.

But you can’t even imagine what Dirk used to be able to do. Even people who followed his entire career, as I did, can’t, anymore. I have this theory that we literally can’t help understanding a player’s entire career in terms of their current level of play. Kobe, who was at his worst an inefficient chucker hid how unbelievably deadly he had been by becoming more so over time — but resembling himself so much in the process that it was too hard to tell the difference. Dirk, too, is hiding behind himself. For one thing, people remember him, as they do all European players, as an outside shooting, light rebounding kind of big, but it’s just not true.

From 2003 until 2013, he took fewer than 23 percent of his shots from three every single year and all but three of those years, under 20 percent. He never averaged double-digit rebounds, but he grabbed 9.9 two years in a row, and believe me when I say that when it mattered, he was getting that board. In his one and only playoff matchup with Kevin Garnett, in 2002, he averaged over fifteen boards a game. When the Mavs beat Sacramento to make their first Western Conference Finals the next year, he grabbed 11, 12, 20, 11, 15, 12, and 19, then 15 in the first game against the Spurs — to go with 38 points on 10-of-19 shooting. Over his career, in playoff elimination games, he averaged 27.6 and 10.9.

Go watch a YouTube video some time — even those of us who remember, forget.

But I also want to say — as strongly as I can — that it doesn’t really matter. One half of a player’s career faces outwards, to the world. Do what you want with that part, I can’t stop you. But the other half faces in, towards those of us who were part of it. When a player matters to you, you own a little part of their career, and it becomes a part of your own story. For Dirk and Dallas, for those of us of a certain age, that’s more true than it’s been for almost anybody in the history of sports.

Every other character in the Dallas sports scene over the last 20 years has a bit part, compared to Dirk, and certainly nobody has 20 years. Tony Romo was the main QB of the Cowboys for about eight seasons, which is how long Adrian Beltre has manned third base for the Rangers. And it’s how long the JET was our shooting guard, before moving on. Twenty years. I was 13 when he showed up, all legs and elbows, and I am 33 now. Forgetting Dirk Nowitzki, after this season, after ten more seasons, after as many as I breathe air on this earth, would be like forgetting my own life. Do what you want, with the part you have. For me, I can see it all at once, like that long, dim corridor the players come out of, stretching backwards into shadows we cannot see. I see him coming out of that tunnel, at 20, 25, 30, 35, with different haircuts, a slowly dissolving gait. Maybe he will come out of it 80 more times.

Knowing how to live

It’s not enough, and it is. What I want you to know is that there will come a time, believe me, when you will wish everything had lasted longer. There will even come a time, not long now, when you begin to feel it while it’s happening. You will lose your youth, and some of those you love, and many more of those you love will be very far away. You will never have enough conversations with your parents, or your spouse, or your siblings. Some days, every minute I spend with my wife I think that I could never get enough of this, but time won’t stop passing. My heart could burst with it. It won’t stop being true. If “growing up” means anything at all it means finding the courage to go on, knowing how much will end, how soon. It’s a skill no one gains gladly.

But when that time comes you will know how to live, most days, with what has happened, as if it were enough. I could wish that I were in the middle of Dirk’s career, with ten productive years to go, and I also can’t live with the thought that they’d go any other way. I wish he had more rings, which easily could have happened, and he could easily have gone without having any at all.

I wish more people knew him, faster, but they know him now. He meant things to me no other player ever will — if I am less involved in basketball than I was seven years ago, and I am, it is at least 90 percent because I know that no sporting event could ever again make me as happy as Dirk Nowitzki getting the ring he deserved, in the most improbable fashion, against the most improbable team.

All I can wish, then, is that you will have, from sports, at least the bright days I have already had. Life is cruel, some stories will not end well, or will be too short — perhaps even yours, and certainly many around you. Some people are born at the end of an age, expecting the stability their parents enjoyed. I have already lost many friends, and relatives, and loved ones. I will lose many more. And all of us, if we live, outlive our strength. But maybe you don’t need a second chance when the first one was so beautiful.

This is the long goodbye. So is every day of your entire life, and this matters a lot less. But it mattered to me, and it’s a part of me, and that’s enough. I am lucky I grew up with Dirk Nowitzki, and it won’t ever have been any other way. It never won’t feel cruel, in some ways at least, to wake up where you are, and not where you were, whole landscapes of time suddenly stretching out beyond you. Because we want to hold on to some things forever. Because what we lose in time is truly lost, but we always feel like we just had it in our hands. Because we always think it will stay where we put it, that we will find it again if we just look where we remember it was.

In the end, the two things we can’t change are the past and what the past has done to us. What we have, we have paid for, one way or another. In this case, for Dirk, it was the hours and days in the gyms, for me the days and decades of hoping against hope and mostly losing. We are all sadder than we used to be, but maybe tougher, too. We are hopefully wiser, and everything leaves its marks on our skin. We are heavy with time, or we are growing heavier, and there is no other way it could be. What we own that no one can see — that’s what no one can take.

I am ready to watch Dirk play what is likely the last season of his career, as I never thought I would be. He is safe, his story already has a happy ending, and that part of my life, therefore, does too. We have held on to each other as long as we can, and it has been enough. Other things, I will never let go, until time pries the fingers from my hand. Some things you should never lose gracefully. And sometimes you have to hope, when there is no reason to hope. Either way, there is nothing we can do but keep jogging out of the tunnel until our time is up. We can live with that, and I can live with this. Ready or not, here it comes.

[dnowit41]

Playoff Dirk

- Micah Adams

Largest Regular Season To Playoff Leaps

CATEGORY                          PLAYER                                    CHANGE

PPG                                    Dirk Nowitzki                                 +4.1

RPG                                    Dirk Nowitzki                                 +2.3

APG                                    Mike Conley                                  +1.1

SPG                                    Bradley Beal                                  +0.5

BPG                                    Dwight Howard                              +0.5

Whenever Dirk Nowitzki calls it quits, we'll remember him as perhaps the sweetest-shooting big of all time, the best European player ever and a Finals MVP for the only title team in Dallas Mavericks history. Though perhaps out of sight and out of mind given that the Mavs haven't won a playoff series since that title run in 2011, it should also be mentioned that nobody in our pool upped his scoring or rebounding averages as much as Dirk.

While that bizarre loss to the "We Believe" Warriors in the first round of his MVP season in 2007 might have left a sour taste, Nowitzki more often than not upped the ante when it mattered most. Of the top 100 in NBA history in scoring average, only two players -- Hakeem Olajuwon (who predates our post-Jordan pool) and Anthony Davis (who has played all of 404 postseason minutes) -- have a larger bump from the regular season to the playoffs.