Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki recently sat down for a wide-ranging oral history of his career with D Magazine. During the discussion, the German-born icon discussed the struggles he faced in his rookie season, as well as the possibility of returning to Europe if his NBA dream didn't pan out.
Nowitzki's first season of NBA service ended with rather dismal results (8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 20.4 minutes per game). He went on to become one of the greatest players the league has ever known. His one-legged fall-away jumper is a shot that is still imitated to this day. In that rookie season, however, his mind wandered a bit.
Marc Stein (Mavs/NBA beat writer): It was just a bad year all around. He didn’t really talk about it at the time, but he definitely said years later that he gave real thought to going back to Europe after the first year.
Jeff “Skin” Wade, Mavs broadcaster, 2009–present: I just found out recently that even after his first year, his dad thought it was possible that he might still come home and take over their family painting business.
Nowitzki: I think once I made the big step I thought, OK, I’ll finish at least the first contract. The big decision was to come. Because I had other offers. I could have gone to Milano or I could have gone to FC Barcelona in Europe and obviously been closer to my family. So once I was here, I thought, Now you’ve made the decision. You have to at least fight through the first contract and see how it goes. I figured, if it doesn’t work out, I can always—after three years—go back and play in Europe.
Nowitzki admits that playing in Europe would have left him closer to his family. He never had to make that move, though, as his prominence in the NBA steadily rose in the following years.
“Der große Deutsche,” as Dirk came to be known, played 21 seasons in the NBA, earning numerous prestigious accolades along the way (2011 champion and Finals MVP, 2007 NBA MVP and 14 All-Star selections). And though he'll no longer be playing in the league, the memories he left behind will live on.
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