Right now, there is very little doubt — if any — that Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki is on his way to becoming a Hall of Famer. However, for former Mavs teammate Greg Buckner, he knew early on that the German was bound for greatness. As a matter of fact, the 6-foot-4 wing already had a hunch as early as Nowitzki's rookie year.
“He was green, not sure of himself, but very talented, bro’, very talented,” Buckner told Dwain Price of Mavs.com. “I came back and I was telling people, I said, ‘This boy is going to be a Hall of Famer.’ And everybody was saying, ‘Yeah, for real?’
“And then he struggled that rookie year and they said, ‘Boy, you don’t know how to pick talent.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah. Right. Ok.’ “
After being selected ninth overall in the 1998 draft (by the Milwaukee Bucks, who immediately moved Dirk to the Mavs on draft day), Dirk failed to live up to expectations during his rookie campaign. At 20 years of age, Nowitzki put up only 8.2 points, 0.3 three-pointers, 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 1.6 turnovers in just 47 appearances for Dallas as a rookie.
However, he quickly got used to life in the NBA and had a tremendous sophomore year, upping his average to 17.5 points, 1.4 three's, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks in 35.8 minutes per contest as the team's starting power forward.
Some people may have doubted Nowitzki's potential, but this was certainly not the case for Buckner, whose first impression was vindicated by Dirk's entire legendary career.
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