Dirk is the man

I still remember when the Mavs traded for Dirk on draft day. The local sports talk radio guys said "you don't go to Germany to get basketball players". And the evidence was on their side -- Dallas had drafted Uwe Blab who had a forgettable career, Christian Welp had done little better, and even Detlef Schrempf hadn't become a superstar.

And Dirk's rookie year they called him "Irk Nowitzki", because he played no D (defense). But a friend of mine saw the potential even then, saying "that man can shoot." 15-20 footers for him were like a layup for other players.

Early on, Dirk was a lot more athletic than people gave him credit for. He had played team handball and tennis, ran like a guard, and earned the moniker "the Dunking Deutschman" from the local TV announcers for his fastbreak dunks.

He was tough too, despite some national joke commentators calling him a soft Euro for failing to fight back when Utah or Indiana or some goon team would try to rough him up. I saw him play after getting his shoulder dislocated (pop it back in), after getting a tooth knocked out (stop the bleeding, get back on the court), and the next day after spraining an ankle (tape it up, tough it out.) Sometimes it takes more toughness to shrug it off and stay in the game, instead of striking back and getting ejected when your team needs you.

And every year he got better, developing the step-back fadeaway that no one could guard. No one practiced more. So glad he finally won a championship for Dallas.