Greg in Sports!

When Dirk Nowitzki was picked 9th in the 1998 NBA draft by the Dallas Mavericks (the Milwaukee Bucks actually, but he was immediately traded for 6th pick Robert Traylor), fans booed and questioned the move. He was not very well-known at the time, having come straight out of Germany, with his only experience in the US coming during a hoops summit in San Antonio. He played one game with the world’s best high school players, and went against a selection of the then best high school players in the US. He went on to dominate that game, and that’s why the Mavs got him.

His NBA career didn’t start well though. He came in firing jump shots from all over, and played little to no defense. He was immediately proclaimed soft, and was widely considered a bust.

Slowly though, he worked his way through, and eventually, became a starter for a Dallas Mavericks team that would become perennial contenders after years of mediocrity. After a few years, Nowitzki became an all-star.

He led the Mavs to several playoff victories and to their one and only NBA Finals appearance in 2006. In 2007, he became the first European to ever win the league’s Most Valuable Player Award.

Indeed, Dirk has come a long way from being the skinny 7-footer who was drafted in 1998 to the NBA superstar that he is now.