Dirk Nowitzki set the Gold standard for European players in the NBA, blazing a trail that Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo have followed. Dirk established his adult life in the USA, but even as a kid in Germany, Dirk was looking at two American sensations as his childhood crushes. He named Lil Kim and Foxy Brown when asked about his crushes on All The Smoke.
“Oh shoot. In the ’90s? What was it, Lil Kim, Foxy Brown. Exactly.”
Dirk was always down like that? pic.twitter.com/gFNhSiIAyP
— Ken Glizzy Jr. (@JamesDGrambo) November 30, 2023
The revelation has surprised many fans, as Nowitzki named two iconic Black American entertainers while growing up in Germany. But it’s clear Nowitzki was an admirer of the culture even when he was hoping to play in the NBA as a kid, eventually getting his chance and establishing a life here.
Nowitzki spent his entire 21-year career with the Dallas Mavericks, the longest single-stint a player has had with one franchise. He’s still working as an executive for the Mavericks and an ambassador for the NBA, continuing to live in Dallas with his wife, Jessica Olsson.
The former MVP is often considered the greatest European player the NBA has ever seen, but players such as Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are already kicking at the door to surpass him for that title, while Luka Doncic also can build a case once he wins a title and an MVP like the other three.
Dirk Nowitzki Revealed The Origin Behind His Iconic One-Legged Fadeaway Shot
Many iconic NBA players come to be known for one shot. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had the skyhook, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan had their turnaround fadeaway shots, and Nowitzki had the one-legged fadeaway. Nobody had seen it in the repertoire of an NBA player before Nowitzki, though Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic are known to use the move often nowadays.
Nowitzki spoke about the origin of the shot on All The Smoke, revealing that he adopted the move as he was getting older to minimize the rough contact frontcourt players like him have to endure.
“I think I started shooting that later. In your twenties, you have the power if somebody’s crowding you to try and rip through and get to the basket, get fouled a lot. As I’d gotten older, I lost a step and I didn’t want to do all the grinding so I looked for a shot that I can do without a lot of effort. I’m tall, it was just one or two bumps and lean back and you know, nobody can get to the shot. So that’s really how I started shooting it a little bit at the beginning. I had the support of the coaches, of course, because not many people wanted to shoot a one-leg fadeaway.”
Nowitzki cooked opponents for 21 years with that fadeaway, retiring as the sixth-leading scorer in NBA history. He was the first European player to win MVP and Finals MVP, setting a standard that the future generation of European stars have to match up to. He’s undoubtedly one of the greatest power forwards of all time and would be an absolute terror in the modern NBA.
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