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Thursday, November 19, 1998
Mavs' Draft pick nervous about leaving Germany
for NBA
DALLAS (AP) - Dirk Nowitzki, the German sensation the Dallas
Mavericks expect to be the steal of the last draft, doesn't seem
to be looking forward to the end of the NBA lockout.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News in his hometown
of Wurzburg, the 20-year-old didn't back off the commitment to
play for the Mavericks - given less than a week before the lockout
following a whirlwind three days in Dallas - but he didn't sound
anxious to begin his NBA career.
"It was a very tough decision, and I still don't know
if it was the right decision," Nowitzki said. "We'll
see."
The 6-foot-11, 237-pound forward has the shooting touch and
ball-handling skills of much smaller players. He proved it with
a 33-point, 14-rebound effort that helped the Rest of the World
stars upset the best American high schoolers in the Nike Hoop
Summit at the Final Four - despite having the flu.
"If you went by that tape alone, you'd think he was the
best ever," said former NBA star Larry Bird, now coach of
the Indiana Pacers.
Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president Jerry West called
Nowitzki "the second-most talented player in the draft."
Boston coach Rick Pitino was so excited he had a covert workout
with Nowitzki and his coach, Holger Geschwindner, in Rome before
the draft.
Pitino planned to take the 20-year-old with the 10th pick.
Milwaukee snagged him at No. 9 and made a three-way trade to get
him to Dallas, which wanted him all along.
"After the draft, Boston called us to say Rick Pitino
was sorry he couldn't get Dirk, but that we were lucky to go to
Dallas with (coach and general manager) Don Nelson," Geschwindner
said. "That gave us a good feeling."
Nowitzki, who admits he's pessimistic by nature, originally
wanted to play a few years in Europe or Spain to hone his skills
before going to the NBA. Nelson convinced Nowitzki he was ready
for the league now.
"I know he wants this," Joerg said. "He doesn't
say so to his parents, and he doesn't say so to you, but I think
he wants to show that he is a very good (player)."
Dirk played handball and tennis before becoming a hoop junkie
when he was 14. He often hung out at the local gym watching his
hometown team, DJK Wurzburg, play in the second division of Germany's
Bundesliga.
"When ... (the youth-team coach) saw me, he said that
I'm going to be the next Toni Kukoc," Nowitzki said. "I
was like, 'I don't think so.' "
Geschwindner, the captain of Germany's 1972 Olympic team, was
so taken by the budding star that he volunteered to be his private
tutor even though that meant driving more than an hour each way
at lunchtime for one-on-one sessions.
"He was a skinny dude, but I could not believe my eyes,"
Geschwindner said. "He had no basketball technique, but he
instinctively knew what to do. I could see that if you practiced
with this guy, he could be one of the best ever.
"The development was so fast. After a few weeks, I told
him, 'I have to talk to your parents.' Nobody had the slightest
idea what they were running into."
After Nowitzki had one good game in France for Germany's 18-and-under
team, U.S. college coaches began calling constantly to try luring
him to their campuses. Within months there was talk of Nowitzki
becoming an NBA lottery pick.
His plan of waiting until he was 22 to come to the NBA may
have greased his slide to the ninth pick. He changed his mind
after urging from his sister, father and Geschwindner.
"I'm still young. I have time. If it doesn't work out
in the first season, maybe the second or third season," he
said. "But we'll have to see how my three years go by. If
I don't have fun there, and I don't like it, I'll have to come
back (to Germany)."
Nowitzki is spending his free time playing for DJK Wurzburg.
He began the season with the challenge of facing the league's
top team, ALBA Berlin, whose coach had said Nowitzki wasn't ready
for the NBA and whose players vowed to keep Nowitzki under 10
points.
He responded with 17, and now leads the league at 21.3 points
per game.
"I won't die in Dallas, I think," he said. "I'll
come through somehow."
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