Original subtitles

(upbeat blues music playing)

- Okay, left knee? - Left knee.

All right, you can relax.

The purpose of exit physicals is not to talk about your right knee.

The purpose of exit physicals

is to see if there's anything we need to do over the summer.

- Dirk: Overall health. - Overall health.

Shoulders, elbows...

Uh, earlier this year I saw you wearing something on your elbow. Is that all right?

Dirk: Actually, I do have a little tendinitis in my left elbow.

Doctor: So, let me ask you a different way.

Is there any part of you that's okay?

Because we're talking about the shoulder,

the elbow, the ankles, the knees.

Is there any part that's okay?

Doctor: Your back's good?

- My back was really good this year. - Doctor: All right, good.

Doctor: Look, I think that that's part of the deal.

I mean, you've been playing basketball for what? 20 years?

What am I now? 35 almost!

(upbeat music playing)

(crowd cheering)

(shoes squeaking on the court)

(horn honks)

- (pen squeaking) - (tennis ball being hit)

(quiet groans of exertion)

Trainer: Five... six...

One more.

Six...

(short steady groans)

Seven...

eight... nine, one more.

Two...

Trainer: Yes!

(suspenseful music playing)

(woman directing dancers)

(suspenseful music playing)

Hu! Hu!

Mavs time, game time. Let's go!

Announcer: (loud) Are... you... ready?!

(loud, rhythmic music)

(muffled music continues)

(cheers)

- (cheers) - (loud, rhythmic music)

Last one, baby. Defense.

- One, two, three! - Everyone: Defense!

(unintelligible announcement)

(big cheers and applause)

(rock music playing)

(silent)

Michael Finley: When he gets in that zone

he thinks every shot's going to go in, and,

he has that talent,

along with the dedication to be one of the best players.

It's tough to defend and it's a great thing to watch.

Yao Ming: Of course, he has a very high basketball IQ.

He knows where to find a shot, when he should sprint,

when he should slow down and where to find teammates.

He really gets his team together well.

A good leader.

(rock music playing)

His ball handling, his passing...

I think the biggest thing that he added to the game,

was his post up play.

Kobe Bryant: His ability to post up and, you know, and operate

from those positions on the floor

is what I think, you know, really separated him from everybody else.

Vince Carter: And it's amazing. Knowing him, you're like, "Man, how did he...

How is he able to do that?"

Because sometimes he walks in rather stiff before the game

and you're like, "There's no way he's going to be able to play tonight."

And he goes out there... He'll drop 30, 40 points,

and it looks easy.

Ten-time All-Star, League MVP, Finals MVP.

There's only a handful of guys that have done it: Bird, Jordan,

Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, you know.

And there's six or seven others, and Dirk, and that's it.

Donnie Nelson: When he arrived in the States

and I had a chance to see him practice

it was clear that somebody had been working with him.

This is not some really athletic kid

that didn't have any development.

Uh, and pretty short into it I realized

that he was not just developed by just an average coach out there,

that this was a coach with an extremely high IQ,

with a very specific style of development.

(instrumental music playing)

(speaking German) This is the Institute for Applied Nonsense.

The name came about when we started training with Dirk,

because all the methods we used

were called plain nonsense.

We didn't feel like contradicting,

so we made it an institute for applied nonsense.

That's where the name comes from.

I studied Math and Physics, so I've always been accused of

considering myself the Einstein of basketball.

That's why we put his picture on it.

And since the Americans thought it was so funny,

there's an English version.

"For Applied Nonsense."

(cheerful music and whistling)

Finley: (speaking English) Their relationship is a very unique one.

It's like the mad scientist and Frankenstein, I guess.

I could remember watching some of their workouts

early in Dirk's career,

and I just didn't understand what they were doing.

Uh, why they were doing it.

But once you get to talk to Holger and Dirk

and understand the importance of each move they do,

each breathing technique they do, you understood it.

(feet pounding on gym floor)

(speaking German) I get it.

Geschwindner: Yeah, but in one step, so your weight is already here.

Jessica Nowitzki: (speaking English) They sort of have this relationship

where they understand each other without even talking to each other.

There's many times when I've asked Dirk

What is... You know, for example "When is Holger arriving?"

Or, "When is Holger leaving?" And he has no idea.

And, uh... Just, kind of, you know, simple questions

that he just doesn't have any idea of.

But they sort of know each other.

I don't know. It's just this kind of...

We call it in Swedish "telepati."

Jessica Nowitzki: I don't know, maybe they have their own language.

I don't know.

(Dirk grunts)

(strained in German) Oh my God!

I think anyone who wants to play at the top and with the best

has definitely put the work in.

There's no other way.

They say about Kobe Bryant, for example,

that he's the biggest work horse.

Some people who have played with him say

that if he has a bad game,

and they fly to the next city, he's picked up by car

and they have to find him a gym that night.

And he goes there at 2 or 3 a.m., shoots hoops

to regain his rhythm, and then he goes to bed.

(speaking English) Yeah, it's very important.

You have to have the work ethic.

You have to be willing to push yourself.

And, you know, not be satisfied with where you are.

You know, a lot of times people get caught up in,

"Well, I'll do it tomorrow."

"I'll do it tomorrow. I'll do it tomorrow."

You got to do it now. You got to work now.

So that tomorrow is much better.

And Dirk has that work ethic, he has that quality.

I do as well.

(rock music playing)

Jörg Nowitzki: (speaking German) He was discovered by Geschwindner.

He played with his team in Schweinfurt, like Geschwindner.

That's where he noticed Dirk.

I think he was fourteen, fourteen-and-a-half.

Geschwindner: We were watching the kids from the sidelines,

and there was this really tall kid.

What surprised me was that he did everything a good player should do,

without having any advanced technical skills.

He was always in the right spot,

not just chasing the ball like other kids.

Just for fun I asked, "Who's training you?"

"No one," he said. Well then.

I hadn't trained with anyone before,

it was just about the chemistry,

and that quickly worked out. We agreed on most things.

He showed me his room in his parents' basement.

Posters of Scottie Pippen and so on... This kid was serious.

All right, then, let's give it a shot!

(symphonic music playing)

Peter Sartorius: It would be easy to say it's a father-son relationship.

Actually that's probably not what it is.

It's more of an...

...apprentice-master craftsman relationship.

It's one of those great sets of circumstances:

There's this direct relationship,

an absolutely direct one,

a straight line between two points

running from the invention of basketball to Dirk Nowitzki.

(upbeat piano music)

Sartorius: There was a teacher named Naismith,

and he invented basketball

by nailing peach baskets to the wall.

The game spread quickly in America

and soon became an Olympic discipline.

That was in 1936, in Berlin.

So the organizer of the Olympic Games in Berlin

sent an envoy to Naismith in America.

That envoy, a man named Clausen, came back to Berlin

infected with the basketball bug. He was fascinated.

Later Clausen became

a teacher at Holger Geschwindner's high school,

and trained Holger Geschwindner as a player.

Commentator: Holger Geschwindner, injured himself in that last move.

Butler, a teacher at Giessen's American school.

Butler became the first American player in Germany.

And Holger Geschwindner, having been trained by Clausen,

came to a game in Giessen, a junior team game.

(speaking English) And the guy scores 100 points.

You know. And you say, "What?"

At that time I'd only heard of one other person

ever scoring 100 points in a game.

And that was Wilt Chamberlain.

You know. And you're saying, "What?

We're going to question bringing this guy to the team!

I mean, come on!

Commentator: (speaking German) Middle of the first half,

Giessen led by nine points,

but MTV Giessen came back at the end of the first half,

particularly thanks to the performance

of national player Holger Geschwindner.

The next year we were German Champions.

That's how it started.

(speaking English) Everything I would do he would do it better.

He picked up everything so fast.

So our relationship got tighter and tighter

and I would drive him home a lot.

(speaking German) Ernest noticed this talented young player

and took an interest in him:

Holger's success is in no small part thanks to Ernest,

who supported him.

So Holger considered it his obvious duty

to do the very same thing, should the opportunity arise.

(speaking English) After practice we'd always go and have a beer.

So I'd be in a talkative mood.

I'd philosophize and he'd be picking that stuff up.

And I said a couple times, "Now you know, Holger, basketball is jazz.

Basketball is jazz, it's the same thing."

I think that just really sunk in to him.

So it's been going on for 50 years now.

Fifty years we've been talking about how we can clarify that more.

(plays a jazz melody)

(sings the same melody)

That's the basic idea.

(plays the same melody)

It just rang in my head that there's something about

not just doing it, but doing it with a little extra flair.

With a little something special. A little spice on it.

And now that's common.

I mean Dirk does things, back in those days you'd say, "Whoa!"

That one-foot thing he does where he's falling backwards...

And I think a lot of that comes from Holger's imagination.

He thinks outside the box. That's the way he played.

And that's the connection I see between that and jazz.

If you are thinking in the box it can still be jazz

but it doesn't have that creative little ting to it

that you get when you find guys that are trying new things

and always putting spice on it, if that makes any sense.

(dramatic music playing)

(whistle blows)

Jörg Nowitzki: (speaking German) My wife watches every game.

But she can't handle the tension at night.

And if anything happens to her boy, she gets extra mad.

So it's better she enjoys all the games in the afternoon reruns.

Just seeing him! We miss him.

Of course. Just seeing him up there,

playing at that level,

it makes you proud.

(bells toll)

Ingo Sauer: There certainly are parents of athletes

who appropriate their children's fame and are omnipresent,

assuming responsibilities or completely overhauling their lives.

That's not true of the Nowitzki family. Quite the contrary.

They didn't buy a new house. And other than perhaps a new car,

their lives are still stuck in the mid-80s, so to speak.

And I think it's fantastic that the MVP trophy that's here in Würzburg

stands behind the handball trophy of Dirk's dad.

I believe he was Bavarian Handball Player of the Year,

and that trophy is in front of the MVP trophy.

Jörg Nowitzki: But when it came to the Nowitzkis,

Ms. Nowitzki was the pride of the family, not her husband.

Dirk's Mom: In gym class we always played basketball.

It wasn't until I was 16 that I really started playing for a team.

1966 was the first year my wife played for the national team.

We kind of grew up in the gym.

Every weekend we'd be at one of our parents' games.

Dirk would be in a baby carrier,

on the substitutes bench,

while our daughter was learning how to dribble.

Growing up in one house, we did everything together.

Our two sisters are one year apart, and so are we.

Dirk's Dad: There'd be games, Dirk would be too little,

and the other three would say:

"Dirk, you're too small, you can't play with us."

Of course the youngest is kept out of things, sure.

Oftentimes he'd come around at night,

at 10 or 11 p.m., after his first round of sleep,

he'd come to me and ask:

"Mom, how do you do this? How do you do this and that?

They never let me play with them."

So we taught him. That's where he developed his ambition.

Looks like the old men's league!

Boy, are they good!

Oh, Andi! Nice one, bro!

Dirk: Tennis was my first game.

I started playing at four or five.

I was ranked No. 6 or 7 for my age group in Bavaria.

I was Lower Franconian Champion.

I wasn't bad. I played with Mardy Fish and Tommy Haas.

For fun, you know.

They said, "Your serve isn't bad, but the rest of it..."

And my legwork! Oh, God!

But my serve was nothing to be ashamed of.

Jessica Nowitzki: (speaking English) You know our second date

was actually a tennis match.

You know what, I shouldn't say that's his only advantage

but he's got a pretty powerful serve.

And you kind of have to just put your racket there

and hope the ball is going to bounce back.

He's got good coverage. He's all over the court.

But once I get a stop ball in, then he can't get it.

He's not as fast on his feet.

Opponent: (speaking German) Shit! I'm an idiot.

Nice one!

That's it!

He could move so skillfully, at such a young age!

I've never seen anything like it, shooting and everything.

Meng: So we needed to find a team for him.

Which was tricky, since Dirk was a good tennis player, too.

His dad wanted him to play handball,

just like he did.

Oh, oh, oh.

It looks just like back then. Crazy!

This is where I would get changed,

then it was off to the gym.

(lively music playing)

(applause)

Dirk: I was completely enthusiastic.

For a while I did all three sports at the same time.

And that reflected on my performance at school.

It was pretty bad, so my parents said I should drop one of the three.

And so I decided to drop handball first.

My dad was very disappointed, but...

My father played handball, and then he was my coach.

And as my coach, he didn't really like it.

But he accepted it and soon stopped coaching.

Let's see if I can do a three pointer in my old school gym.

It's probably not high enough.

Ah!

Oh! I can do better.

(energetic music playing)

Ah!

Ah! I have to sink at least one.

Dirk: (distressed) Ah!

Ah!

(more distressed) Ah!

Just like the old days.

Not a single basket.

Ha!

A colleague of mine said, "Have a talk with him."

It was the English teacher. "He should sit down,

study and graduate.

He'll never make a living in basketball."

I'm sure his English is better than his teacher's now.

And he earns more, too.

Coach: Keep it up! Go to the ball!

(whistle)

Of course in Dirk's case,

if he was considering playing in the NBA,

he had to offer something the NBA wanted.

And of course back in our day,

there was virtually no one who was 6 foot 9 or taller

and could shoot well from outside.

They put the tall guys under the hoop to get the rebounds

so the short guys could shoot again.

Someone who attacks from the outside,

not someone who's only under the hoop.

Pit saw it when I was 12 or 13:

That I can dribble, too.

So he gave me the freedom

to play my game and not stand with my back to the basket,

the way tall guys are taught in the US.

I let Dirk play outside, even when he was older, because he was good.

Stahl: At times it was impossible to plan anything,

because if I wanted to do anything requiring a lot of planning,

Holger would say, "Nonsense." Then he'd grab Dirk and off he'd go.

It's like soccer, when Götze's dad shows up at Bayern and says,

"I'll do my own training, during regular practice."

Coach Guardiola would probably say, "You're banned from the grounds!"

In Dallas, Holger Geschwindner, who you might call difficult,

was asked by the coach during practice

to do shooting drills with five others players.

Quite an unusual situation.

He attends NBA finals without accreditation.

Security would send anyone else away,

but with him it's, "Holger! Holger!"

(speaking English) We would not allow Holger in

if he didn't know what he was talking about.

I just decided it's best to let those guys go.

Now there was a couple things I wanted to work on with Dirk

and Holger was great with that.

But I did not want to change their routine.

(unintelligible)

(speaking German) Dribble, plant your foot and duck later.

- I realize that, but... - Then do it.

Jason Kidd: (speaking English) The guru of the perfect shot.

And understanding that his work ethic and precise understanding

of what it meant to shoot a perfect shot,

and also to create a perfect player.

He's this mad scientist, a guy that's always working.

And you can see what his work has turned into

with the help of a talented guy like Dirk.

Holger: (speaking German) There were more and more requests

about the method, so finally we decided

to bring it up to date. We put it in a computer program.

We crammed everything we knew about basketball into it.

Any planet will do, to a physicist it doesn't matter.

We can do the sport on the sun, which would get a bit hot.

Or on Mars.

For the physical calculations we need to know the gravity,

the g-force of the Earth, or in this case of Mars.

It all works on the moon, too, of course.

Astronaut: (speaking English) Houston, the computer's yours.

Houston: Thank you, you did a nice job down there. That was beautiful.

(speaking German) It doesn't matter, so let's take an NBA court.

(speaking English) We wanted to sit down with Holger and understand

you know, his techniques

and the way he saw things, because they were completely innovative.

(speaking German) Here we have Dirk.

Here are his feet. We can lengthen them,

the upper arm, forearm... the hand length...

Whatever affects the shot.

Even shoe size plays a role in the jump.

Then we can have him hop.

The whole thing was conceived

as a purely mathematical and physical model.

Just to find out what's really going on.

(speaking English) There's a lot of guys who are private coaches

and they use it as a branding or marketing ploy.

Holger could care less about that. Holger's about the science.

He's looking for his breakthrough moment.

He wants to break through and solve this quadratic equation

that provides the best solution to shooting or moving a basketball.

(speaking German) Here we can go in and simulate all the possible angles,

the flight curve, the trajectory.

You can show every theoretically successful shot.

The research he does with others and alone

with kinematic motion and the calculation of throwing motion...

Everyone just says, he's nuts!

(indistinct chatter)

The curvature of the ellipsis is the same as that of the ball,

and that works at a 47-degree angle,

given the current NBA ball size and the 18-inch diameter hoops.

You can train anyone to sink 50 percent of their free throws.

Sadly not every pro can manage it.

(upbeat music playing)

(cheerful music playing)

Dr. Tom Amberry: (speaking English) I made 500 free throws in a row,

without a miss,

431 times. Officially counted!

Not something out in the backyard

with the next-door neighbor kid counting.

That was officially.

Finally, at the gym lots of people would say,

"I watch you shooting every day and you don't miss.

Why don't you go for the Guinness Book of World Records?"

And I said, "What's that?"

Amberry: And then I made 2,750, without a miss.

You can't have an extraneous thought in your mind...

...at the free throw line.

You could bet the house on it that I could put it in the basket.

They had a model, they brought her to the gym

to distract me.

And she had on a T-shirt up to here...

...you know and shorts.

And whenever she raised her arms...

And I made them all.

(speaking German) Girls, women, going out.

Drinking too much now and then.

If you can shut that out, you might become a great one.

And he could shut it out better than anyone.

The coaches sent their players

to do strength training in the gym. In the summer...

Outside in the beer gardens, the ladies show what they have.

You can't send a kid of 16 or 17

into the weight room... I didn't have the heart for it.

We wondered what to do. So we built boats

and had a training camp on Lake Starnberg.

And the old thing: Can I go out? Tomorrow is practice.

It was typical Hodge: "Sure. Do what you want,

practice is at 7 a.m.

Go ahead, I don't care. I'll even drive you."

Next morning it was nothing but alcohol-evaporation training!

The weeding-out of candidates happened pretty quickly,

because what he was doing was pretty unusual.

Coach: (speaking English) Keep going, that's good!

(chilled saxophone solo)

(speaking German) At national training courses, we were the ones

who'd been brainwashed by Geschwindner.

Fellow players accused us of this.

Half joking, half serious.

We ran into trouble with coaches,

being novices, whose status was in question.

Many said, "It's not right, it's all wrong, nothing but nonsense."

And Hodge is nuts, somehow.

(someone dribbling)

Dirk: Strangely, it really hit the mark with me at once.

It was clear that I'd improved,

and what the old guy said actually made sense.

And also, we got along really well.

So it made sense to do more and more.

Or I can really go and give it 100 percent.

Done!

Geschwindner: One, two.

Seventeen... 20...

Neundorfer: Others wonder, "What's the point?"

But such speculation just gets in the way:

"What is the point of me doing another 20 minutes

on this damn basketball court?"

Once you ask that, it's over.

Dirk really combines...

...intelligence with just doing a thing

because it's necessary, without asking why.

I do a few yoga exercises every day.

Actually just two: one for the groin, one for the behind.

Yogis call this one "the frog."

And this yoga exercise...

...is called "the half-pigeon," I believe.

You maintain this pose,

and it's a mean stretch that gets to the groin.

I hold it for two minutes, you can really feel it.

This is the "downward dog."

Everyone who watches me play says:

"You look so stiff at the hip."

Which is actually true.

But it has improved.

(loud cheers)

Geschwindner: Every year there is a game of international all-stars

against the best high school players in the US:

The Hoop Summit. You compete with world-class players.

At the same time in Germany, we had

the play-off games to move up into the first league.

Dirk was one of the most important players,

but the dates clashed. So how to solve this dilemma?

(speaking English) There was quite a bit of controversy

surrounding getting Dirk to play in the Hoop Summit,

which was played in San Antonio.

(speaking German) Dirk knew nothing about it. Then "he" turns up at 6 a.m.,

picks up Dirk...

It knocked our socks off.

He hadn't even told the team he was leaving.

That's Geschwindner for you!

(upbeat music playing)

Commentator: It was plain to see: Dirk Nowitzki had left

for an NBA scouting tournament in America.

I was in the gym, Dirk was missing,

and we were in the play-offs.

I knew nothing, then we heard what was up.

Everyone was like, how could he?

(speaking English) And I think this was

a very difficult decision for him to make.

One, to abandon his club and his friends and his people,

and his teammates.

And, frankly, there were some people who didn't believe

that Dirk was ready to play on a global stage

against the very best players in his age group in the world.

Commentator:... inside the Alamo Stadium Arena,

for the fourth annual Nike Hoop Summit.

Team USA against the world.

Take a look there, that's Jason Capel and Nowitzki.

Those are the two players...

There are a lot of stars here.

And there's a chance to see them

before they move on to the next level.

Nelson: Normally what happens as scouts, you hear about players

over in Europe and how great they are, how tall they are.

And by the time they land on U.S. shores

they're not quite as good and they're about six inches shorter

than they're reported to be.

So when Dirk walked in that night with his coach Holger Geschwindner,

I was happy to see he actually was close to seven feet.

Commentator 1: Here's Nowitzki, from Germany. Strong to the bucket!

He meant business on that trip, and draws the foul.

Here's Nowitzki, in traffic again. He gets called for traveling.

Commentator 2: Already five of five.

Commentator 1: Responsible for most of the World points.

Make it six of six.

Commentator 2: The World team leading Team USA 52 to 49.

Thanks in large part to German Dirk Nowitzki, 14 points.

From the first time I saw him play, you could see

this guy shoots the ball like no big man we've ever, ever seen.

Don Nelson: I saw that he had the ability to play

like a smaller player.

He could play multiple positions.

So my mind was going very fast

about what a great player I could make

of this young, 19-year-old German.

Commentator: Nowitzki very strong from the line.

(speaking German) The crucial thing was, take the ball and get it in there.

And if they hack you, you have to keep going.

(whistle)

(final whistle)

George Raveling: (speaking English) The World team won the game.

Up until about two or three years ago

Dirk held the single-game scoring record in the Hoop Summit.

No question, Dan, this guy is a guy we could see in the NBA.

31 points, 13 boards for Dirk Nowitzki.

Are we going to see you back here in the NBA?

Maybe another Detlef Schrempf?

Oh I hope so, you know. I don't know yet.

- Thanks, congratulations. - Thank you.

(speaking German) There were 15 or maybe 20 colleges

who called during the period when Dirk was 19,

because they really wanted him.

When will we see you in the NBA?

- Maybe never. - Are you trying to get there

without joining a college team?

- I don't think so. - It's unlikely.

I'm not good enough, I still have a lot to learn.

The idea was to get him into the NBA draft

where he'd be ranked.

Then the number to the right of his name

would indicate his actual market value.

The draft is not an obligation for players.

It's an awarding of rights,

in which weaker teams are given an advantage

in acquiring rights

through negotiations with talented amateurs.

(speaking English) The sixth pick...

goes to the Dallas Mavericks.

Nelson: Every team is slotted in.

And the worst team in the NBA

has the first pick in the draft.

And the team with the best record has the last pick in the draft.

And that's how the NBA makes itself healthy.

It was really Donnie Nelson whose team found Dirk.

He was the one who pushed his dad.

Stein: "Listen, we're going to get killed,

I know it, but we've got to draft this guy.

He's a revolutionary player.

We've never seen a big man like him, trust me."

(speaking German) We spent the night sitting here after practicing

in Rattelsdorf. He stayed here,

because of the time difference. So we sat around the phone.

(speaking English) Dirk Nowitzki, from Würzburg, Germany.

You know, Americans know there are good players in those leagues.

They don't know anything about the Bundesliga.

They've never heard about the Würzburg X-Rays.

They don't know anything about this guy.

He can also stay and play in Germany

because the division Il team that he played on

qualified to play division I.

And he's getting home-country pressure to stay in Germany

and play for the home team now that they're going to be a division I team.

(speaking German) If a general manager

drafts someone in the first round,

and he doesn't come,

then the scouting and preparations were badly done.

It seems it has never happened in America.

(speaking English) And we had to convince Dirk

that he was ready for the NBA.

He wasn't sure that he was.

He thought maybe he would play one or two more years for his local team

and develop, and then come to the NBA.

Of course we needed him right away.

We were one of the worst teams in the league.

- (neighing) - (upbeat music playing)

(cheerful music and whistling)

Fabian Fruehwirth: (speaking German) I got a call from an editor:

"Drive up there, it's about Dirk Nowitzki."

The Wittelsbacher Höh Hotel.

(spirited music playing)

The atmosphere will have impressed the Americans.

It's very German, at least.

Down winding corridors,

and here's the nice lounge:

The Balthasar Neumann room.

Man:... Presumably negotiate...

Moving on...

(speaking English) I would like to welcome you here to Würzburg.

It's a great pleasure.

Dirk's Dad: (speaking German) And Nelson was pretty surprised

that only local TV was there,

and two reporters, that's it.

Over there they're used to having

a bunch of TV crews and reporters.

There were only two people there.

They looked in, asked who was still expected.

Then they came out with what would be unthinkable now:

They offered a three-year contract at $1.3 million per year.

That was on the table,

and they were hinting that they'd consider more if need be.

(pop music playing)

(click of a camera shutter)

They let us know that no matter how,

we had to go to Dallas with them.

(rock music playing)

(rock music playing)

(cheers)

Geschwindner: They had the whole Mavericks office at the airport,

they had welcome signs,

and really gave it everything they had.

So we were thinking, the two of us,

things are heating up:

The NBA after three years, should we or shouldn't we?

So then of course they tried

to make the city as appealing to him as possible,

and to show him all the sites and so on.

(speaking English) You can get a shot.

This is what I'm showing you.

See this is where the arena's going to sit. Right over here.

Around the arena we're going to have like restaurants...

We're going to have German food. Over there. "Dirk's Place."

(unintelligible)

(speaking German) I don't know how to button it.

(speaking English) The NBA made a dress code. Thank God!

Because somebody like Dirk needed it the most.

Otherwise he would wear Nike sweats every day forever.

So you had to wear a collared shirt and slacks.

Or jeans and a collared shirt, or a blazer.

So Dirk had to get clothes made for him for the first time.

Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Nash.

- Dirk, this is Steve. - How you doing?

You know, it seemed a world away for him,

from Würzburg.

Probably he was a little timid and not sure

how he was going to handle all this.

- I guess I'll sit here. - All right.

I don't feel any pressure, you know. Just...

I'll call my parents tonight, and speak with Holger over it and

I want to sleep over it, and tomorrow I'll make a decision.

Let me introduce Holger, who is over here. Also with a new suit.

(people laughing)

That was just as difficult.

The wrong commitment and I'm getting the suit back.

It also fits me.

(speaking German) And I must say, that really hit my wife.

It was the worst.

For her it was the worst that Dirk was over there,

because her baby was gone.

I think it was also because it was so far from our world.

If it were somewhere in Europe, you can still imagine it,

but NBA and America and Dallas, Texas!

We knew nothing about it back then.

"The Yanks should take their own kids and leave mine with me."

It was everything for him,

the NBA...

We didn't want to stand in his way.

They only won 20 games last year, and want to win 20, 25 this year.

So it's low expectations and low pressure.

Of course there's pressure on a rookie,

but I think you can play a season in peace,

and see if you can develop there.

(speaking English) Nellie right away said,

"Dirk will be the rookie of the year."

So that only added the pressure

on a kid, who... He really was a kid.

(blues guitar)

Sarah Melton: When I first got here he didn't ever say anything.

He never talked to anybody.

He was just kind of absorbing what was going on around him.

Commentators: ...free throw.

- The best ever! - Yes, sir.

And... Come on now.

Mashburn between the legs, goes baseline, slips and falls.

But they were the worst team for the majority of the 90s.

(unintelligible)

(speaking German) When Steve Nash had the ball,

and there were never more than 8000 spectators there,

they'd just boo him.

At times Dirk wasn't allowed to play.

(unintelligible)

Commentator: (speaking English) He loses the ball as

Anderson makes the steal.

Nowitzki in a crowd, muscles it out, gets the board and draws the foul.

Nowitzki called for the foul in a wrestling match with Tyrone Hill.

Nowitzki is out.

So the media and the fans picked up on that and it was like,

"Come on Nellie, you said this was the Rookie of the Year

and he can't even get off your bench?"

That was a lot of pressure that he put on themselves.

The speed of the game, the physicality of that position,

because he had to play power forward.

Just living day-to-day life was a huge adjustment for him.

The NBA is a place that's full of press pressure.

Media pressure, expectations from the public.

And they will ask you lots and lots of questions on and off the court.

For an international player, like Dirk, like me,

that goes overseas to the States, to fit in to a new community

that would spend lots and lots of our energy, our focus.

In the 80s and the 90s

when European players first started coming over here

all of them were branded: "You're soft."

And Dirk's talked about this a lot. So when Dirk was coming up,

he was soft too: "You're just a soft European."

"Europeans don't play defense. Europeans aren't good enough.

Europeans aren't mentally tough enough."

So he came to me and he said,

"Oh, I think I want to go home."

And that was the most dramatic thing that happened that year.

Nelson: We had a lady named Lisa Tyner

who worked in the office and kind of adopted Dirk.

(cheerful music playing)

Thanks man, that's awesome. I'll steal it all.

The one and only!

- Yeah, we're good. - Yes.

The one and only. Lisa.

Lisa Tyner: When he first came he needed a little help

just getting acclimated.

I mean, he's a young man that was in a foreign country

and he was trying to set up a house for himself.

He needed questions answered and he needed to know

that there was somebody here he could reach out to

and ask those questions and get answers.

- How long is the drive? - About five hours.

You better get going so you beat the traffic too.

Are you trying to get rid of me?

Never.

Lisa Tyner: In the beginning he received a lot of fan mail.

And he would take it home every day

and put it in the corner of his apartment,

and he never got around to opening it.

And a lot of his endorsement checks ended up in that pile of fan mail

and didn't get deposited.

So when his mom came over to visit

she got busy with the fan mail and realized

that that system wasn't going to work.

(speaking German) He couldn't even...

...boil water in a kettle.

He couldn't withdraw money.

He couldn't cook or anything.

Mom did it all.

He still has his mother give him money when he's here.

He says, "Ma, I need gas money."

My wife goes and withdraws money

and puts it in his piggy bank.

It's... still crazy, but that's how it is.

It's my overprotective nature.

I'm the same to this day.

- (jazz music playing) - (silent scene)

(speaking English) It's a very important decision in the NBA,

who your agent is, who your financial manager is.

So we had dinner in Dallas and then I said,

"Hopefully you're going to be making a lot of money one day.

who will serve as your financial manager?"

And they thought about it and Dirk said:

"My mom. She has a degree in accounting."

So I realized, in Dirk's life,

it was going to stay within those key people that were in his life.

And still to this day are the key people

that help make him who he is.

Commentator: For Nowitzki.

Nice work by Robert Pack.

To Nowitzki for the dunk.

He tried to work on his quickness, worked on his strength

to be able to take the pounding of the NBA.

He always worked on his game.

He was what we call in the States a "gym rat."

And gym rats with great talent usually work out for the best.

(blues guitar music playing)

We got the call from Ross Perot, who was our first owner, as you know.

And Ross said, "I sold the team."

He said, "I think you guys are going to be okay."

Which usually means the kiss of death

for a head coach and assistant coach.

And the next thing I heard was "Cuban."

You know, you're kind of numb when you get that call.

And my first response was:

"Am I going to have to learn to speak Spanish?"

Because I thought he was from Cuba.

I didn't think... I didn't know it was his name.

(unintelligible)

(speaking German) He was lucky with his company,

which he sold to Broadcast.

Or vice versa, he sold Broadcast

to that big company that's just gone bankrupt.

Yahoo, yes.

He had Broadcast, and sold it to Yahoo.

He was more and more into sport.

Mark Cuban: (speaking English) I mean, it wasn't really a lot of negotiation.

I wanted the team.

And this was during the internet go-go bubble.

And so the funny behind-the-scenes fact

is that there would be days when the stock price of our company

would go up 20, 30 dollars.

And that would pay for the whole price of the Mavericks.

That's how crazy the stock market was.

And so I really didn't negotiate.

I said, "How much do you want for it?"

He gave me a price, 285 million. I said yes, and it was over.

Then it was just a matter of doing the paperwork.

He loved the Mavericks. He was a fan of the team.

He came to all the games as a season ticket holder.

He wasn't doing this for the money. He wanted to be involved in sports.

And he brought a positivity and an energy

that was completely missing from the previous regime.

Mark Cuban wakes up in the morning thinking about

how his team can win.

And goes to sleep at night thinking about how his team can win.

And spends all day thinking about how his team can win.

Mark put a lot of detail in owning the team.

So the locker room was nicer, the towels, robes.

We got a new plane, we stayed at nicer hotels.

(rock music playing)

The best is yet to come.

Marc Stein: And Dirk gets his tooth knocked out.

And runs right off the court,

jumps over the scorer's table and runs straight to the locker room.

At first nobody knew what happened.

Dirk literally took the shot to the mouth and ran back there.

At first nobody knew what happened.

Then they worked on him, stopped the bleeding,

stuck something in his mouth where his tooth was.

And he came back and he played the game.

And the Mavs ended up winning that series in five games.

That was another one of those moments that really established Dirk as,

"Okay, this is not your average European guy who's come to the NBA."

Commentator: Nowitzki's picked Bryant.

A footrace here. Kobe has to foul. And it counts!

Juwan Howard. Pass caught by Dirk Nowitzki. For three... Got it!

(crowd cheers)

(buzzer sounds)

Dirk: (speaking German) I was in the play-offs 12 years in a row.

That's a lot of games. I mean, 82 games,

there are eight preseason games,

and normally the play-offs on top. I think

the year that we won the championship

we played almost 110 games.

That's a bunch.

So of course you're a bit worn out

and you relax a little after the season.

In the beginning of my career I'd only take a month off,

then I'd start training with Holger again.

(speaking English) Aw, shit! Not now!

(man laughs)

Not now! No, I got to concentrate.

Done! I need a 20.

Are you in? Do you feel like it? I'll put us both up.

But, definitely, doesn't like to lose.

Especially if he's bowling with his wife, Jessica, she usually beats him.

Creme: So I don't think he takes that very well.

Yeah, you can definitely see the competitive side of him come out.

Dirk: Come on!

Why left?

Nice!

I'm the worst bowler ever.

I mean, I'm so unlucky. It's crazy.

I don't know, maybe it's just he kind of has to bend his knees a bit more.

I don't know. Maybe that's what it is.

Dirk: That's how we going to be?

Friend: "Call Holger!"

Dirk: "Call Holger!"

Friend: Bowling is jazz!

Bowling is jazz.

Nice!

(speaking German) I think one of yesterday's bottles of red wine was bad.

My stomach is fluttering.

I used to hate red wine.

I'd mostly drink beer.

I think last time was around the All-Star Game,

when I had a few days off,

and I drank a glass of wine.

But otherwise during the season, it's none at all.

Sometimes you miss it a bit with a meal.

But...

But in the summer I do drink some.

Though not as excessively as yesterday.

(speaking English) He's always sort of been a warrior,

and he's always...

You know, he's very good with his diet during the season. He sticks with it.

I can order burgers or pizzas if we go out,

and he would not even take a bite.

(speaking German) I think talent and a bit of luck

make up 10 or 20 percent, the other 80 is willpower

and hard work...

You don't get it handed to you at birth.

Every summer

I'd do thousands of jump shots in Rattelsdorf.

I played on the national team for ten or eleven years.

I'd play the summer league, then go back to the national team.

(unintelligible)

(coach gives instructions)

Ingo Sauer: The national team, in its successful days,

all its players were born the same year,

and had been on youth teams.

At first it was his Würzburg gang

that he'd dragged along to the national team.

They were successful, he was proud.

Marc Stein: (speaking English) All NBA owners, they don't want

their guys playing for the national teams.

because they pay all the salary.

In the NBA international basketball, even the Olympics,

is seen as secondary to winning an NBA championship.

Stein: When we judge great players, if you've got a gold medal

but you don't have an NBA championship,

sorry the gold medal's not enough.

(speaking German) Last year a company that works for the NBA

created a marketing-related list.

I was No. 1,

the most-marketable player.

So everyone was saying, "you've got to capitalize on this."

But it's really not my thing.

Imagine I had 20 contracts!

They'd be pulling me by the nose all summer,

whenever I'd have time for myself,

from one photo shoot to the next.

Which is why I only have two sponsors.

(applause)

Welcome, ladies and gentlemen,

and welcome to you, Helmut Schmidt.

Helmut Schmidt: The setting is perfect.

They all felt like bankers,

understood everything about business,

until it all went wrong.

Dirk: Lots of milk. Half and half?

Man: Sugar, too, please.

- How old are you now? - I'll be 35 next week.

How much longer will you play? Ten years? Less?

Less. Three or four, I guess.

It gets hard to play at forty.

It gets... it gets really tough.

You ought to start,

if you haven't already,

to study a bit on the side.

Yes, I study a bit.

- Some business studies. - Yes. That's it!

Yeah.

Then he said,

"If you quit at 35, you'll need another job.

You'll have to study."

So I said,

"I'm studying business." I lied.

(laughing) Really?

Studying? In this life?

Dirk: In the US it's more basic.

They say, "This is how you dribble,

this is how you score."

But the detail Holger pays attention to,

that's what makes him unique.

I've worked with lots of coaches over there,

but in terms of shooting technique,

and all the things requiring attention,

the details... That's what makes him

the best in the world, in my opinion.

Donnie Nelson: (speaking English) What they do is they go back every year.

Holger's got what he calls "Dirk's toolbox."

And they add something to that toolbox every single year.

In the early days it was rebounding, it was a post game.

(upbeat electronic music)

(speaking German) They wanted to go to training, and these cars drive up,

and Holger leaves, saying, "See you at the gym."

We'd arranged to meet and practice

over in Rattelsdorf,

then Dirk suddenly called.

"The taxmen are here.

They won't let me out."

"There are all these people at my mother's, more at my sister's..."

And here, there were something like

four or five men,

who searched the whole place.

Geschwindner: They investigated Nike, DiBa,

thinking I'd taken all these commissions

and so on... Of course I hadn't.

In the end I had to go with them,

and I was imprisoned for four-and-a-half weeks.

Geschwindner said he hadn't filed a tax form.

You just can't do that for two or three years.

It was a bad time for Holger,

but he made the best of it, organizing the prison library,

making sure his fellow inmates

got good things to read.

So he made himself useful.

(unintelligible)

It was obvious that Dirk...

would stick up for Holger.

Dirk and I weren't in touch,

but when they set that astronomical bail,

Dirk scraped it together.

I said, "Anyone who pays that kind of bail is with me all the way."

Then they said to me, "Sign this,

and you're basically free to go."

(spirited music playing)

Nobody believes someone would take no money and do it all,

simply because he wants to. But that's it.

And the story is so exotic it seems unbelievable.

And Holger's chaotic lifestyle, which he lives out of principle,

that didn't help back then.

(speaking English) He's not a regular guy.

He doesn't...

Wealth and possessions are not what motivates him.

I was around during that time and know, from my experience,

because I know where Dirk's money is,

that Holger was not being paid.

Not from any money in the U.S. I know that as a fact.

(rock music playing)

Commentator: Game One goes to Dallas.

A well-deserved win by the Mavs.

The Dallas Mavericks with a convincing victory once again

here in the American Airlines Center.

They lead the NBA Finals 2-0.

(speaking German) They were leading 2-0,

I hadn't seen the game in Dallas,

I only flew in for Florida.

When we got to Miami,

it was a state of emergency:

The huge pressure was obvious,

we hardly spoke to Dirk,

he was so focused.

Commentator: (speaking English) Big shot. Miami with a two-point lead.

Mark Cuban and his Mavericks, though, with plenty of time.

Misses the free throw!

Wade. And a foul!

With 1.4 remaining!

(speaking German) And then things really went downhill.

It was crazy! We arrived and they lost all their games.

Commentator: (speaking English) And Harris puts it up for the win!

No good!

And Miami wins again to take a 3:2 lead.

(speaking German) It was heartbreaking,

seeing the team and Dirk,

the effort they made, but they couldn't prevent it.

Commentator: (speaking German) Terry puts it up... Won't go!

Rebound Wade!

The Miami Heat, they've done it!

They win their first championship in franchise history.

I didn't leave my house for three weeks.

I couldn't face anybody, didn't want to see anybody.

Didn't want to talk basketball, didn't want to think basketball.

I just didn't want to see anybody.

I felt like I let everybody down.

So it was painful.

From a business, career perspective,

one of the most painful things I've ever lived through.

Never want to have to do it again.

But it hurt. Yeah, it definitely hurt.

That's basketball. That's the beauty of our game.

It is based upon so very little

in terms of the ability to win or lose.

(ominous music playing)

Dirk was branded a loser. He's never going to get over the hump.

He's never going to be able to lead a team to a championship.

And in the NBA that's probably the worst thing you can say

about a star player.

(speaking German) You can't keep up with the emotions, with the media:

One day you're the greatest,

and the next day you're the fool, or...

You have to try

to keep it all in some equilibrium,

and not to rise or fall with every emotion.

That's how I dealt with it, though you can't ignore it all.

You're aware of it.

I remember he said, I've achieved nothing in my life.

Had I sunk that free throw in Miami,

everything would have been different.

This is a guy with a 90%- plus average.

That's better than anyone else.

There I am opposite him,

I'm happy if I become local champion in Fürstenfeldbruck,

and he thinks he's achieved nothing.

That demonstrated his mindset.

And to see how...

Well, getting there again won't be easy, for sure.

Whether or not you'd ever have

such a chance in your career was also quite questionable.

(speaking English) After a big disappointment,

usually there's only two ways it can go.

Either you work even harder than before, or you give up.

I've seen Dirk choose the first path.

(crowd cheers)

Announcer: Dirk Nowitzki!

Marc Stein: In 2006/07 it looked like the Mavs bounced back

from what happened in 2006 amazingly well.

They won 67 games.

They started 0-4 and still won 67 games.

Dirk was the MVP, amazing season.

(gloomy music playing)

It got to the point where people around the league thought,

"They're never going to win with this guy."

And Dirk took all that burden on himself.

He didn't have anyone really to share it with at that point.

(speaking German) It was pretty bad, yes. To see him...

...all hunched over when he went out, that hurts, yes.

But an athlete always has to get back up again.

(cheering and shrieking)

Lisa Tyner: (speaking English) People just naturally gravitate to him.

He's like your brother, or your cousin,

or your neighbor, or the guy next door.

He's just approachable.

Everybody feels like they know him.

Like he's accessible.

Even the kids that come in here.

When he's in here, they go right up to him.

They're not intimidated by his size or anything else.

We tease him, we say, "Well, that's your peer group."

How are you, sweetie? You all right? Long time, no see.

Yeah. You actually did shave.

I did shave. Come here.

- How are you? - Good.

- How's school treating you? - Good.

- Yes? You learning? - Yup.

- Can we get a picture with you? - Done!

Come on. You want to sit on my leg?

Oh! You might be a little heavy now for me.

Ready, Mia? One, two, three... Yay!

Insurance shot.

You ready? Let me finish a couple things, then we'll go.

- Bye, guys. - Bye, Dirk.

We'll see you soon.

(woman laughs)

I heard you're a Chicago Bulls fan.

- Can we change that? - It's going to be hard.

Can you like the Mavericks a little bit, just a little?

I do like them a little bit. I liked it when you beat the Heat.

I hate the Heat.

He's been spokesperson for the Children's Cancer Fund out of L.A.

His foundation is for the benefit and wellness of children.

- No! - Oh! You blocked it.

At Christmas his family is usually here,

and we decide how those funds are going to be dispersed.

Dirk: Try to guard that, my friend.

This is for the Chicago Bulls.

(speaking German) I'm not so much proud of Dirk as a basketball player,

I'm more proud of him as a son.

To me, that means he's got both feet on the ground,

he shows respect,

he's not conceited because of his money.

I really like what a social person he is.

Geschwindner: Of course there are a lot of offers,

young ladies with signs, "Dirk, marry me!"

and lots of other variations.

The temptations are great.

And everyone has to decide for themselves

how to deal with that.

But it's difficult.

News reporter: According to reports,

Nowitzki had lived here for a year with Cristal Taylor.

They were allegedly engaged, he'd introduced her to his parents...

The special thing here was that people around him

asked him, "Are you sure this is what you want?"

And Dirk, who in the past

often accepted advice before making decisions,

particularly from his family and Holger,

in this case he said,

"I take responsibility for the decision, and I'm making it alone."

They wanted to marry, the date was set,

preparations had to be made. And I started googling,

checking out the name and the rest of it...

At some point we discovered she'd been a wanted person for some time.

(speaking English) New information about the story CBS 11 broke earlier today.

This involves a woman arrested at the home of Dirk Nowitzki.

News reporter: Cristal Taylor is in the Dallas county jail

after federal and local authorities

converged on Nowitzki's house in an upscale Dallas neighborhood.

Sources say a private investigator working for Nowitzki was involved.

News reporter: Authorities have uncovered

at least eight different aliases used by Taylor.

(speaking German) It's tragic when your trust is disappointed like that.

And when that comes out,

and she tries everything, says she's pregnant...

Very complicated.

It's indescribable, to be living with someone...

You thought you knew the person, but in the end,

it turns out it's not the person

you know and have come to love.

How do you deal with that?

Do you join a monastery, become celibate? Of course not.

But another relationship?

Is it about me as a player, or as a rich guy in Dallas?

That's why it's so important to have friends and family.

And Dirk has Holger, who he can count on,

and who'll break his fall.

So we thought, where can you go where you're not easily reached?

Let's do Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific. We got a Jeep,

drove to Alice Springs, got some supplies,

made campfires in the evening and so on. It was great.

And in New Zealand, since Dirk is a huge fan of "The Hobbit."

We bought a map of all the film locations,

dug out pools on the beach above hot springs...

We kept to ourselves.

For me the main thing was,

if you've been so disappointed, you might close the door

and never trust anyone again... That was the main danger.

They go on vacation together and do stuff where I think:

You've got better things to do than traveling through Asia

with an old guy who never changes his clothes.

Nope. It worked well.

(upbeat music playing)

Dirk's Dad: Me and my buddy go to Dallas,

and he says, "Let's play tennis this afternoon."

"Who is our fourth man?" "My tennis partner," he says.

An attractive woman in tennis gear turns up.

Dirk doesn't say, "This is my new girlfriend."

He says, "my tennis partner." I had to laugh.

(speaking English) J.W. was sitting having a beer

and I was heading back towards the bedroom,

I think I was about to change,

and he said, "Are you about to leave?"

I said, "No, I'm just going to go get ready for bed."

(speaking German) And I said, "Hey, Jessica,

that's your car to the right there."

(speaking English) So that was my first meeting with J.W.

and, you know, the joker that he is.

(speaking German) So it was obvious she was his girlfriend,

but he was too cowardly to introduce her as his girlfriend, and says to me:

"My tennis partner is coming!"

I thought it'd take him longer to get over it,

but...

...she's a fantastic woman,

what a terrific catch!

(speaking English) He's a humble, down-to-earth,

kind, but very funny guy.

He's funny

in his sense of humor, and he takes life very easily.

And, you know, we sort of connect on that level.

(rock music playing)

(speaking German) It was clear that he could give it his all with that team,

but success was unlikely.

And according to NBA regulations,

he could have had 96 million, what the Americans call max-out.

I said, 80 million is still a pile of dough.

That a player comes and says, I'll forego the money

so we can get better players and win the title...

This was before anyone knew they were playing for the championship.

That's extremely unusual.

(speaking English) He didn't take that much less. Let's not put it that far.

He's still getting paid 19, 20, 21, 22 million a year.

So let's not plead poverty for Dirk.

Cuban: Not to take anything away from Dirk. He's a team guy.

We bring in much different guys.

Then it gets toward the end of the season,

we go on a West Coast road trip

and we lose like six in a row.

And everybody's like, "These guys are toast. There's no chance".

But we literally going into the playoffs

were not playing our best basketball.

We get to Portland...

Commentator: Nowitzki, fading.

Not a good possession.

Nowitzki at the other end.

Cuban: Then we go to play the defending champs, the Lakers.

And literally everybody's like,

"They got no chance. They're the defending champs."

Commentator: Nowitzki drives on Gasol, stops.

Left-handed! Puts it up and in.

What a shot for Nowitzki!

This is Dirk Nowitzki at his best this year.

Twenty five point lead for the Mavericks.

I remember Dirk in the locker room saying to everybody,

"I've been up, the Miami series, and lost it.

So let's not get too excited or too giddy, we've got to stay focused."

And we came back to Dallas and just whooped them.

Commentator: For the fourth time in franchise history

the Dallas Mavericks are going to the Western Conference Finals.

There will be a new champion in the NBA.

They beat us handily in the postseason.

After our series I knew they had

an amazing shot at winning the championship

because they had the talent,

they had the chemistry and the camaraderie to get it done.

I think the Dallas Mavericks' 2011 team was a family.

When you talk about guys being able to hang out,

you talk about our superstar as a low-maintenance guy,

never wanting attention, just wanting to win,

and to be able to

finally reach the mountaintop by winning a championship.

Brought everybody closer together in a bond that will always be together.

(cheers)

Commentator: Nowitzki. Wow, big three!

Commentator: Falling away... Oh, he puts it in!

Dirk Nowitzki knocks it down.

And he dunked it! How many times?

And the Dallas Mavericks are going back to the NBA Finals.

If you think about it,

when somebody steals your girlfriend or your bicycle

in high school, it's usually gone forever.

So for us to go back and to be in that place,

where it was so difficult for us a few years earlier,

was a very, very unique and special opportunity.

(guitar music playing)

Commentator: Wade... alley-oop to James!

There's the exclamation point.

...as the Miami Heat take Game One of the NBA Finals.

And the Mavericks fighting back.

Nowitzki puts it up... Knocks it in!

Here goes Marion back to Nowitzki.

Lefty layup, banks it in and the game is tied!

Dallas has tied the Finals,

with one of the most incredible comebacks in NBA Finals history.

Wade, 30-foot three... No good!

It's over, it's over.

And the Mavericks have stolen Game Two!

Nowitzki, back-door, tie game!

Nowitzki spins, head fake, falling away...

Shot won't go, and Miami holds on and takes Game Three.

He's going too early!

Drives underneath. Layup, he puts it in!

Nowitzki makes it a three-point game.

Wade lost the ball, throws to the backcourt,

gets it to Miller, Miller puts it up...

Air ball! And that's it!

Nowitzki quick move, and the finish!

What a performance from the veteran Dallas Mavericks.

Win, lose or draw, the next two games in Miami.

This team has flat out deserved

the recognition and the applause of everyone.

If you spend any time around him and you know

how much he suffered after 2006.

I think a lot of people in the NBA, not just in Dallas,

I think a lot of people all over the league,

were really rooting for Dirk to get that championship.

(speaking German) He was so geared up,

couldn't give more.

"I don't want people to fly in

and up the ante and so on."

So of course it was difficult for us to accept that.

"You came last time, it went bad, we ended up losing.

I'd like to stick to my routine from the first two months."

That was when only Holger was there throughout the play-offs.

(suspenseful music playing)

Commentator: (speaking English) ...that's the way to shoot for it.

Nowitzki puts it up...

Puts it in! Nowitzki makes it a ten-point lead.

Here's Kidd. Five to shoot.

To the cutting Dirk, down the lane... Yes, there it is!

There it is! The Mavericks are going to win the championship!

They lead by 11, the arms up in the air!

And it's 103-92.

And that should do it for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Mavericks celebrating on the bench.

For the first time ever the Dallas Mavericks are the NBA champions.

They are basketball's best in 2011.

(serene guitar music)

I saw Dirk through the corner of my eye leave the gym.

It reminded me of Michael Jordan the first time he won the championship.

I mean, he broke down. He was extremely emotional.

I looked up in the crowd and I saw Holger.

And I saw a tear in his eye.

And I know, I've never talked to Holger about this,

but I know that was the final chapter of the journey.

And so my feelings were this... Grateful.

Jason Kidd: He didn't want to share his emotion publicly.

And he's a private guy when it comes to his emotions

and things he does off the court, he likes to keep things private.

That's just who he is.

But I think it was just overwhelming for him to understand

that he finally won a championship.

(cheers and applause)

(speaking German) When they did it,

it was 5 a.m., and I got in my car, went to my daughter's,

and we celebrated.

(speaking English) I was very happy for him, to see him do that.

I know he had worked extremely hard.

I know he had some struggles the first time he was in an NBA Finals.

And he wanted to get back to that place to redeem himself.

I was very happy for him when he did.

It was really the first time in NBA history

that the best player, that was foreign-born,

that had never had any development in high school or college,

won a championship.

So Dirk was clearly the best player on our team.

He was the focal point, and he led us to a championship.

Legendary, for sure.

His name will be remembered by people even 50 years from now.

People probably don't know, in 2006,

when they lost Game Six here, at the American Airlines Center,

Dirk and some of the people

that are in his circle within the organization,

they sat in the back

till the wee hours of the morning, five, six in the morning.

They couldn't leave.

They were so devastated to lose that finals, they couldn't leave.

And I think Dirk carried that hurt with him for five years.

And to finally win and get that off your shoulder...

To get that off your shoulders

is a feeling that normal people like you and me can't understand.

(speaking German) Whether I can reach that level again?

Very hard... it was...

I have to say, I played well then.

(cheers)

(speaking English) One, two, three!

(singing) ♪ We are the champions ♪

♪ We are the champions ♪

♪ No time for losers ♪

♪ 'Cause we are the champions ♪

(speaking German) It was a time I'll never forget.

The city was a madhouse.

The parade, with 250,000 people on the streets.

I stood on the balcony of the American Airline Center

and sang "We are the Champions,"

It still gives me goose bumps.

(speaking English) Dirk joined the Mavericks 13 years ago

as a skinny kid from Germany,

with what he describes as a "goofy" haircut.

I think it's fair to say that we have very rarely seen

a better playoff run than Dirk Nowitzki had last year.

It was remarkable.

So clearly Dirk is a tough guy,

although the most painful thing

may have been his rendition of "We are the Champions"

during the victory celebration.

- That was um... - Dirk: I worked on it.

You said you worked on that? Seriously?

Okay.

(speaking German) To me, appearing in public

is difficult. I'm really

a guy who doesn't like a big hullabaloo.

And speaking in public, too. I was so bad at first.

I could manage one sentence, more or less.

Then I'd try to sit down as quickly as possible.

Being the center of attention...

Other people like it, but I never did.

For me, ceremonies and being honored

are almost a bit embarrassing.

(speaking English) Announcer: Ten-time All-Star...

(prolonged applause)

2007 league MVP,

2011 Finals MVP...

One day soon we'll have a statue in front of the AAC, without question.

The greatest player in Mavericks history.

Dirk Nowitzki.

♪ ("All Night" by Parov Stelar plays) ♪

Champ, Champ, Champ... What day is it, Champ?

Dirk Nowitzki!

- (cheers and applause) - Thank you very much.

(speaking German) It's crazy, if you think about it:

I'm pretty good

at throwing a ball into a basket,

because I'm nine feet tall.

(speaking English) What is my NBA nickname?"

Your NBA nickname is "The Dunking Deutschman."

(speaking German) But there are a thousand other people

who are as good at what they do as I am

who nobody knows.

(speaking English) I would've also accepted these ones.

"Dirk Diggler."

(audience laughs)

"The German Wunderkind."

"The Germinator."

(speaking German) It's a bit unreal, people wanting my autograph,

or my photograph because I'm good at shooting hoops.

♪ ("All Night" by Parov Stelar continues) ♪

"The 7-foot Schnitzel."

Hey!

(speaking German) That sweater stinks!

He's had it on for a few months.

(speaking English) "The Berlin Tall."

"Super Strudel."

"Kaiser von Dunkin' Slammin'."

During Halloween one year I sort of threw it out there to him

because they were going for a Halloween party

and he sort of asked, "What should I be?" And I just said, How about...

Martina Navratilova?

He said, "Done! Just go get me a skirt."

"Der Dunkin' Schnitzel."

"Der Dribblemeister."

- And "Der Dunkin' Meister." - Very nice.

(audience applauds)

(high-pitched scream)

♪ ("All Night" keeps playing) ♪

(speaking German) Oh, he's so nice.

So nice. Two students came by,

looking for a bakery here in Rattelsdorf.

"The Three Old Ladies." That was in the newspaper they showed us.

I said to Dirk, "What's this about old ladies?"

He said, "I meant it in a good way."

Yeah, great.

It was nice.