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Wunderkind in Washington

Wunderkind: Dirk Nowitzki
German Embassy Press Photo

It was a rough night for Dirk Nowitzki, the German basketball Wunderkind from Würzburg. His team, the Dallas Mavericks, fell flat in a 100-90 loss against the Washington Wizards playing on their home turf in the MCI Center in Washington, DC on November 5th.

MCI Center

After the game, a thoughtful Nowitzki was kind to give www.germany.info some broader insights about his career and his life between the two countries. He also took time to answer some questions given to the Embassy´s Press Department by students from the German School in Potomac, Maryland.

Scoring with a free throw

Nowitzki must have been 13 or 14 when he really got into playing basketball back at home in Würzburg, Germany, the 7-foot athlete said. His parents introduced him to the game and he was hooked. “Back then, I had no skills, I just chased after the ball,” he said and smiled.

Dirk also played tennis, “but I am a team player. Individual sports don’t do it for me,” he said.

His career skyrocketed and eventually brought him from Germany to the NBA.

“Why the NBA? Well that’s obvious. It’s the biggest thing. It has the best athletes,” he said.

Nowitzki well remembers the time when he was young and knew the name of every player in the NBA. Sometimes it makes him feel a bit uncomfortable that he is a celebrity now. “I don’t think of myself as famous. I am sometimes surprised how people react,” the athlete said with a voice that seems almost too calm for somebody who just finished playing an NBA game.

Being a celebrity sometimes makes him feel uncomfortable

Calm is the impression that Nowitzki gives people who meet him. Sitting with his feet in a bucket of ice in the locker room, one senses a humble guy who just loves what he does.

Dirk recently returned from three months spent at home in Germany where he visited family and friends, something he has been doing every year since he came to the U.S. in 1998. Keeping contact with home is important to him, but he is always excited to start the season here, he said.

Nowitzki said that during his first year in the States it was hard for him to get to know people and adapt to another culture. “But the people of Texas have made it a lot easier,” he said, “everybody is so open and friendly.” His teammates also helped him a lot in adjusting.

As far as his future is concerned, Nowitzki says he hopes to play in the Olympic Games in 2008 (Germany did not qualify for the 2004 Games) and that he wants to win the NBA championship with his team, the Mavericks. “I am 25, I really don’t plan that far. I do have a five-year-contract I want to fulfill.”

Nowitzki’s fans remained supportive all through the game

Right now, he faces more immediate goals and challenges: the next games coming up in rapid succession against Toronto, San Antonio, New Orleans and Houston. Nowitzki left the MCI Center – but not without sending greetings to his young fans at the German School, some of which supported him during the game weaving a German flag that bore his name.

This interview was conducted by David Wedepohl of the German Embassy's Press Department. Photos by the German Embassy Press Department.

Links

NBA: Dirk Nowitzki