Dirk Nowitzki

Hall Of Fame Notes: Nowitzki, P. Gasol, Spurs, Wade

Former Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki has earned plenty of well-deserved praise as he nears his Hall of Fame induction, which will take place on Saturday. Soccer star Toni Kroos believes his fellow countryman is the greatest German athlete in history, according to Marc Stein at Substack, who also writes a long list of his memories after covering Nowitzki’s career over the past 25 years.

For me,” said the Real Madrid midfield ace, “Dirk is above anybody.”

As Stein observes, Germany has had a number of incredible athletes, including former tennis stars Steffi Graf and Boris Becker, ex-Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, former soccer player Franz Beckenbauer, and Kroos himself. Yet Nowitzki stands alone for Kroos, not only for his accomplishments on the court, but for the way he carried himself off it.

At this point we don’t need to talk about his quality as a basketball player,” Kroos told Stein. “To be on this level for so many years, to achieve what he achieved and to make the money he made throughout his career and then to stay the same down-to-Earth guy is what really matters. My feeling is that, little by little, we are losing these Dirk Nowitzkis and Roger Federers. We need more Dirks in this world.”

Tim Cato of The Athletic passes along his own memories of Nowitzki’s career, as well as excerpts from fellow writers touching on the big man’s impact on Dallas and the people around him.

Here are more notes ahead of tomorrow’s enshrinement:

  • Pau Gasol is among the star-studded class that will be inducted. He recently gave an exclusive interview to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times that covered a number of topics, including his time with the Lakers, his relationship with Kobe Bryant, and what being a Hall-of-Famer means to him.
  • At a news conference on Friday, the Spanish big man touched on how special it was to be inducted with fellow Europeans Nowitzki and Tony Parker (France). “This class is an incredible accomplishment for European basketball and for international basketball as well,” Gasol said, per Eurohoops.net. “The game has grown so much since we first started playing in the NBA. We can be very proud of having taken the international game to a higher level and very proud of seeing how current players are taking it to the next level. It’s very special to share this moment with Dirk and Tony. It’s remarkable, something that was unthinkable not too long ago. It’s beautiful to share the message that things are possible, things do change and improve, things are exciting, and allow any kid, boy or girl, to dream that they can do it too. That’s the exciting part for me.”
  • Parker will be the first Frenchman inducted into the Hall of Fame, and he’ll be joined by several people connected to the Spurs, including his former teammate Gasol, his ex-head coach Gregg Popovich, and former assistant coach Becky Hammon. That was one of the topics he discussed in a lengthy interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “That’s crazy,” Parker said. “I don’t even know if it happened in the history of the Hall of Fame that the player is going the same year as his coach. It’s pretty cool. And the whole process is pretty cool because Pau, I played against him since I’m 14 years old and played together at the Spurs. Dirk, a huge Texas rivalry and I went to his jersey retirement. Becky Hammon, people don’t know that a lot, but she’s like my big sister. We [are] very, very close friends. And we were in San Antonio together and spent a lot of time together. Coach Pop was my coach. There’s a lot of connections in that class that makes it very special for me.” Parker also recently sat down for an exclusive interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews (YouTube link).
  • On Friday, Popovich said Parker’s first workout with the Spurs went so poorly the team almost didn’t draft him, but the guard’s agent convinced San Antonio to give him another shot, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I hated him,” Popovich said. “I said I don’t want him. He’s a weenie. He’s unaggressive. He doesn’t like contact, he’s 19, and I don’t want to see him.” However, Parker “kicked ass” at his second workout. “The rest,” Popovich said, “is history.”
  • Ahead of his enshrinement, Heat legend Dwyane Wade answered 16 questions posed by Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, and discussed his post-NBA success with Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

And-Ones: Nowitzki, 2024 Draft, Extension-Eligible Players

Former Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, who will be part of a star-studded 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame class, spoke to Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News about his upcoming enshrinement, which will take place next Saturday (August 12).

As Nowitzki explains, growing up in Germany, he was unaware about the importance of the Hall of Fame. It wasn’t until he entered the NBA that he began to learn how meaningful it is to the game’s players. He visited the Hall of Fame in person for the first time in 2018, when he witnessed the inductions of his former teammates Steve Nash and Jason Kidd. Five years later, Nash and Kidd will be the co-presenters introducing Nowitzki when he enters the Hall.

“I remember being so happy for those two; that they got to go in for the careers they had,” Nowitzki said. “I remember just sitting and soaking it all in and listening to all the speeches. Now I’m so happy, I actually can’t believe it’s my time now.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report takes a look at six key storylines to watch in advance of the 2024 NBA draft, starting with a wide-open race for the No. 1 pick. One of the other topics of intrigue highlighted by Wasserman relates to the standout freshmen who will be looking to crack crowded, established rotations.
  • Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype ranks the players who are eligible to be extended before the start of the 2023/24 season, including Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. While some of the players on Gozlan’s list figure to get new deals in the coming weeks or months, others will likely wait until 2024 or beyond to sign their next contracts.
  • Depending on where the 2024/25 salary cap lands, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown has a chance to become the first player to earn $300MM on a single NBA contract. However, he certainly won’t be the last, according to Mike Vornukov of The Athletic, who explores what contracts could look like in a few years if the cap keeps increase at its current exponential rate.

Popovich, Nowitzki, Wade Headline 2023 Hall Of Fame Class

APRIL 1: Popovich, Wade, Nowitzki, Gasol, Parker, and Hammon have officially been announced as Hall of Famers. In addition to those previously reported names, the following inductees will join them:

  • Gene Bess: Longtime head coach at Three Rivers Community College who won two NJCAA national championships and won a record 1,300 games.
  • Gary Blair: Longtime women’s basketball head coach at Texas A&M, Arkansas, and Stephen F. Austin who won a national championship in 2011 and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
  • David Hixon: Longtime Amherst College head coach who won a pair of Division III national championships and was twice named the D-III Coach of the Year
  • Gene Keady: Longtime Purdue head coach who appeared in 17 NCAA tournaments and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year seven times.

The Hall of Fame is also recognizing Jim Valvano, the late NCAA broadcaster who created The V Foundation for Cancer Research, and the 1976 Olympic U.S. women’s basketball team (Twitter links).

This year’s class will formally be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on the weekend of August 11-12 in Springfield, Mass.


MARCH 28: Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker and Becky Hammon have been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

All six were finalists of the 2023 class, and a formal announcement of all the inductees will take place on Saturday morning at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

Popovich, the NBA’s all-time leader in wins for a head coach, has won five championships, all with San Antonio. The 74-year-old is in his 27th season as the lead coach of the Spurs, compiling a 1363-757 record to this point, good for a 64.3 winning percentage. In 284 postseason games, his teams have gone 170-114 — a 59.9 winning percentage.

A three-time Coach of the Year, Popovich is the longest tenured active coach in the league. He led Team USA to a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Popovich was actually eligible to be inducted years ago but didn’t want to be considered until his longtime point guard Parker was eligible after Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili were previously inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Nowitzki spent his entire 21-year career with the Mavericks, winning the team’s lone championship in 2011 en route to Finals MVP. He earned numerous accolades during his career, including being named the league’s 2006/07 MVP. The German big man was also 14-time All-Star and 12-time All-NBA member.

Wade, a shooting guard, was a 13-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA member, and three-time NBA champion with the Heat. He was named Finals MVP in 2006 and spent the bulk of his career with Miami. Wade is currently a part owner of the Jazz.

Parker, a point guard, spent his first 17 seasons with the Spurs before surprisingly signing one-year contract to finish his career with Charlotte. He was a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA member, four-time NBA champion and 2007 Finals MVP.

Gasol, a forward/center, was a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA member, two-time NBA champion with the Lakers and was the ’01/02 Rookie of the Year. He also had a storied international career with the Spanish national team, winning a couple of Olympic silver medals and several medals during World Cup and EuroBasket compeitions.

Hammon was a six-time WNBA All-Star and two-time first-team All-WNBA member. The former guard won an Olympic gold medal in 1998 with the U.S. national team.

Hammon was a Spurs assistant for parts of eight seasons, becoming the first female acting head coach in NBA history when Popovich was ejected from a game in December 2020. She departed San Antonio when she was named head coach of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces, becoming the first rookie head coach to win a championship last season.

Popovich, Nowitzki, Wade Among Hall Of Fame Finalists

The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame announced its 12 finalists for 2023 on Friday evening, and what a star-studded list it is.

Here are the 12 finalists:

  • Gregg Popovich – Winningest coach in NBA history, five-time NBA champion
  • Dirk Nowitzki – 14-time All-Star, 12-time All-NBA, 2006/07 MVP, 2011 NBA champion and Finals MVP
  • Dwyane Wade – 13-time All-Star, eight-time All-NBA, three-time NBA champion, 2006 Finals MVP
  • Tony Parker – Six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, four-time NBA champion, 2007 Finals MVP
  • Pau Gasol – Six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA, two-time NBA champion, 2002 Rookie of the Year
  • Becky Hammon – Six-time WNBA All-Star, two-time first-team All-WNBA
  • Jennifer Azzi – 1990 Naismith Player of the Year, 1990 national champion with Stanford; 1996 Olympic gold medal
  • Gene Bess – All-time winningest college coach (1,300) across all levels in 50 years at Three Rivers Community College in Missouri (men’s)
  • Gene Keady – Seven-time Big Ten Coach of the Year, six-time National Coach of the Year with Purdue (men’s)
  • David Hixon – 826 wins, two-time Division III national champion and Coach of the Year with Amherst College (men’s)
  • Gary Blair – 852 wins, 2011 national champion with Texas A&M (women’s)
  • Marian Washington – 560 wins, 11 NCAA appearances with Kansas (women’s)

According to the Hall of Fame, the entire class of 2023 will be announced in Houston, on April 1 at the NCAA Men’s Final Four at 11:00 AM ET. Potential enshrinees from the Direct Elect Committees may also be recognized at the NCAA Men’s Final Four.

The class of 2023 will be enshrined during festivities in Springfield, Mass., on August 11-12.

In addition to the aforementioned nominees, the Hall of Fame also announced that legendary high school scout Tom Konchalski was honored as the 2023 John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Konchalski unfortunately passed away a couple of years ago. You can read more about him here.

Marc J. Spears and Holly Rowe of ESPN were named the 2023 Curt Gowdy Media Award winners for print and electronic, respectively, while CBS Sports won the award for the transformative category.

Dwyane Wade, Dirk Nowitzki Among Newly Eligible Hall Of Fame Candidates

Several former NBA stars are first-time nominees on the list of eligible players released Wednesday by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Headlining the list are Dwyane Wade, who won three NBA titles with the Heat, along with three international players, Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol and Tony Parker, and Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

Wade was a 13-time All-Star, an eight-time All-NBA honoree and a member of the 75th anniversary team that was selected last year. He is currently a part owner of the Jazz.

Nowitzki, also on the 75th anniversary team, is the highest-scoring foreign-born player in league history with 31,560 career points. He was named MVP in 2007 and was chosen as Finals MVP in 2011 after leading the Mavericks to their first championship. He set a league record by spending 21 years with the same franchise, made the All-Star Game 14 times and was an All-NBA selection 12 times.

Gasol captured back-to-back NBA titles with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010 and was the first non-American to be honored as Rookie of the Year. A six-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection, Gasol was also successful internationally, winning a FIBA World Cup, three EuroBasket titles and three Olympic medals with Spain.

Parker played a huge role in helping the Spurs win four NBA championships and was named Finals MVP in 2007. He was a six-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA selection, and was named MVP of EuroBasket in 2013 as France won the tournament.

Popovich holds the record for most wins by an NBA coach with 1,354. He guided the Spurs to five NBA titles and was named Coach of the Year three times.

Finalists for enshrinement will be announced February 17 during All-Star Weekend, and the Class of 2023 will be unveiled April 4 during the NCAA’s Final Four. The enshrinement ceremony is scheduled for August 12.

Mavs Notes: Nowitzki, Cuban, Kleber, Doncic, Ntilikina

As first reported last week by Marc Stein (Twitter link) and later confirmed by the team, the Mavericks will retire Dirk Nowitzki‘s No. 41 jersey on January 5, when they host the Warriors in Dallas.

Nowitzki will join Rolando Blackman (No. 22), Brad Davis (No. 15), and Derek Harper (No. 12) as Mavericks players who have had their jersey numbers retired by the franchise. All three players are expected to be in attendance for the ceremony on January 5, along with NBA commissioner Adam Silver, writes Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com.

“Dirk is everything to the Mavs. First, 41.21.1,” team owner Mark Cuban said, referring to Nowitzki becoming the first NBA player to spend 21 seasons with a single team. “And now, lifting his jersey to the rafters. It is a special day for the Mavs and Mavs fans around the world.”

Here’s more out of Dallas:

  • Mavericks owner Mark Cuban spoke on Sunday to a handful of reporters, including Mark Medina of NBA.com, about the team’s start to the season, his first impressions of new general manager Nico Harrison, and Nowitzki’s jersey retirement ceremony, among other topics. “He’s a learner,” Cuban said of Harrison. “To me, that’s always the most important part. Can you deal with the people? Can you get the results? And are you a learner? He’s a learner. He’s a sponge and always open to things. So I’m happy with what’s going on.”
  • Maxi Kleber returned to action on Sunday for the Mavs after sitting out nine games with a left oblique strain, but Luka Doncic remained sidelined, missing his third consecutive game due to left knee and ankle sprains. Doncic was a game-time decision on Sunday, which suggests he’s close to getting back on the court. Dallas is 0-3 without him after starting the season with a 9-4 record.
  • Mavs guard Frank Ntilikina left Sunday’s game due to a right calf injury and didn’t return (Twitter link). The severity of the injury isn’t yet known.

Dirk Nowitzki Will Be Special Advisor For Mavericks

Former Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki will rejoin the team as a special advisor, the team announced (via Twitter). His first assignment will be to aid in the searches for a new head of basketball operations and a new head coach.

Nowitzki, who retired two years ago, isn’t ready to take a full-time job with the organization, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times, but he will assist owner Mark Cuban in filling the two important roles (Twitter link).

“Mark Cuban approached me about a role as special advisor and I am happy to support my Mavs,” Nowitzki said. Donnie Nelson and Rick Carlisle were both mentors and played huge roles in my career and the success of this franchise, and I am going to miss them. It is important for me now to join Mark and contribute as much as I can as we move forward.”

Following Carlisle’s decision on Thursday to step down as head coach after 13 seasons, Cuban met with Nowitzki, VP of basketball operations Michael Finley and some other longtime staffers to plot the team’s future, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Nowitzki, 42, is a 14-time All-Star who played 21 seasons for the Mavericks and holds many franchise records. He reportedly turned down an offer to become an assistant coach under former teammate Steve Nash with the Nets before the start of the season.

Atlantic Notes: Nowitzki, Kanter, Irving, Durant

New Nets coach Steve Nash reached out to former teammate Dirk Nowitzki but the Hall of Fame-bound big man has no desire to be an assistant coach at the moment, Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News reports. Nowitzki is content to spend time with his family in Dallas. “First of all, I don’t know if I could do it (coach) anywhere but here,” he said. “That’s of course first. Second, I just think the timing is not right. I love being with the family. I’m so over basketball at this point that it wasn’t even a thought for me.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • It’s generally assumed that Celtics center Enes Kanter, who played sparingly during the postseason, will exercise his $5MM player option for next season. That’s not necessarily the case, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic. It’s more likely that Kanter will test the market and seek a backup role elsewhere, Weiss says. Even if he opts in, the Celtics may use his salary for a draft-night trade, Weiss adds.
  • Former Suns GM Ryan McDonough doesn’t think Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were trying to undermine Nash when they talked about “collaborative coaching” on Durant’s podcast earlier this month, Ian Begley of SNY.tv relays. Speaking on The Putback, McDonough felt the star Nets duo was speaking more of the team’s leadership. “It wasn’t a critical comment toward Steve Nash like, ‘Hey, he’s not ready for this.’ It was more, ‘We have a lot of player leadership on the roster,’” he said.
  • The Knicks might shop all their picks on draft night. Get the details here.

Reactions, Notes On Nets’ Hiring Of Steve Nash

The Nets shocked the basketball world on Thursday morning when they announced that Steve Nash would become the team’s new head coach. Nash, who hadn’t been cited as a potential candidate during Brooklyn’s search process, wasn’t even known to be seeking a head coaching job.

However, according to Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily, Nash’s name came up “very early” in the process, perhaps even as early as March, shortly after Jacque Vaughn took over for Kenny Atkinson on an interim basis. As Puccio explains, Nash was emerging as the team’s top choice by May. General manager Sean Marks has a history with Nash, having played with him in Phoenix from 2006-08, and star forward Kevin Durant among those pushing for the former star point guard.

That connection with Durant, forged during Nash’s stint as a consultant for the Warriors, will be crucial for the first-time head coach, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News, who suggests that Nash’s potential as the Nets’ head coach is tied to the respect he can command from Durant and Kyrie Irving. As long as those star players are happy, the risk of Nash’s inexperience is mitigated, Bondy opines.

Here’s more on the Nets’ surprising hire:

  • Nash reached out to longtime friend Dirk Nowitzki to gauge his interest in joining the Nets as an assistant coach, but Nowitzki isn’t looking for a full-time basketball job so soon after retiring, reports Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link).
  • Speaking to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Nash explained why the Nets’ job appealed to him, admitting that he has always known in the back of his mind that he’d like to try coaching. The former two-time MVP also addressed his relationship with Durant. “I think that there is a trust, a commonality and a language between us when it comes to the game that has developed over time,” Nash said of his bond with KD. “That definitely is important. He’s one of the greatest players I’ve ever seen and to have his confidence is really important.”
  • Tim Kawakami of The Athletic explores what Nash brought to the Warriors and what – in turn – he’ll bring to the Nets, noting that Steve Kerr is confident in the Hall-of-Famer’s ability to make the transition to coaching. “Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Kerr said. “He knows the drill. He’s been in the league forever and he knows the game as well as anybody and he understands people. And I think he’s very wise, so he’ll hire a good staff. And everything that he needs to learn, he’ll learn quickly.”
  • ESPN insiders Bobby Marks, Tim MacMahon, Kirk Goldsberry, Tim Bontemps, and Brian Windhorst share their reactions to the news of the Nets hiring Nash, and explore best- and worst-case scenarios for the union.
  • It may be an unconventional hire, but the Nets are getting a great teacher in Nash, says Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.

Texas Notes: Carter, Dirk, H-O-R-S-E, Morey

While Vince Carter will be remembered for many accomplishments, his tenure in Dallas may be his most impressive stint, as I detailed on the Basketball Behind The Scenes podcast. Carter joined the Mavericks prior to the lockout-shortened 2011/12 season as the franchise was looking for another player capable of scoring on his own to pair with Dirk Nowitzki.

The former UNC Tar Heel altered his game during his three years in Dallas, shifting away from the ball-dominant ways of the 2000s scorer. Carter made the three-ball a larger part of his shot portfolio and embraced a willingness to be a contributor off the bench, something that was not as glorified then as it is today. Without the shift in his game, Carter may not have had the opportunity to play a record 22 seasons in the league.

Here are more basketball notes from the state of Texas:

  • Nowitzki said that he would have probably turned down the opportunity to compete in ESPN’s H-O-R-S-E competition if he had been asked, as Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News tweets. The Mavericks‘ legend said he only touched a basketball a few times since retiring and once was for a commercial.
  • Acknowledging that an early playoff exit might raise some eyebrows, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes in a mailbag that Rockets GM Daryl Morey‘s aggressive roster moves in the last year suggest he still has ownership’s trust. Morey has gone in some unconventional directions – such as going completely centerless – that an executive without as much standing in an organization may not have attempted.
  • The Rockets have a few contracts that could be difficult to move in the coming years, including Eric Gordon‘s deal, as John Hollinger tells Iko in a separate piece for The Athletic. The shooting guard inked a four-year, $73MM extension prior to the 2019/20 season.