<u>In the NBA's page:</u>
A rising star in the U.S., the Mavericks forward is a huge hit in his homeland
Nowitzki Makes His Mark on Both Sides of the Ocean
By Johannes Berendt
Special to NBA.com
WERTHER, Germany, Jan. 9 -- In 1997, Charles Barkley and his fellow NBA players were touring Germany to square off with a national selection of German talents in an exhibition game. While all eyes were on the star-studded US team, the play of the day was delivered by a little-known 19-year-old.
Asked why a tall, blonde German kid had embarrassed him with a thunderous in-your-face-dunk, the Chuckster answered: "I don't care. But the kid -- what's his name again -- is good and should come to America."
Nowitzki was voted the second-most popular athlete in Germany for 2002.
Glenn James
NBAE/Getty Images
You bet Sir Charles knows who Dirk Nowitzki is now. And so do millions of sports fans, not just in Germany, but around the world.
"Nowitzki has gained the status of a pop-star," says Roland Geggus, the president of the German Basketball Federation. "We realize it whenever he is playing in his home country and there are thousands of fans waiting for him to sign autographs.
"In our sport we have never experienced something like that before." Although the NBA has been popular since the original Dream Team and the Chicago Bulls' first run of three consecutive NBA championships, Nowitzki has helped basketball to a new popularity.
"It's no secret that the fan interest had dwindled a little after the Old Guard of legendary players had exited the stage", André Voigt, editor of BASKET-magazine, says. After Michael Jordan's second retirement, the league lacked role models and real superstars that fascinated fans in Germany.
"Nowitzki, however, has turned the trend around big time. He's also one of the most highly-regarded athletes. The fact that even my grandfather asked me why he would make that much money tells you how popular he has grown."
Nowitzki's second-place finish in the national Sportsman of the Year voting, voted on by German sports journalists with the results broadcast on German public television giant -- ZDF, is further proof of his esteem. Nowitzki was beaten by a record-setting ski jumper, Sven Hannawald, but edged out living legends such as Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and the skipper of the soccer national team, Oliver Kahn.
Schumacher, for instance, is the German athlete with the highest global name recognition and the biggest income at an estimated $65 million a year. For Nowitzki to finish ahead of Schumacher is an indication of how far Nowitzki has come.
The Mavericks forward has found a special place in the Germans' hearts as basketball fans now have one of their own whom they can admire.
European Player of the Year
Nowitzki isn't just admired in Germany. He makes noise throughout Europe.
Each year, the Italian sports magazine "La Gazetta dello Sport", one of the leading magazines in Europe, and with the assistance of the NBA, polls European players to determine the European Player of the Year.
Nowitzki was tops in this year's poll. The Kings' Peja Stojakovic and the Grizzlies Pau Gasol tied for third and Sacramento's Vlade Divac rounded out the top five.
Top Five:
1. Dirk Nowitzki, Mavs, 104 pts
2. Dejan Bodiroga, F.C. Barcelona, 54
3. Peja Stojakovic, Kings, 50
4. Pau Gasol, Grizzlies, 48
5. Vlade Divac, Kings, 15
La Gazetta dello Sport
German Basketball Bundesliga site
"Watching 'Air' Jordan and Magic Johnson surely was fun. But a fellow countryman giving the world's best players a hard time? That's much better," Johann Wolfgang says with a smile. The 59-year-old manager of a food company finds it "sensational that Nowitzki is as popular in America as in Germany."
Nowitzki appears to be a Wunderkind in more ways than just one. Apart from his affiliation with German sports charity organizations, fans admire him for his desire to play for the national team.
"I think Dirk is great. He's one of the best players in the NBA and still takes his time to help Germany," student Jens Brinkhoff, 24, believes. "Despite coming off an exhausting season, he always performs well then."
Physiotherapist Falk von Hollen, 23, adds: "There are so many athletes - just look at Detlef Schrempf - who wouldn't sacrifice their holidays to play for their country. For some reason, Dirk feels honored and has a lot of fun."
Nowitzki's reputation received another major boost when he led Germany to a fourth-place finish at the European Championships in 2001. Making the NBA All-Star Game and winning the bronze medal at the World Championship last year didn't hurt either.
"He's one of a kind. I guess many people like the way he plays and how he presents himself off the court," states Hanna Klingelmann, a former German playground basketball champion. "Besides, he really got the looks."
Naturally, the "Dirkster" has become a domestic media darling, with youth magazines, internet pages and newspaper monitoring his performances closely.
So no matter what the Mavericks will accomplish this season, the German public will cheer for their hometown hero from overseas.
Johannes Berendt is a freelance writer from Germany. Berendt has written basketball articles for German publications Welt am Sonntag, die Welt and Neue Westfaelische and is a soccer reporter for SportsTicker (U.S.A.) and the Press Association (U.K.).