The perception of Dirk as soft isn't that big of a mystery. Look at the playoffs last year.
Your coach calls you out and questions your leadership.
Dirk saying if they lose the 5th game it's over and how GS wasn't letting him execute.
Baron Davis hopping around on one leg and being effective and Dirk in the corner looking like he wanted to be anywhere else in game 6.
This team has , fair or not, been in 2 consecutive record meltdowns on the national stage.
Some of this is just Dirk being his normal, humble no bullcrap self, and Avery being unable to put his team in the best position to succeed. Much of it is because of the supporting cast.
Look at some of the posts on this forum during that series crapping on Dirk, some from posters in this thread.
It's not because he's white , European or goofy. It's because of less than great results on the biggest NBA stage. You can't have what went on in last years playoffs and expect fans that don't watch the Mavs much to see Dirk as tough. 67 wins and MVP was all over the promo's with many of the same national media that turned on him later predicting a 4 game series.
I'm not saying it's fair. But it isn't rocket science to see where the soft label comes from. Watch game 6 again. it will probably dog him until he gets a ring.
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