Dirk Nowitzki enshrined in HOF
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00:00 Dallas Mavericks legend and NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki is enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
00:07 When you think of Dirk, what memories pop in your head as far as his legacy in Dallas
00:11 and then again just in the NBA?
00:13 I mean how much time do we have?
00:14 I covered Dirk when he got off the airplane for the first time from Germany as a 19 year
00:19 old and looked around at that time there at the Baylor Landry Center there in D. Bellum
00:24 right in Dallas.
00:25 Yeah.
00:26 And he looked around and he was like, "I don't belong here.
00:28 What am I doing?"
00:29 He spoke English.
00:30 I barely spoke English but Donnie and Don Nelson were like, "Dirk, show them what you
00:34 do."
00:35 And he was like, couldn't even dribble.
00:36 He was so nervous.
00:37 And he didn't think he belonged.
00:38 He was like, "This is not..." and look at him now.
00:40 Now he's 21 years with the same team, went to the Hall of Fame, nailed his speech.
00:44 I mean, hit all the right notes, think to all the right people.
00:48 He's the goat of goats in Dallas-Fort Worth.
00:50 I mean, you're talking Tom Landry, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach, I mean, Pudge Rodriguez, Emmitt
00:55 Smith, Mike Medano, Byron Nelson.
00:58 I'm talking every athlete who's ever been in Dallas-Fort Worth.
01:01 You can find a reason why Dirk is better.
01:04 It's his loyalty.
01:05 It's his longevity.
01:06 Of course, on the court, he's unprecedented.
01:08 A Hall of Fame performer, just never even a hiccup off the court.
01:15 We're never going to be treated to another guy like that.
01:16 And watching him, it was...
01:17 I mean, I'm like, "That's the guy."
01:18 He came in with a hoop earring and like the bangs.
01:22 I'm like, he went from there to the Hall of Fame.
01:25 There's hope for everybody if he can make that transition.
01:27 So good for him.
01:28 Right.
01:29 Not to mention all of his kindness off the field.
01:30 Or off the court, I should say.
01:31 Off the court, yeah.
01:32 I mean, I saw him at a pickleball tournament maybe three months ago.
01:35 He was playing pickleball, which you can imagine Dirk Nowitzki playing pickleball.
01:39 That long reach, it was incredible.
01:42 And there was no shortage of 100 fans hoping to get something signed from him.
01:46 And he took the time, signed every single thing.
01:49 I was thinking, you have been here for so long signing all of this stuff.
01:54 He's never threw it all.
01:56 He's got a street named after him.
01:57 He's got a statue.
01:58 He's in the Hall of Fame.
02:00 He's got the unique quality to he's never lost his humility.
02:05 And that's so rare.
02:06 And that comes from his upbringing, from his mom and dad and his special coach there in
02:11 Germany.
02:12 He's just a kid that was brought up the right way.
02:14 And really when he got off the plane, like, "I don't think I belong here."
02:16 I don't think he's still, maybe now he's in the Hall of Fame, he gets it.
02:19 But he's still kind of like, "Pinch me.
02:21 This is surreal."
02:22 Yeah, he's easy to root for.
02:23 Oh, yeah.
02:24 Impossible not to.
02:25 Yeah.
02:25 - I'm not too, yeah.
02:26 (laughs)
02:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]