You have to really put in the work to locate possible gems in the rough when it comes to drafting NBA superstars. The ‘diamond’ for the Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t necessarily ‘in the rough,’ but The Big German’s talent flew under the radar to the point where then-GM and head coach Don Nelson felt compelled to ‘hide’ him from other teams until the draught began.
Nowitzki will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday. Nelson discussed what it was like to scout Nowitzki and ultimately land him in an article from NBA.com where Steve Aschburner spoke with numerous people from his career.
“We scouted Europe more than anybody, really,” Nelson said. “Donnie got the international team to work out at the YMCA in downtown Dallas. So for a full week, I’m watching Dirk work out. He was the most unbelievable young player I’d ever seen.”
Rise of Dirk Nowitzki – The legend that he became
If people didn’t already know who Nowitzki was, they did after he helped his side defeat side USA with 33 points and 14 rebounds – something NBA veteran Charles Barkley loves to discuss whenever he has the chance.
Nelson continued : “We hid Dirk for several weeks before the draft,” “We made a commitment that we were going to draft him. We just wanted to keep him from going anywhere else to work out. He was going to be ours. He was happy with that. So he hid for a week in Donnie’s basement.”
It was a little unusual, but it turned out for the best since Nowitzki went on to become one of the greatest NBA players of all time, winning a championship for the Mavericks and earning 21 years of steadfast allegiance in the process.
