Dirk Nowitzki’s admission to the “Hall of Fame”: Free at last

Nowitzki always just wanted to play, but at world level. He subordinated everything to that since he was taken into individual training at the age of 16 by Holger Geschwindner, a border crosser between genius and madness. Holistic – throwing, passing and dribbling, stamina and strength, music and literature – and relentless.

After a few professional years in his native Würzburg and basic military service (which is primarily intended to teach him the value of freedom), the Dallas Mavericks committed him in 1999. He stayed there for 21 years, saw 200 players come and go and led the team in 2011 to their only NBA title to date. He carried the German national team to World Cup bronze in 2002, European Championship silver in 2005 and participation in the 2008 Olympic Games.

All of this was accompanied by a massive loss of what Nowitzki’s mentor Geschwindner calls “degrees of freedom”. For more than two decades, his schedule was packed. 1667 games for Dallas in every corner of North America, 153 for Germany all over the world. Private jets were his commuter trains, but a business trip is a business trip.

In addition to the 57,263 high-intensity minutes of play in the NBA alone, there was a lot of training. With the team and individually, millions and millions of throws, offensive and defensive, strength and endurance. Physiotherapy, massages, ice baths. Video analyzes of the last games and the next opponents, in between obligatory availability for reporters and sponsors. Explanations for victories, justifications for defeats, motivational and acceptance speeches in the dressing room and on podiums. Interviews, autographs, selfies. At home, yoga and pilates and nutritionist-approved food, never alcohol, red meat, or even a pizza. Constantly changing telephone numbers and permanent personal protection. Also on vacation, where he once, smuggled into an amusement park by bodyguards, rode a roller coaster for two hours until he felt nauseous; who knows when it will be possible next time. Skiing or even just getting on a moped is never even a thought. insurance reasons. Neither his time nor his body really belonged to him.

Nowitzki never complained about any of this; he chose this life himself, enjoyed large parts of it, even loved it. And he got $250 million in compensation for his joints, bones, tendons.

And yet you can understand why he said to his biographer Thomas Pletzinger: “You pay for it.” Which is why he nostalgically remembers the weekends of his childhood. French fries and cola in the handball hall, hide and seek in the equipment room. light-heartedness. “Those were my favorite days, I will never forget them.” The boys in the gyms of Germany wanted to be like Nowitzki, Pletzinger wrote; “he wanted to stay like her”.

Players at Nowitzki’s level spend years climbing eight-thousanders, Geschwindner once said – the physical and mental challenges are just as great. The sporting hopes that weighed on the shoulders of the 2.13 meter man also had enormous economic (for Dallas) and social (for Germany) importance.

Nowitzki’s induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame marks the end of his pro career. He was an NBA champion and a 14-time All-Star, Most Valuable Player of all major tournaments, flag bearer at the Olympic Games, the best basket shooter in the history of the national team.

The farewell came in installments. He retired from the national team in 2015 and from the NBA in April 2019 amid unprecedented displays of respect. Since then, a whole series of honors have followed, including the Federal Cross of Merit for his social commitment. In Dallas, they named a street after him, put a seven-meter-high statue of Dirk Nowitzki in front of the arena, pulled an oversized jersey of him under the ceiling of that arena as a sign that his number in Dallas will never be given out again. The same happened in Cologne with his national team jersey. He also served the Mavericks as an advisor and the Baksketball World Association Fiba as patron of the World Cup, which begins in the Philippines at the end of August.

After being inducted into the basketball hall of fame, he is definitely no longer an athlete, and therefore much less of a role model and projection screen. He will still be recognized throughout his life, as a 2.13 meter tall sports legend. But from now on Dirk Nowitzki can be human again.