As the NBA season reaches its exciting conclusion, all eyes are now on the upcoming NBA Draft and the projected top pick, Victor Wembanyama. Amidst the anticipation, NBA legend Charles Barkley made a guest appearance on the captivating ‘New Heights’ Podcast with the Kelce Brothers, where the topic of the draft prospect took an interesting turn towards a pioneer – ‘The German Wunderkind’—Dirk Nowitzki.
Advertisement
Back in 1998, Dirk Nowitzki was a draft prospect shrouded in hype and speculation. The towering German, with his unique skill set and potential as a ‘unicorn player’, had caught the attention of scouts and analysts. Many wondered how he would fare in the NBA, and the Dallas Mavericks took a calculated risk by selecting him with the 9th pick.
During his appearance on the podcast, Barkley shared a memorable anecdote about the young Dirk Nowitzki. Barkley vividly recalled an occasion when an 18-year-old Nowitzki displayed his ‘greatness’ even though he was just a high schooler. Nike had arranged for a group of NBA players, including Barkley himself, to play against the German national team. However, to their surprise, a young and relatively unknown Nowitzki, representing the German squad, ‘whopped their a**’, leaving an indelible impression on Barkley and his fellow NBA players.
Charles tells the Kelce brothers a story of an 18-year-old Dirk Nowitzki whopping a**
Charles Barkley was recently a guest on the ‘ New Heights Podcast’. While on the podcast, Barkley was asked for his opinion on Victor Wembanyama, the project’s first pick of the 2022-23 NBA draft. Charles answering the question said
“I got a better story for you. Nike used to take us to all these foreign countries to play ball in the summer. To expand basketball. This was before the dream team. It was like us 8-10 guys. We went to China, Japan and all these countries. One summer we go to Germany. We play their national team. Their team had this 7-footer, Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk was like 18 years old. Still in high school. We had Scottie (Scottie Pippen). He was a great defender. But Dirk was whopping a**. He had like some 40-points on us. After the game I asked someone who he was. They said Dirk Nowitzki. I asked where he played ball. They said he is going to play in the army next year. I was like no way he playing for the army, he is 7-feet, he is coming to the states and playing for my school. I told him the same. In the end I find out he is getting drafted the same year and he couldn’t play for my school. But yeah, hell of a player.”
Charles’s scouting strikes gold as Dirk becomes the ‘first unicorn’ of the NBA
The 18-year-old Dirk Nowitzki would end up being the player Sir Charles thought he could be. Dirk would go to the Dallas Mavericks as the 9th pick of the 1998 draft. The league had never quite seen a player quite like him, as most centers at that point didn’t shoot threes and fade away one-legged jumpers. But Dirk definitely broke stereotypes around ‘the European-bust prospect‘ as he would end up leading Dallas to its first title against a Lebron-led Miami Heat in 2011. Causing possibly one of the biggest upsets in sports history, Dirk changed basketball forever as we know it.
