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06-13-2011, 02:13 PM
MIAMI -- On the night he finally found vengeance, eternal validation and the highest measure of victory to wag in the face of anyone who had ever called him soft or mocked his cough, Dirk Nowitzki wasn't going to let the world see his tears.
So he left the scene of his greatest triumph before a single teammate or coach could grab him for a hug, faster than he's ever hurdled a scorer's table to bolt off the floor, all to sneak back to the visitors' locker room.
To cry alone.
"I could already feel the tears coming," Nowitzki said in an AmericanAirlines Arena hallway, beaming now as he explained the mad dash at the final buzzer that superseded any urge he felt to dance on the court inside this house of old horrors ... or to stick around and find out how it feels to get a congratulatory man-hug from Dwyane Wade.
"I had to recover, bro."
The Dallas Mavericks had to drag Nowitzki back to the podium of champions Sunday night, so he could hoist the two trophies of his dreams, all because he didn't want anyone to see him like this, whether they were in the building or watching on TV. He admittedly "cried like a baby" back in 2008 upon clinching Germany's qualification for the Olympics for the first time in his career, but Nowitzki confessed that he was literally shaking with shock in the immediate aftermath of the Mavs' 105-95 dismantling of the Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA Finals.
Said Wade: "I think he's played awesome, man. Obviously Dirk, [what happened] five years ago, it burned in him. He learned from that experience. ... Now that he's a champion; it goes without saying [what it means] for his career."
The list of NBA MVPs without a championship, for starters, is down to six: Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Derrick Rose ... and LeBron. Nowitzki was the unquestioned best player of the 2011 playoffs, surviving both a torn tendon in his left middle finger and that sinus infection plus high fever in this series, along with the oft-forgotten fact that the two guys forecast to be Dallas' most dynamic scorers not named Nowitzki -- Caron Butler and Roddy Beaubois -- didn't play at all in the postseason due to injuries.
"The year he won MVP [in 2007]," Terry said, "doesn't even compare to what he did this year in the postseason."
Said Mavs legend Mark Aguirre, marveling earlier in the week about what Nowitzki has achieved in the go-to guy role he once occupied for this franchise: "Answer me this: If you switched Dirk with Wade or Dirk with LeBron, would the Mavs be in the Finals? No way."
Which might be the highest compliment you can pay him.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2...me6-110613
So he left the scene of his greatest triumph before a single teammate or coach could grab him for a hug, faster than he's ever hurdled a scorer's table to bolt off the floor, all to sneak back to the visitors' locker room.
To cry alone.
"I could already feel the tears coming," Nowitzki said in an AmericanAirlines Arena hallway, beaming now as he explained the mad dash at the final buzzer that superseded any urge he felt to dance on the court inside this house of old horrors ... or to stick around and find out how it feels to get a congratulatory man-hug from Dwyane Wade.
"I had to recover, bro."
The Dallas Mavericks had to drag Nowitzki back to the podium of champions Sunday night, so he could hoist the two trophies of his dreams, all because he didn't want anyone to see him like this, whether they were in the building or watching on TV. He admittedly "cried like a baby" back in 2008 upon clinching Germany's qualification for the Olympics for the first time in his career, but Nowitzki confessed that he was literally shaking with shock in the immediate aftermath of the Mavs' 105-95 dismantling of the Miami Heat to win the 2011 NBA Finals.
Said Wade: "I think he's played awesome, man. Obviously Dirk, [what happened] five years ago, it burned in him. He learned from that experience. ... Now that he's a champion; it goes without saying [what it means] for his career."
The list of NBA MVPs without a championship, for starters, is down to six: Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, Derrick Rose ... and LeBron. Nowitzki was the unquestioned best player of the 2011 playoffs, surviving both a torn tendon in his left middle finger and that sinus infection plus high fever in this series, along with the oft-forgotten fact that the two guys forecast to be Dallas' most dynamic scorers not named Nowitzki -- Caron Butler and Roddy Beaubois -- didn't play at all in the postseason due to injuries.
"The year he won MVP [in 2007]," Terry said, "doesn't even compare to what he did this year in the postseason."
Said Mavs legend Mark Aguirre, marveling earlier in the week about what Nowitzki has achieved in the go-to guy role he once occupied for this franchise: "Answer me this: If you switched Dirk with Wade or Dirk with LeBron, would the Mavs be in the Finals? No way."
Which might be the highest compliment you can pay him.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/2...me6-110613
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