The 2011 NBA playoffs were just about a month old when Dirk Nowitzki made his priorities crystal clear. The statement the Mavericks icon made at the time has, in hindsight, aged like a fine wine.
“If we don’t win it all, this would be a wasted year. If we lose the first round, second round, third round, at this point it doesn’t matter if you end the season on a loss. It’s disappointing, and it means I didn’t reach my goal,” declared Nowitzki, per SLAM Magazine .
Nowitzki's redemption
For the 75th anniversary season of the league, fans could vote on the All-Time Euro Moment. The winner? Dirk Nowitzki leading the Dallas Mavericks to the 2011 championship. In that feat, ‘Dirkules’ not only became the first-ever German to win an NBA title but also the second-ever European, after Tony Parker in 2007, to win the Finals MVP award.
Nowitzki's journey to that point was a rollercoaster, marked by some tough setbacks. Most notably, this included the bitter loss in the 2006 Finals against the Heat, despite holding a 2-0 lead early on. Then, there was the first-round exit as the top seed against the Golden State Warriors in 2007 and many other unsuccessful title attempts - certainly casting doubt on his abilities as a winning player.
However, in May and June 2011, 'Dirkules' remarkably overcame all of that, cementing his legacy as an NBA great.
Dissecting Dirk's playoff run
After Dallas failed to advance past the first round of the 2010 playoffs and their forward Nowitzki had already surpassed the age of 30, the front office made several changes prior to the following regular season.
Still, the Mavericks entered the playoffs as underdogs. Despite leading 2-0, their series against the Blazers took a downturn. Yet, Nowitzki's stellar performance in the last two games (25 and 33 points) led the team to a series victory.
Next, the Lakers' matchup against superstar Kobe Bryant was anticipated to be close, but the Dallas team swept them, with Dirk again leading with impressive offense.
Rick Carlisle's team then faced off against the Thunder, led by Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Kevin Durant. Nowitzki scored 48 and 40 points in the first and fourth games, respectively. After five challenging games, they made it to the Finals, again meeting the Heat.
During the Finals, Nowitzki's resilience and clutch play shone through despite a finger injury and fever. The German led scoring with 29 points in Game 5, propelling Dallas ahead in the series. Ultimately, the former MVP personally sealed the Mavericks' championship title, scoring 18 points in the second half of Game 6 and hitting the game-sealing layup .
In winning it all, the 7-footer remarkably embodied the motto, "If you're going to talk the talk, you've got to walk the walk." Consequently, the later Hall of Famer was showered with accolades for his grand triumph, later receiving a hero's welcome both at the White House with Barack Obama and in his hometown of Würzburg.
Related: "If you need an extra motivation, you have a problem" — Dirk Nowitzki's epic clap back at LeBron James and Dwyane Wade's mockery of him in the 2011 NBA Finals
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