From the moment Dirk Nowitzki squared himself up to the basket, just as he had countless times before, there was little doubt about what was going to happen next. Like so many defenders in the past, Los Angeles Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. knew exactly what the future Hall of Famer standing in front of him was about to do.
“That’s a 7-footer. Leaning back. That can shoot,” Nance would tell reporters later.
“Good luck.”
It was all too predictable, and all too fitting, that Nowitzki — the DFW sports legend, surefire first ballot Hall of Famer and the greatest European player in the history of the game — would become the sixth player in league history to reach 30,000 points by taking, and making, the shot that will be the one immortalized in the statue that will eventually stand outside American Airlines Arena in Dallas: a one-legged fadeaway jumper that softly settled into the bottom of the net.
It was equally predictable that, as the sellout crowd inside his hometown arena went crazy — led by owner Mark Cuban, who looked to be as excited as he was on his wedding day and when his children were born, combined — Nowitzki casually jogged back down to the other end of the court and went about his job just as he always has.
Published on 2017-03-08 13:32:33
