Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki and guard J. J. Barea had a big laugh about one of the funniest videos they’ve ever seen on the Internet that went viral.
And the funniest part about it: The person who delivered the laughs doesn’t remember a thing about it.
Garland’s Dianne Garcia had four wisdom teeth pulled on January 23. On the way home from the dentist and while Garcia was still dealing with remnants of anesthesia, her roommate Kimberly Mancilla decided to video the funny conversation she was having with Garcia.
And a lot of that conversation dealt with the trials and tribulations of Nowitzki and Barea, and Garcia’s love for the Mavs.
Early in the video, the 22-year old Garcia described Nowitzki as “the greatest of all time.” She went on to say: “I’m going to be so sad when he leaves. He’s loyal.”
“Everybody should strive to be like him. Every girl needs to find a guy like Dirk – willing to go through all the (expletive delete) the Mavericks went through. He’s with us for 20 years. I hope he plays one more year so I can get my jersey signed. I tried for years. He has not listened to me. It’s OK. One day he’s going to listen to me. He’s going to sign my shirt and I’m going to cry. . .”
Nowitzki was grinning from ear-to-ear when he first saw Garcia’s video, and he finally met her prior to Monday’s game against the Miami Heat. Garcia, who was invited to the game by the Mavs, was given the red carpet treatment.
She also took some pictures with Nowitzki and received three jerseys that were autographed by Nowitzki. In addition, she received the Mavs’ new City Jerseys with Nowitzki’s and Barea’s name on it, and a basketball that was autographed by several members of the Mavs.
“It was good to meet her and it’s great to have loyal fans that love the Mavs and bleed Mavs blue,” Nowitzki said. “The support means a lot and I’m happy that she came.”
“She was a little speechless before the game – she couldn’t really say much. But I just told her that’s a great video and I thanked her for being a fan.”
On the video, Garcia recalled the dust-up Barea had with Washington’s John Wall during the Mavs’ January 22 game against the Wizards. She took exception with Wall calling Barea a midget.
“He’s not a midget,” Garcia said on the video. “Even if he is, he still plays. I got you, Barea.” Garcia then quickly pivoted and told Mancilla: “I need a barbecue chicken sandwich from Whataburger. Can I eat that?”
Barea couldn’t stop laughing when he saw that.
“She went from talking to us to talking about food, and then back to us and then the John Wall situation just happened, so she was talking about that,” Barea said. “She had us in her head.”
“You never expect to see videos like that, so it was pretty cool. For her to be thinking about us and Dirk, it was funny.”
Mancilla, who eventually went to Whataburger two days later and purchased a hamburger for Garcia, said she decided to video Garcia’s conversation because she knew this was something Garcia would enjoy seeing once the anesthesia wore off.
“It was funny,” Mancilla said. “Dianne was something else. When we left the dentist she was crying for no reason and then she just popped up with the whole Mavericks stuff, so it’s a good thing I caught it.”
“We can’t believe the video went viral.”
At last count, over 500,000 folks viewed the video on Garcia’s Facebook page. It has also been retweeted over 65,000 times on Twitter and was broadcast on the local TV stations.
Prior to the game against Miami, Garcia was asked about the video and she did everything but plead the fifth.
“I don’t remember a thing,” Garcia said. “My roommate took me (to the dentist), I got home, was knocked out and I woke up and she was like, ‘Watch this, you need to watch it.’ “
“I cannot believe I said that, but it’s true. I’m a big (Mavs) fan.”
Steve Chavera, the social media director for the Mavs, is the person who initially contacted Garcia and invited her to the game against Miami.
“Steve reached out to me a few days ago and he was like your video is hilarious, we want to get you out here,” Garcia said. “I didn’t believe him. I thought he was lying. I’m like, ‘I don’t even know who this guy is.’”
“Then he posted the video of J. J. saying, ‘Hey Dianne, thanks for having my back. And then he posted the Dirk video. I cried. I was like, ‘Wow, this is actually happening. This is the real thing.’ “
Ironically, Nowitzki said before the explosion of cell phone cameras, he too had some unforgettable moments following a tooth extraction like the one Garcia experienced last week.
“I’ve had some good ones on anesthesia, that’s for sure, but I’ll keep those to myself,” Nowitzki said. “The good thing is there were no cameras around that caught my silliness.”
“But she’s obviously a diehard Mavs fan. She defended J. J. against some of those comments from John Wall. We got a good laugh out of that.”
Nowitzki also got a good laugh from Garcia saying – on the video – “If I meet Dirk I may die because I’m going to have a heart attack. He’s amazing. He’s so nice.”
“Everyone needs to find a boyfriend as loyal as Dirk is to the Mavericks. Even when they’re struggling and they (are losing games), I still love them and he’s still there. He’s not a traitor. I can name a few traitors.”
For Garcia, meeting Nowitzki and Barea was one of those memories that’ll last a lifetime.
“J. J. said, ‘I love your video and thanks,’ ‘’ Garcia said. “I didn’t even know what to say. I said, ‘Yeah, I got your back.”
“It was crazy. I can’t believe it. I cried afterwards. Right now I’m just in awe that anything is happening.”
Share and comment