SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The best thing about the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony is the people.
Stars and superstars are everywhere. Sit down at the sports bar near the induction venue and you see Gary Payton holding court.
Pat Riley stops by to chat.
And a lot of others, including Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, the two most influential point guards in Dirk Nowitzki’s career, along with an undersized Puerto Rican named J.J. Barea.
They were Nowitzki’s presenters as he took the stage for his speech and if this was the lid snapping tight on Dirk Nowitzki’s basketball career and all the honors that came with it, you could not have painted a better picture.
“Dirk changed the game,” Kidd said. “He wasn’t afraid of the moment. He was a bad boy.
“You talk about a legendary person on and off the floor. We’re here to celebrate his basketball but (also) to celebrate the person. He’s one of a kind. He’s a unicorn. I’m just happy to be here.”
Nash knew Nowitzki from the very start of his career and said the jury was out for a while about the 7-footer from Germany.
But it didn’t take long to come up with a verdict on his greatness.
“He came in the league, we’re wondering is this guy a perimeter player? Is he going to be a post-up guy,” Nash said. “And of course as he evolved he became all those things.”
Nowitzki went next-to-last in the parade of enshrinees. He followed Becky Hammon and went just before Dwyane Wade.
There was a large and vocal support group for Dirk. Dozens of Maverick fans made the trip to Massachusetts to shower Nowitzki with cheers and love. And the Mavericks sent a big entourage with him. He got a lengthy standing ovation when he took the stage and had to stop several times in his speech while applause rumbled through the Symphony Hall where the celebration took place.
Before the ceremony, restaurants around the Symphony Hall were teeming with fans. Nowitzki jerseys seemed to outnumber everybody else.
And on the red carpet leading to the ceremony, some of Dirk’s oldest and dearest friends paid homage to him.
“I’m here to celebrate Dirk, which is awesome,” said Mavericks’ general manager Nico Harrison. “And in my previous life (at Nike), I worked with Dirk, so it makes it even that more special.”
Rare were the people who were with Nowitzki every step of the way in his NBA journey, but Keith Grant was one of them.
The former assistant GM for the Mavericks has retired, but not before riding shotgun for Nowitzki’s 21 seasons. So what did he think back when Nowitzki landed in Dallas in 1999?
“I didn’t know what to think then,” Grant said. “He was so young when he came in . . . but he is where he belongs now. I don’t know what else you can say about it.”
And, best of all, Nowitzki embodied the Dallas Mavericks.
“He’s the most humble athlete I’ve ever been around,” Grant said. “For him to get these accolades is great. He probably doesn’t ‘like’ it, but he deserves it.
“The other thing, for me and us, he was a Maverick every step of the way. In baseball, guys go in (the hall of fame) and it’s: ‘What hat are you going to wear.’ With Dirk, he’s a Maverick. There was no question what jersey he’d wear.”
And make no mistake. The legacy of Dirk is something that every Maverick and so many people beyond the organization knew about.
He wasn’t just a superior basketball player. He was a superior person.
Kidd had an interesting story about the first time he saw Nowitzki. It was early in Kidd’s playing career and before Dirk had set foot on an NBA court.
“The first time I got to see Dirk was in Germany when Nike played against him,” Kidd said. “We were all wondering if this is the guy they’re talking about that’s going to be the next special one. And he didn’t prove us wrong.
“To be able to come over and do the things he’s done, with Nellie (Don Nelson) being able to put him in the position to be successful early. Then going through Avery (Johnson), Rick (Carlisle) and to win a championship. It’s an incredible career.”
Carlisle and Johnson both were on hand to support Nowitzki on Saturday night.
So was a former Carlisle assistant coach, Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley.
“From coaching against him, watching him play and then coaching him, his work ethic, his care, his dedication to people – the first thing I remember the first time I stepped into the Mavericks building, he was the first one in, last one out,” Mosley said. “The care he had for every person in that facility and in the community, there’s not too many better than what he’s done.
“You saw those stories with he and Holger and their work ethic, Holger pointing in a direction, doing a move, and Dirk follows. I got to witness that firsthand. And being able to see that was something special. It doesn’t surprise you because of who he is, not just as a hall of famer, but as a human being. It’s incredible being around him from the moment I stepped in that building until now.”
Briefly: Kidd said he felt great about being one of Nowitzki’s presenters “because I don’t have to say anything. I’m not nervous. I just got to stand there and make sure if big boy starts crying, I can give him some tissue.” Nowitzki never needed any . . . Harrison said he and his front-office staff may not be done in working on the roster this summer, however: “I feel like we accomplished the goals we set out to do every step of the way. In that regard, on paper, it feels good. We’ll see how it turns out . . . I don’t think we’re ever done. We’re always trying to improve the roster. But we feel good about what we have today.” . . . By the way, if Nowitzki desires to pursue a front-office career in the NBA some day, Harrison said: “He has a permanent office in the building. So it’s there whenever he’s ready.” . . . Harrison’s right-hand man, Michael Finley, got a nice shoutout from Tony Parker, who led off the night with his speech. Parker told the story of when Finley went from the Mavericks to the San Antonio Spurs. “He decided to come to the Spurs to win a championship,” Parker said. “And in 2006, we lost against the Mavericks. (He looked at Finley in the crowd and said) You were crying and we were like, we didn’t do it. Then, in 2007, my only motivation was to get you a championship. And when we beat Cleveland, you’re face was priceless.”
Twitter: @ESefko
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