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Recent Articles By Jesse Hyde

National Features

Dirk Nowitzki was lost. And he was starting to stink.

He had come this far, deep into the Australian Outback, and now that it was dark, he didn't know where he was. Not exactly, anyway. He'd ended up on a patch of wind-swept dirt, surrounded by sagebrush and stiff yellow grass, a place to park the Jeep and build a campfire.

The closest town of any significance was Alice Springs, or the Alice, as the locals called it. It was once a telegraph station so remote it had to be stocked by camel train. Aborigines could still be seen at times on its outskirts, wading shirtless in the muddy Todd River. But that was 250 miles away. Other than the wind, which blew softly through camp, the night was silent.

Nowitzki sat in front of the fire, strumming his guitar and sipping his whiskey straight from the bottle. He had stopped shaving days ago and didn't know when he would bathe next. He had been in Australia for a week and a half, even though it was May, and by all accounts he should have been somewhere else. He should've been on a basketball court, leading the Dallas Mavericks deep into the NBA Playoffs. He should've been winning a championship. But for the second year in a row, the season had ended in disappointment. Once again people were questioning his mental toughness.

He had but one traveling companion on this trip, his mentor Holger Geschwinder, a mostly bald 62-year-old German with puffy bags under his eyes and a big Roman nose that looked like it had been broken in a fistfight, or several fistfights over the years. In the light of the fire, his features looked sharp, as if his head had been cut from granite.

Nowitzki had come to Australia because he didn't want to be recognized. He didn't want to be reminded of his failures, of the places he should have been.

In his haste to leave Dallas, he had failed to consider one thing—it was winter in Australia, meaning darkness would fall early each night of his trip. At the present moment, sitting in front of the fire, there was nothing to do but sit and think, or talk to Geschwinder.

"Why me?" Nowitzki wondered, gazing into the glowing embers. "Why is this happening to me?"

He had just a few weeks to find the answer.

Now entering his 10th NBA season, Dirk Nowitzki is at a crossroads. He is one of the top five players in the NBA, but in the public eye he is defined by his failures of the last two seasons, so much so that just one season removed from winning the MVP trophy, NBA experts and scouts are already beginning to chart his decline. In a recent feature that ran on ESPN.com, NBA insider John Hollinger listed Nowitzki as one of 23 players on the downhill slope of his career.

And it's not just NBA pundits who are proclaiming Nowitzki, who is just 29, washed up. Former players—from Reggie Miller to Greg Anthony—have all recently wondered aloud if Nowitzki can overcome the psychological scars of the last two seasons.

For his part, Nowitzki says he is at the peak of his career and that as a player the improvements from here on out in the physical aspects of his game will only be incremental. The area where Nowitzki can most improve, most NBA experts agree, is mentally.

The knock on Nowitzki is that he is soft and that at crucial moments in key games he disappears, or worse. Two years ago, up 2-0 in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, Nowitzki was standing on the free-throw line to send the game into overtime. A 94 percent free-throw shooter, Nowitzki made the first shot but clanged the second off the rim. It was the turning point in the series and, for armchair psychologists everywhere, proof that Nowitzki doubts himself too much.

But even professional sports psychologists agree that something is going on with Nowitzki. "It's one thing if in the flow of the game you miss a shot, but when you're standing on the free-throw line and you have time to think about what this shot means—if you make it, you win, and if you don't, you lose—if in a moment like that you miss, there's definitely cause for concern," says Paul Baard, a sports psychologist at Fordham University in New York. "I would have to sit down with Nowitzki to know what's going on there, but I would wonder if there's some kind of fear of failure or doubt about his abilities that he hasn't moved past yet."

Nowitzki bounced back from his Finals meltdown to lead the Mavs to a league-best 67 wins last year. The team seemed destined for a title—in the league's history, seven of the eight teams that won 65 or more games went on to win the title—but in the first round of the playoffs, the Mavs drew the red-hot Golden State Warriors, and once again, Nowitzki shrank under pressure, shooting just 38 percent. In the final game of the series he went out like a lamb—finishing the game with more turnovers than field goals. Most tellingly, he didn't take the ball to the hoop even once, settling instead for long-range jumpers, a sign that he may fear the bruising physical contact that goes on under the hoop. It was the biggest upset in NBA playoff history.

Write Your Comment show comments (11)

  1. One of the best articles I've read on Dirk this year. Everything else I read on Dirk's summer just talked about his "walkabout" in Australia without going into great detail. This one explains how Dirk feels and it's more personal than any I have read. Thanks for that. I'm a huge fan of Dirk and the Mavericks. And no, Dirk did not lose that series to GS alone....as most basketball fans know (save for Kobe Bryant and a few media types) this is a team sport and you win as a team or lose as a team. I fully support Dirk and not only do I believe he has what it takes to win a championship..I KNOW he does. It's amazing to me how people bash Dirk because he hasn't lead the Mavs to a championship, but Steve Nash has NEVER lead the Suns to the finals yet no one EVER says he doesn't have what it takes. Why is that? Why is Nash the media darling yet Dirk is the media failure? I DON'T GET IT! Dirk is one of the greatest players to ever step onto a basketball court. And yet, he doesn't play with a "me first" attitude. To him it's all about the team....which makes him an even bigger star in my book. I am proud he plays for the Dallas Mavericks. And I will proudly be standing along that parade route when he and his teammates win the championship. Keep up the good work Dirk...you make us proud to be Mavs fans.
    GO MAVS!!!!

    Comment by Cynthia — November 24, 2007 @ 05:13PM

  2. One of the best articles I've read on Dirk this year. Everything else I read on Dirk's summer just talked about his "walkabout" in Australia without going into great detail. This one explains how Dirk feels and it's more personal than any I have read. Thanks for that. I'm a huge fan of Dirk and the Mavericks. And no, Dirk did not lose that series to GS alone....as most basketball fans know (save for Kobe Bryant and a few media types) this is a team sport and you win as a team or lose as a team. I fully support Dirk and not only do I believe he has what it takes to win a championship..I KNOW he does. It's amazing to me how people bash Dirk because he hasn't lead the Mavs to a championship, but Steve Nash has NEVER lead the Suns to the finals yet no one EVER says he doesn't have what it takes. Why is that? Why is Nash the media darling yet Dirk is the media failure? I DON'T GET IT! Dirk is one of the greatest players to ever step onto a basketball court. And yet, he doesn't play with a "me first" attitude. To him it's all about the team....which makes him an even bigger star in my book. I am proud he plays for the Dallas Mavericks. And I will proudly be standing along that parade route when he and his teammates win the championship. Keep up the good work Dirk...you make us proud to be Mavs fans.
    GO MAVS!!!!

    Comment by Cynthia — November 24, 2007 @ 05:14PM

  3. One of the best articles I've read on Dirk this year. Everything else I read on Dirk's summer just talked about his "walkabout" in Australia without going into great detail. This one explains how Dirk feels and it's more personal than any I have read. Thanks for that. I'm a huge fan of Dirk and the Mavericks. And no, Dirk did not lose that series to GS alone....as most basketball fans know (save for Kobe Bryant and a few media types) this is a team sport and you win as a team or lose as a team. I fully support Dirk and not only do I believe he has what it takes to win a championship..I KNOW he does. It's amazing to me how people bash Dirk because he hasn't lead the Mavs to a championship, but Steve Nash has NEVER lead the Suns to the finals yet no one EVER says he doesn't have what it takes. Why is that? Why is Nash the media darling yet Dirk is the media failure? I DON'T GET IT! Dirk is one of the greatest players to ever step onto a basketball court. And yet, he doesn't play with a "me first" attitude. To him it's all about the team....which makes him an even bigger star in my book. I am proud he plays for the Dallas Mavericks. And I will proudly be standing along that parade route when he and his teammates win the championship. Keep up the good work Dirk...you make us proud to be Mavs fans.
    GO MAVS!!!!

    Comment by Cynthia — November 24, 2007 @ 05:15PM

  4. Maybe if Dirk wouldn't flop so much he would find success. The only other two players I can think of who flopped as much as Dirk were Stockton and Malone and they never won a championship either. Maybe its how the Basketball Gods payback such classless behavior.

    Comment by jack — November 27, 2007 @ 08:13AM

  5. Maybe if Dirk wouldn't flop so much he would find success. The only other two players I can think of who flopped as much as Dirk were Stockton and Malone and they never won a championship either. Maybe its how the Basketball Gods payback such classless behavior.

    Comment by jack — November 27, 2007 @ 08:14AM

  6. Maybe if Dirk wouldn't flop so much he would find success. The only other two players I can think of who flopped as much as Dirk were Stockton and Malone and they never won a championship either. Maybe its how the Basketball Gods payback such classless behavior.

    Comment by jack — November 27, 2007 @ 08:15AM

  7. Maybe if Dirk wouldn't flop so much he would find success. The only other two players I can think of who flopped as much as Dirk were Stockton and Malone and they never won a championship either. Maybe its how the Basketball Gods payback such classless behavior.

    Comment by jack — November 27, 2007 @ 08:16AM

  8. Dirk the worst flopper since Stockton and Malone? Do you watch Raja Bell or Manu Ginobli? I admit that Dirk does act sometimes but to put him above the crap that Raja and Manu pull is a load of Crap! Big Spurs Fan?

    This article is great! I hope the time away from the game really cleared his head and he gets everything straight. The Mavs have the talent to win MULTIPLE championships they just need to stay the course and save some for the end.

    Comment by Dearing — November 27, 2007 @ 02:13PM

  9. I read this article on the internet, and I really enjoyed it. I am a big fan of Dirk's and a big Mavs fan even though I don't live in Texas. I just wanted you to know I liked it.

    Best of luck to the Mavs this season.

    Carol J
    Los Lunas, NM

    Comment by Carol Jackson — November 28, 2007 @ 12:46AM

  10. Im glad to see that Dirk is OK. However running away at this point in his career cant be the best for Him. Watching the next series and then the next would maybe bring out that killer instict that Dirk lacks. Dirk didnt blow the series against Golden State with one shot. Itwaslost by a team with no belief in themselves. Until Dallas forgets what happened against Golden State and Miami, this huge weight will never be lifted. I just hope that the experience and humiliation that The Mavericks sustained during the last 2 years will lead them to a mental toughness and carry them through the playoffs. Dallas has the talent to beat everyone else in the NBA. They just cant beat themselves, our their fear of losing again. Dallas plays with no emotion and I think they should try to have a little fun. The wins will come if they do. Lose the Monkey, gain a trophy!!

    Comment by yunkdog — November 28, 2007 @ 12:54PM

  11. Im glad to see that Dirk is OK. However running away at this point in his career cant be the best for Him. Watching the next series and then the next would maybe bring out that killer instict that Dirk lacks. Dirk didnt blow the series against Golden State with one shot. Itwaslost by a team with no belief in themselves. Until Dallas forgets what happened against Golden State and Miami, this huge weight will never be lifted. I just hope that the experience and humiliation that The Mavericks sustained during the last 2 years will lead them to a mental toughness and carry them through the playoffs. Dallas has the talent to beat everyone else in the NBA. They just cant beat themselves, our their fear of losing again. Dallas plays with no emotion and I think they should try to have a little fun. The wins will come if they do. Lose the Monkey, gain a trophy!!

    Comment by yunkdog — November 28, 2007 @ 12:54PM

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