DALLAS – The next time you see Dirk Nowitzki, you need to apologize to him.
For what?
For thinking after his rookie season with the Dallas Mavericks that he was nothing more than another tall foreign player that then-coach/general manager Don Nelson managed to add to his roster. Or for thinking, as Mark Cuban so eloquently put it:
"Honestly, before I bought the team when I started watching (Nowitzki) and paying attention, I thought he was just another big white guy from Europe that (Don Nelson) brought in."
By the time Nowitzki (7 feet) joined the Mavs in 1998, the roster included Shawn Bradley (7-6), Chris Anstey (7 feet) and Bruno Sundov (7-2).