NBA Update: Dallas Mavericks star forward Dirk Nowitzki will only settle for a NBA title
Since the Dallas Mavericks were bought by the eccentric Mark Cuban, two names have become synonymous with the franchise. Both these names have been pivotal in the transformation of the Mavs from one of the worst teams to one of the most consistent and formidable outfits in the league. The first name is of course that of Mark Cuban, who has been a driving force behind the Mavs.
The second is star forward Dirk Nowitzki. The German giant has emerged as an elite NBA player over the last decade and perhaps one of the best power forwards of all time. However, there is something missing from his resume, which every basketball player yearns to achieve; a NBA World Championship. And Nowitzki is h**l bent on redressing that fact this year.
Dirk is one of only two surviving players from Dallas’ trip to the NBA Finals in 2006 that ended in defeat at the hands of the Miami Heat. He watched in despair as Dallas blew a 2-0 lead to lose the series and it has taken them 5 long years to get in with a shot of making the Finals again. Nowitzki however, is not aiming to just reach the Finals, he wants to win the whole thing. Anything less would be a failure.
"If we don't win it all, this would be a wasted year," Nowitzki said.
"If we lose the first round, second round, third round, at this point it doesn't matter if you end the season on a loss. It's disappointing and it means I didn't reach my goal."
He is also convinced that the Mavs have to do it this year. The team is talented enough and experienced enough. They can’t keep shying away from the challenge after underperforming for much of the last 5 years. That’s a message resounding through the city of Dallas and it is even written clear on the shirts of Mavericks fans at the American Airlines Center, “time is now”. It might just be their time, and there’s no one more upbeat about it then the 7-foot shooting marvel.
"Why not now?" Nowitzki said. "We have guys who have been through a lot. We are just trying to stay together and bring us back to the Finals. Our goal is to win a championship. That was our goal in October. That's our goal now."
His belief and optimism is shared by the only other player to survive the 2006 Finals, point guard Jason Terry. Terry is a long serving Dallas Maverick and he is adamant that the Mavs will win it all this year. So much so that he got a tattoo of the Larry O’Brien Trophy, the trophy awarded to the winners of the NBA Finals, at the start of the season because he sensed it was the Mavericks year.
Whether that turns out to be the case is yet to be seen, but there is no doubt the Mavericks will stop at nothing to achieve the elusive prize.
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