The Dallas Mavericks season came to an end in a resounding win over the Bulls last week, quieting things down in terms of team-related news for a few days. As he has always done, Dallas’ adopted son, Dirk Nowitzki, comes through yet again to give us some feel-good news to report on.
Today, April 21st, Nowitzki will be enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame as a part of the class of 2026. If you happen to be an exclusively NBA-centric fan of basketball, it’s worth noting that FIBA is the international
basketball federation which serves as the governing body for EuroBasket, World Cup and the Olympics (the latter in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee). The honor is immense.
Similar to his Hall of Fame-worthy NBA career, Nowitzki featured prominently in international play to earn another “HOF” on his credentials. Nowitzki made an impression in 2001’s EuroBasket competition and then followed that performance with a third-place finish for Germany in 2002’s World Cup. Here he also earned MVP honors. He was at EuroBasket again in 2005 and then poured in 209 total points in the 2006 World Cup to lead all players in the competition, despite a quarter-finals elimination. 2007 saw more of the same, as Nowitzki made the All-Star Five at EuroBasket that year.
Perhaps the highlight of his international career was in 2008 when he led the German team to an Olympic qualifying spot; it’s first in 16 years. He then served as Germany’s flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremony of his only Olympics appearance.
Among his accolades in international play are Euroscar Player of the Year (6x), All-European First Team (11x), EuroBasket’s leading scorer (3x), a Bronze Medal in the 2002 World Championship, and a Silver Medal at 2005 EuroBasket. Nowitzki’s international career came to an end in 2015, making it something of a curiosity that it took this long for him to get the nod, but regardless, he’s a FIBA Hall of Famer as he should be.
The ceremony will take place in Berlin, Germany, with a couple of familiar names joining Nowitzki. Hedo Tukoglu was no stranger to Nowitzki during his time with the Sacramento Kings, and Whang Zhizhi, the first Chinese player to make an NBA roster, was Nowitzki’s Mavericks teammate for two seasons.
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