Emotional Dirk Nowitzki runs off court before end of game. 2011 NBA Finals

Dallas Mavericks beat Miami Heat 2011 NBA FINALS
Dirk Nowitzki too emotional runs off court before end of game. 2011 NBA Finals
Dallas Mavericks beat Miami Heat 2011 NBA FINALS
Sunday night's 105-95 win in Miami made it official: Dirk Nowitzki(notes), a great player called a choke artist for much of his career, is now an NBA champion. It's been a long road for the best European player in NBA history, and he's finally at a point where no one can criticize him for having an incomplete career.
In most cases, you'd expect a player to celebrate a moment like this one by soaking in the moment on the court. However, an emotional Nowitzki declined a public celebration and ran off the court to gather his thoughts in the locker room with still 1.2 seconds showing on the clock. It was a very touching moment that the ABC TV crew was lucky enough to capture in the video above.
After the game, Dirk explained his walk off the court in an interview with ESPN's Hannah Storm:
"I had to get a moment. I was crying a bit. I was a little emotional. ... I actually didn't want to come out for the trophy, but the guys talked me into it."
It would've been interesting to see David Stern present the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player trophy to an absent Dirk, so it's probably a good thing that he ended up coming back out. Plus, while Nowitzki didn't have a stellar game on Sunday (21 points on 9-of-27 shooting from the floor), this championship was his moment at the top. Dirk is Dallas's best and most talked about player, and he deserves all the praise that will come his way after this accomplishment.
It also makes complete sense that he was emotional after the game. In 2006, the Mavericks lost to the Heat in the Finals after winning the first two games at home. In 2007, they were the championship favorites and lost in the first round to the "We Believe" Warriors. Now, years after public opinion had determined his window had closed, Dirk is a champion. He's on top of the basketball world just two months after many experts had predicted the Mavericks would get upset in the first round by the Blazers.
However, Dirk and the rest of the Mavericks won Game 6 with a team effort. Nowitzki may not have had his best game, but Jason Terry(notes) (27 points on 11-of-16 FG) and Jose Juan Barea (15 points on 7-of-12 FG) helped pick up the slack. On the other side, Dwyane Wade(notes), LeBron James(notes), and the rest of the Heat looked sluggish late and couldn't make it close in the final minutes. It was a story similar to the first three Dallas wins in this series: the Mavs kept their composure while the Heat didn't get the job done late.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Dallas
• Mavericks
• beat
• Miami
• Heat
• 2011
• NBA
• FINALS
• kobe
• james
• basketball
• lebron
• dirk
• nowitzki

[TheRealestKhan]

this is why everybody hates lebron james; he has no respect for the players who just won a championship. Hes way too selfish i mean look how he just walks off the court. Dwayne had the balls to give them props. Fuck you lebron... fuck you so hard...

[Flaeren]

1 person is... oh wait, i think it s lebron.

[FazetheRaze]

stop hating lebron even though i ma mavs fan give some credit to lebron he led the heat to the finals and they won the east champs and it was led by lebron mostly and dwayne wade so stop hating!!!

[TheRealestKhan]

@roxrookie Thats true. Its not like i doubt LeBrons goals...But have you seen his response to his haters in the press confrence after the game? Plain rediculous

[roxrookie]

@TheRealestKhan when u put your all in the game ; then losing is not an option.Losing this might be the biggest guilt in lebron's mind.

[IBrokenGuN]

@TheRealestKhan Did you see how late they showed him walking off? Of course he congratulated them, he did it fast and walked off. He has respect and shows it every game you ignorant fuck. Please don't type something like that again. The only reason you have a lot of thumbs up is because 42 other ignorant LeBron haters agreed with your dumbass statement.

[bigbrandon8149]

D wade is a true professional shaking hands after it was over while miss james and miss bosh ran to the locker roon crying

[DJColdCuts619]

@TheRealestKhan so ur telling me tht the whole end of the game was 1 min and 14 secs long? just because u dont see it in this video, like darthbxc said, if u would had seen the other videos, u would have seen lebron shake hands wit bosh, wade, kidd and terry. so y dont u get ur facts straight before u start ripping on lebron

[TheBeastmodeShow]

@TheRealestKhan 1.that was homosexual. 2.He wanted to win obviously

[TheRealestKhan]

@ItsElliottIdiot Theres a difference between being respectful towards other athletes and being a regular fan/critic. LeBron James is an Icon which pains me to say but its true. He should be more humble towards the winners cause hes on a VERY thin line with the fans

[ItsElliottIdiot]

@TheRealestKhan So you saying fuck you lebron, fuck you so hard on youtube where little kids and fans of his read is respectful?

[TheRealestKhan]

@ItsElliottIdiot Its called a little something called RESPECT. Something you seem to be lacking