Dirk Nowitzki has been nominated for the 2023 class of the Basketball Hall of Fame. The German national is among the 12 finalists selected for a new batch of Hall of Famers. The news comes as no surprise as the 7-foot giant won the NBA Championship for the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 and was also named the Finals MVP that season. Even after having such a stellar career, another NBA Champion and former Finals MVP recently revealed that he “didn’t know” who Nowitzki was.

In fact, the Boston Celtics legend also revealed that he considered the Golden State Warriors to be his “worst” option.

Paul Pierce didn’t know who Dirk Nowitzki was

The 2008 NBA Champion Paul Pierce was recently on the Dan Patrick Show, where he talked about the early years of his career. The 10x NBA All-Star revealed the story of him being the 10th pick in the draft. Pierce admitted that that he wasn’t happy being put in a position where he saw other athletes, who he didn’t even know being picked before him.

Among those players was German legend Dirk Nowitzki. Pierce told Patrick, “I didn’t know who Dirk Nowitzki was either. I was like, man! that was three guys I didn’t even hear about.“?

The 2008 Finals MVP added that the Warriors weren’t on the top of his wish list for getting drafted. He said, “I thought at worst, I would go to Golden State. At worst. That was the fifth pick I believe. Fourth or fifth pick at worst.” He also said that he has a chip on his shoulder for not being the first pick.

He felt that he should have been preferred over the other players in his year. “Until all the coaches and managers are fired,” he said regarding the thing that would help him get the chip off his shoulder.

Pierce wasn’t firing any shots at Nowitzki during this interview, as he explained that he just didn’t know who he was. He, however, did want to play alongside the German national and actually came very close to that dream.

Read More: A Look Back At the Legendary Career of Paul Pierce ? essentiallysports.com

Pierce and Nowitzki almost teamed up for the Mavericks

In 2007, Pierce approached the Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban for a possible chance of him playing for the Mavs. “I’m your missing piece”, he made a statement in front of Cuban. This was after a poor season performance from the Celtics team and Pierce felt that his talent is not justified playing there. He believed that he was in his prime during that time and he should be in the playoffs instead of being out of the run for the Finals.

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