Beginning 16 years ago to the day, the 2007 playoff first-round streak between Dallas and Golden State has gone down as one of the most memorable upsets in postseason history, the Warriors, 8e of the regular season, having taken out the Mavs, first, in six innings!
She was all the more so for Dirk Nowitzki who was coming off one of his best seasons in a career and had been the main architect of his side’s near-perfect 2006/07 campaign. The German thus returned to this paradoxical moment, when he received the MVP trophy of the season when he had still not mourned the surprise elimination of his team.
“I was embarrassed, I had abandoned the city and my team. All I wanted to do was go somewhere no one would recognize me, go on vacation.”, he said in an interview with Rachel Nichols. “And there, as expected, I received a phone call from the NBA to tell me: ‘You can’t leave yet, or at least not right away. There’s a chance you’ll win the MVP’ trophy. And I remember just saying, ‘Give it to somebody else.
The Mavs’ legendary No. 41 looked back to the moments after his franchise was eliminated, marked by a rage that drove him to punch one of the walls at Oracle Arena .
“I wasn’t even pissed, I was really beside myself, disappointed that I didn’t play to my standards for one of the most important moments of the season. And it happened (the punch in the wall). For me, it was even more frustrating than losing the NBA Finals in 2006. Just because we were on the right momentum, we had won 67 games in the regular season, and we thought this was going to be our year, that no team was not going to be able to beat us. And we get knocked out in the first round. It was really hard to swallow.”
“One of the most uncomfortable moments of my career”
The interior recounted having had to do violence to accept what was to be one of the greatest days of his career, to the point of making it an insomnia, the day before receiving his trophy from the hands of David Stern.
“I didn’t want it that year. I was still so touched by our elimination, still embarrassed by all this, this situation. So we had to hold a press conference with Commissioner David Stern, who had made the trip. I have to say it will go down as one of the most uncomfortable moments of my career. Standing there in my costume and having to talk about what happened two weeks ago. All I really wanted was to be somewhere else.
The press conference was held despite everything, and everyone had praised the extraordinary performance of the “Wunderkid” over the past year, from David Stern to Avery Johnson, his coach, via Mark Cuban, who had held back to let a few tears flow when discussing the contribution of his major player to Dallas.
It took him a little time, but he ended up enjoying this award, the only one of his career, four years before winning his first and only NBA title (and the Finals MVP trophy).
“I took it like a man, I talked about it, and I spoke about it right away, saying how disappointed I was, and I still was. Now, of course, looking back, it’s amazing to have had that trophy. And it was a great season, with a great team. But for me, it will also forever be linked to this defeat in the first round.
