By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Eurohoops met Dirk Nowitzki during the Paris Olympics at the FIBA house, where they discussed various subjects, including the fact that many consider him the greatest European player of all time.
“I would never say that. I would leave that discussion to others. I’m a big historian, I followed Schrempf, Petrović, Sabonis… There were so many players before us, and then it was me, Pau, and Tony that opened the door a bit more. Now, look at all these Euros like Luka, Giannis, and Jokić… There are so many great players from Europe now, it’s hard to say who the best player is,” Nowitzki replied with modesty.
Dirk recalled his days with the German national team, his 1999 debut, and the 2005 EuroBasket final, where he lost to Greece.
“It was a different era. We had a shot at winning EuroBasket, and Greece was there, stopping us. I still have nightmares about that game.”
Dirk also discussed the rise of German basketball with the current version of the national team being World Champions and making headlines, how Giannis Antetokounmpo compares to him at the national team level, and the evolution of basketball
Check out the full Eurohoops interview.