After having played for the DJK team in Germany’s Second Bundesliga, South Division and completing duty in the German military, Dirk Nowitzki pondered what comes next. After the spring of ’98, Dirk didn’t need to think much more.

On March 29, 1998, Nowitzki was chosen to play in the Nike Hoop Summit, one of the most notable talent watches in U.S. men's basketball. In a match between the U.S. international hopefuls, Nowitzki scored 33 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 14 rebounds and 3 steals for the internationals and outplayed future US NBA stars Rashard Lewis and Al Harrington. He impressed all spectators with an array of quickness, ball handling and his range of shooting, and from that moment on, a good number of European and NBA clubs wanted to recruit him. The rest is history.

But, upon entry into the U.S., Dirk found himself playing in a new ballgame. Drafted to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1998 first-round, Dirk never played a game in their arena. He was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks, a team that hadn’t played in the playoffs since 1990. Much was expected of Nowitzki, and the upcoming season was in limbo as NBA players went on strike because of an impending salary cap imposed by the commissioner. This caused Dirk to briefly head back to Würzburg, back to the DJK.

Before long a compromise was reached and the abbreviated NBA season resumed. Initially, Nowitzki played as a small forward and he felt overpowered by the more athletic NBA forwards, and played bad defense, prompting heckling from the stands.

Dirk only averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.4 minutes of playing time. Looking back, Nowitzki said: "I was so frustrated I even contemplated going back to Germany…(the move) was like jumping out of an airplane hoping the parachute would somehow open."

The ‘chute did open, and Nowitzki has been playing as the team’s superstar ever since