Dallas basketball fans and media were not the only ones to hail Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks beating the Oklahoma City Thunder to reach the NBA Finals. German media also welcomed the Wunderkind back to the NBA title series for the first time since 2006 when they lost to the Miami Heat 4-2 after winning the first two games.
Germany’s mass daily bild topped their sports online section with the headline: “Dirk dunks Dallas into Finals” and wrote: “The big dream is within grasp! … For the first time, our basketball giant can win the NBA title.”
The highly-regarded Sueddeutsche Zeitung titled their Nowitzki news coverage with: “We are back”, and the weekly magazine Sportbild showed a picture of the German star holding the Western Conference trophy with the headline: “Are not done yet! – Nowitzki and his Mavericks in NBA Finals”
The sports news portal spox.com also had Nowitzki with the trophy and offered the headline: “NBA Finals! Mavs fairy tale goes on” and talked of “a proof of toughness”.
The twice-weekly magazine kicker said: “They did it!” with the headline “Nowitzki’s three-pointer decides game five”.
And Nowitzki’s home newspaper the Würzburg Main Post headlined the coverage with “Nowitzki’s second chance for first NBA title.”
Nowitzki and the Mavericks in the final will face off with either the Miami Heat or the Chicago Bulls. Miami lead the series 3-1.