Nowitzki, Gasol, Parker head star-studded Hall of Fame class

LOS ANGELES -- Dirk Nowitzki, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker, Dwyane Wade and San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will be ushered into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year, the organization confirmed on Saturday.

The star-studded class of 2023, who will be enshrined at a ceremony in August, also include trailblazing WNBA player and coach Becky Hammon, the Hall of Fame announced.

German star Nowitzki, former Los Angeles Lakers Spanish ace Gasol and France's Parker are three of the most successful international stars ever to grace the NBA.

Parker won four NBA championships during the Spurs' dominant reign between 2003 and 2014, while Gasol was a key part of the Lakers team that won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.

Nowitzki, who is sixth on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 31,560 points, was named NBA Most Valuable Player in 2007 and Finals MVP four years later after helping the Dallas Mavericks win the title.

Reacting to Saturday's announcement, Nowitzki paid tribute to international players who had paved the way for his generation in the NBA.

"I think there were a few guys who blazed the way for us a little bit," Nowitzki said. "And then the next wave came with Pau, Tony and myself. And if we help to make the game truly global and help some kids along the way that's obviously truly humbling for all of us."

Barcelona-born Gasol, meanwhile, recalled how watching the US 'Dream Team' at the 1992 Olympics staged in his hometown had helped inspire his basketball journey.

"I always had in mind the effect that the 'Dream Team '92' had on my life and how basketball and sports can affect and inspire kids' lives, so I just wanted to do that," Gasol told ESPN.

The 6ft 2in (1.88m) tall Parker reflected how people had doubted his ability to be successful in the NBA due to his height.

"Growing up the NBA dream was very far away," Parker said.

"When I was telling people my dream they were all laughing at me saying 'You're too small, you're too skinny, you will never make it in the NBA'. Now I'm the one laughing."

Wade was a three-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat in 2006, 2012 and 2013 and won finals MVP in 2006.

The 41-year-old, who retired from the NBA in 2019, also won Olympic gold with the United States in the 2008 Beijing Games.

The 74-year-old Popovich, meanwhile, is one of the NBA's elder statesmen, one of only five NBA coaches in history to have won five championships.

- 'Out of body experience' -

Popovich also led the United States to gold in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

"Those of us who've ended up in this position -- it's incredible," Popovich said in a recorded message on ESPN on Saturday.

"It's an honor, and something that one does not think about when going through your years in this game. It's an awesome thought to think about all the players that I've had the honor to coach, who are the ones who won the games.

"I sit here amongst people who I've always been in awe of myself. So to be in this situation is kind of an out of body experience."

Nowitzki, Wade, Parker, Gasol and Popovich are all being inducted into the basketball pantheon at the first attempt, a rarity under the Hall of Fame's eligibility rules which reflects their stellar achievements in the sport.

Joining Popovich in the Hall of Fame will be former assistant Hammon.

Hammon is a six-time All-Star and coached the Las Vegas Aces to the WNBA Finals crown in 2022. The 46-year-old was also Popovich's assistant coach in San Antonio from 2014 -- the first woman assistant coach in the NBA.

She remains the only woman to take charge of an NBA team during a regular season game after stepping in when Popovich was ejected during a clash with the Lakers in 2020.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Last dance? Dirk, D-Wade bask in fading All-Star glow

CHARLOTTE -- Dirk Nowitzki wants to be everywhere, treating his final NBA All-Star Weekend as if it were his first.

The novelty is not gone for Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks' forward who entered the NBA in the 1998 draft out of Germany, who is serving as an honorary All-Star Sunday as part of Team Giannis.

"This could be the last time I'm on this stage. I'm taking it all in," Nowitzki, 40, said Saturday during a practice at Bojangles Coliseum.

Revived by rookie wunderkind Luka Doncic and his other "half-my-age" teammates, Nowitzki hasn't decided whether to play next season -- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has a spot in the organization waiting either way -- but Nowitzki wants to be on the court Sunday.

"This isn't getting old," Nowitzki, a 14-time All-Star, said after a self-deprecating jab at his own age.

Friday night Nowitzki acted as an assistant coach for Team World in the Rising Stars Challenge. And if he finds a seat he likes Saturday night, he'll be there for the 3-point shootout and slam dunk competition, too.

Dwyane Wade turned 37 in January and is an All-Star with Team LeBron. Wade said last week his only goal with to throw James, his former teammate with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers, one final lob.

Wade conceded Saturday he has bigger goals, but he doesn't know if he will find five minutes or 20 in the game.

"I'm excited for it," said Wade, an All-Star for the 13th time. "LeBron being the captain, picking me to be on his team, this is the perfect ending to me and his careers like this."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Irving fires Cavs past Mavs in Cleveland

Kyrie Irving scored 33 points and came up with a key steal in the final seconds to preserve the Cleveland Cavaliers' 99-98 victory Wednesday against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Cavs played without star forward LeBron James, who was rested.

Irving threw the ball away when the Mavericks double-teamed him with 16 seconds left and the Cavs ahead 97-95. He regained possession when he hooked Dirk Nowitzki and wiggled in front of him for a steal.

Nowitzki was forced to foul, and Irving converted both free throws. The Mavericks' Deron Williams banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but it didn't matter.

Kevin Love had 23 points and 18 rebounds, and Channing Frye scored 14 points off the bench to give the Cavs their first victory in a game James sat out this season.

They were blown out in the previous two instances and nearly blew a 20-point lead Wednesday before surviving.

J.R. Smith added 13 points for Cleveland (48-19).

Dirk Nowitzki scored 20 points for the Mavericks, who never led in the game. David Lee added 20 points off the bench, and J.J. Barea scored nine of his 17 in the fourth quarter.

Chandler Parsons contributed six points and a game-high 10 assists.

Dallas (34-34) lost for the sixth time in the past seven games.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Nowitzki makes the difference for Mavs

LOS ANGELES -- Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki, 37 years old and with more than 1,300 NBA games under his belt, is still the Mavericks' go-to guy.

The German veteran scored a game-high 29 points on Sunday as the Mavericks edged the Minnesota Timberwolves 93-87 in Minneapolis, taking up the slack on a night when many of his teammates struggled offensively.

"He's a guy that's prepared himself for greatness virtually every night," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said of Nowitzki.


"One of the things we want to try to do is take some of the burden off of him, but there's nights like tonight where it's unavoidable."

Dallas forward Chandler Parsons added 14 points and center Zaza Pachulia scored 13, but it was Nowitzki's scoring touch that made the difference.

He hit four of seven three-point attempts, while the rest of the Mavs were a combined two of 13 from beyond the arc.

Nowitzki finished the game 12-for-22 from the floor and pulled down seven rebounds in 31 minutes.

It was his fourth straight 20-point effort and his 13th such game this season.

"The guys kept coming to me," Nowitzki said. "Defensively, it was a good effort tonight. We didn't have a lot of guys who were shooting the ball especially well, but I thought defensively we kept battling."

Second-year guard Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves with 21 points.

Dallas led by six at halftime and closed out the third quarter with an 18-4 scoring run.

The Timberwolves trimmed the deficit to 85-82 late in the fourth quarter, but Nowitzki converted a three-point play with 1:30 remaining, and Dallas held on.

- Streaking Clippers -

The Los Angeles Clippers had to work overtime to stretch their winning streak to nine games with a 114-111 victory over the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans.

Point guard Chris Paul scored 25 points with 11 assists and five rebounds for the Clippers, one of seven Los Angeles players to score in double figures.

The Pelicans were without top scoring forward Anthony Davis, who was still nursing a sore back two days after diving into the stands after a ball.

But they held a 106-105 lead with 2:42 left in overtime before Wesley Johnson and Paul made back-to-back three-pointers to give Los Angeles a five-point lead. Luc Mbah a Moute and Johnson then made three of six free throws to help the Clippers secure the win.

Although he was pleased with the victory, Paul reiterated that the Clippers aren't themselves without Blake Griffin, still sidelined by a torn quadriceps tendon.

"We want to continue to try to keep winning games and build our team as much as possible, but this is not our team without (number) 32," Paul said.

- Streaking Cavs -

 
LeBron James scored 12 of his 37 points in a 14-0 fourth-quarter run to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 95-85 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

James added nine assists and seven rebounds for the Cavs, who improved their Eastern Conference leading record to 26-9 with their seventh straight victory.

Cleveland won their fifth straight on the road and their sixth straight over the league-worst 76ers -- who fell to 4-36.

- Rockets edge Pacers -

The Houston Rockets gave up the first six points of overtime, but battled back with three-pointers from Patrick Beverly, Trevor Ariza and Corey Brewer to beat the Indiana Pacers 107-103.

Brewer's three-pointer with 40.9 seconds left gave the Rockets a 105-103 lead. Houston then forced a miss from the Pacers' Monta Ellis, and Ariza followed up with a breakaway dunk to seal the win, which pulled the Rockets to 19-19 for the season.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Mavs rally past Blazers in overtime

Mavericks 111, Trail Blazers 101 (OT)

Dirk Nowitzki drained the game-tying three-pointer late in regulation and scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Dallas Mavericks to an improbable 111-101 overtime victory against the Portland Trail Blazers.

All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge and point guard Damian Lillard appeared to have Portland primed to pick up a rare road win against a playoff team but the Blazers squandered an 11-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation.

- - -

Bucks 96, Celtics 93

Brandon Knight scored 26 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo posted a double-double for the fourth time in his last five games as the Milwaukee Bucks edged the Boston Celtics 96-93.

Boston forward Jae Crowder missed a three-point attempt as time expired and the Celtics' three-game winning streak was over.

- - -

Jazz 102, Kings 90

Small forward Gordon Hayward scored a game-high 30 points to help the Utah Jazz halt a three-game losing streak in a 102-90 win over the Sacramento Kings.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Nowitzki savors 'amazing ride' after setting scoring record

German-born Dirk Nowitzki's journey to become the National Basketball Association's highest scoring non-American player was anything but traditional but the Dallas Mavericks forward still calls it an "amazing ride."

Nowitzki surpassed Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon and moved into ninth place on the NBA's all-time scoring list on Tuesday when he drained a mid-range jumper during the fourth quarter of a come-from-behind win over visiting Sacramento.

"It was a really special moment to do it at home in front of the fans who have been with me through my 16-17 years here and they gave me a great standing ovation," Nowitzki, 36, said during a conference call on Wednesday.

"At the next timeout they showed a video with moments from my career - that was really special and definitely I had some goosebumps.

"I was just thinking what an amazing ride it has been and how lucky I have been to really come here with an open mind and have people be great to me."

Nowitzki was selected with the ninth pick of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and then was promptly traded to Dallas later that day.

The shaggy-haired forward averaged 8.2 points during his rookie campaign and, even though he had 17.5 points per game in his second season, it was not immediately clear that Nowitzki would blossom into a surefire Hall of Famer.

Nowitzki entered Tuesday's game needing 17 points to pass Olajuwon, who finished his Hall of Fame career with 26,946 points from a career spent with Houston and Toronto.

"If you had told me 17 years ago that one day I would pass Hakeem Olajuwon's record, I would have said you are absolutely crazy," said Nowitzki, who scored 23 points in the win.

"I was lucky that Mark Cuban bought the team in my second year to really turn the franchise around. It was more a losing franchise in the 1990's and then he bought it ... everything changed and all of sudden the Mavericks were relevant again."

Nowitzki said the video tribute featuring his milestone shots allowed him a brief moment during the game to reflect on a career that includes 11 All-Star nods, a league Most Valuable Player award, an NBA title and being named MVP of the Finals.

"What comes to mind is all the hard work you put in every (offseason) trying to get better, that you have been lucky to stay somewhat injury-free and be able to play at a high level," said Nowitzki.

"It made me proud of what I have accomplished so far. Hopefully I can stay injury-free in the next three years and still play at a high level and then it will be time slowly to let the younger guys take over."

(Reporting by Simon Evans in Miami; Editing by Frank Pingue)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Nowitzki scores 26 as Mavs hold off Clippers

Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks held off the Los Angeles Clippers, 113-107.

The win put the Mavericks a half game ahead of the idle Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies and alone in the No. 7 spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

Dallas (45-31) also snapped a nine-game winning streak at home by the Clippers (54-23).

Jose Calderon scored 19 points and Vince Carter came off the bench to add 16, hitting four of Dallas's 14 three-pointers. Samuel Dalembert and Monta Ellis chipped in 12 points apiece.

Blake Griffin had a triple-double with 25 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who saw a four-game winning streak end.

Darren Collison scored 22 points, DeAndre Jordan finished with 21 points and 15 rebounds, and Chris Paul had 17 points and nine assists.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com