For my immigrant project, I interviewed Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk Nowitzki is the 25 year-old superstar forward/center of the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association. In order to paint a picture of Dirk in your mind, imagine a man 12 inches taller than the average man with long blonde hair. Dirk stands at just over 7'0 tall, and 240 pounds. Some say he is the next Michael Jordan, just a half-foot taller.
Dirk Nowitzki was born in Wurzburg, Bavaria, Germany, on June 19, 1978.
Growing up with athletic parents, it was not hard for Dirk to excel in sports, particularly handball, basketball, and tennis. His mother, Helga, was a very talented basketball player herself. When basketball, rather than handball, proved Dirk's true passion, there was a momentary disappointment on the part of the elder Nowitzki, but it soon faded. While in his early teens, Dirk suffered a fever during which he experienced a notable "growth spurt."
Dirk Nowitzki cropped, Dallas Mavericks
Freiwurf Dirk Nowitzki beim NBA Spiel der Dallas M...
English: Washington Wizards v/s Dallas Mavericks O...He wondered about how tall he may be, so his parents took him to a doctor. The doctor informed them that Dirk would surpass approximately 6'7 by his 16th birthday. This almost certainly confirmed his fate as a basketball player. During 1993, around his 15th birthday, Dirk met his mentor, former national player Holger Geschwindner, whose unconventional, think outside-the-box approach to training enhanced Dirk's talent but expanded it, utilizing such other areas of learning as music, fencing, and ballet to improve his skills. Nowitzki was now a complete, well-rounded basketball player that many teams would kill to have.
Dirk graduated from the Rontgen-Gymnasium school, and then spent a mandatory year in the German Army, where he would later say he learned what it was he wanted in life. In 1998, he played in the Nike Hoop Summit, where the multi-talented player impressed...