IV.

When I began drafting the notes toward the story that eventually became the title piece of my first collection, my interest in that mock-epic’s central figure, derived primarily from my—admittedly probably specious or at the very least purely projected—sense that for Dirk Nowitzki, just being Dirk wasn’t enough. At the time I wrote “The Consummation of Dirk” he was, by this stage in his career, an extremely well-regarded, sui generis talent, whose unique blend of size, skill, basketball acumen, and stylishly untailored coif, plus humorous English inflections would come to serve as a model for the wave of successful European basketball players that would subsequently make the transcontinental adjustment to the American brand of professional “ball,” and often thrive; he was beloved in his adoptive hometown; he was, one suspects, thriving in his various off-court pursuits as well—for instance, without having done any hard research, I feel comfortable proposing that he went on more dates during the first dozen years of his professional life than I have during mine—but it wasn’t enough.

Dirk really, really wanted to win an NBA title. Until he won an NBA title, he would be regarded—and perhaps (though who can truly see into the hearts of men) regard himself—as a supremely talented failure.

What interested me about this ongoing quest—first to break through against the then-regnant San Antonio Spur dynasty helmed by autocratic head coach Pop and motored by the fundamentally impeccable Timothy Duncan and S.A.’s own duo of European imports, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobli—was less the superficial consensus that Dirk would need to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a championship in order to assume his rightful place in the pantheon of all-time greats than the question of how Nowitzki would feel if he actually did manage to “win it all.” What would happen if he actually won? He wasn’t going to transcend to a state of pure sweetness and light. And yet he had to win the thing! Last year we finally got an answer to the question, because Dirk and his Dallas Mavericks finally did win, he cried, celebrated, and then . . . what? Is he different now? Can he die in peace?