DP drains jumpers with Dirk Nowitzki

Dan Patrick's interview with Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki appears in the April 28 edition of ESPN The Magazine

	Dirk Nowitzki is a big fan of Lucky Luke the cowboy and his horse, Jolly Jumper.

DP: Did you hear I bet Van Exel that I could beat Shawn Bradley in a 3-point shooting contest?
DN: I've got my money on Bradley.
DP: I have nothing to hide, pal. I'll admit I lost to Avery Johnson.
DN: You lose to The General in 3-point shooting, that's pretty bad.
DP: Aw, man, you just stabbed Avery in the back.

DP: Did you enjoy being Time's Person of the Week in May 2002?
DN: I didn't know I was.
DP: Yeah, for fulfilling the promise of globalization.
DN: I don't know what that means, but it's awesome.

DP: Favorite cartoon character.
DN: I don't watch too much TV. Do you guys have Bugs Bunny over here?
DP: Uh, yeah, Dirk.
DN: Well, you don't have Lucky Luke the cowboy and his horse, Jolly Jumper.
DP: That's because it just sounds silly.
DN: Stop it. Growing up, my idols were Lucky Luke and Jolly Jumper. And Scottie Pippen.
DP: Scottie, huh? Did you have his jersey as a kid?
DN: I had Cedric Ceballos' jersey. Everybody in Germany had Shaq. I wanted Van Exel or Ced.

DP: I only know one other Dirk.
DN: Let me guess: Dirk Diggler.
DP: So you've heard that before?
DN: Yeah. I never watched all of Boogie Nights. I thought it was stupid.
DP: If you could invite any four people to dinner, who'd you pick?
DN: Dennis Rodman, because he knows how to party. Shakira is very good. Steffi Graf, a German hero. Salma Hayek, just for the fun.

DP: Do you still play the saxophone?
DN: Not too much. I started to play the guitar, like, two years ago.
DP: Give me the guitar player you most look up to.
DN: Keith Richards. He's an old man, but he still rocks.

DP: Who's the clown on the team?
DN: That would be Nash for sure.
DP: He's going to lose the hair soon, isn't he?
DN: You see it too? I thought I was the only one! He hides it by combing the long hair to the front. It's sad. Unfortunately, short hair doesn't work so well for him, either.

DP: You served a mandatory stint in the German army from '97 to '98. What was that like?
DN: Basic training was hard. They didn't have a uniform in my size, so I had to run around in sweats. It was embarrassing.
DP: Would you rather have Nellie yelling at you, or a sergeant?
DN: Nellie, definitely. My army sergeant was two feet shorter than me. I wanted to laugh whenever he yelled at me. It was very awkward.