Dirk Nowitzki biography, wife, children, sister, family, height, house

Publish date: 2023-12-02

Dirk Nowitzki is a German basketball player of origin in the National Basketball Association. He only played for one team, the Dallas Mavericks, originally drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1998 NBA draft before being traded.

The 7-foot-tall baller has continued to break and hold multiple all-time Mavericks franchise records as well as club records, including being the highest-rated foreign player in NBA history and one of only seven people in the world to have been for at least Played 20 seasons in the NBA. Add that to be one of two to have done so with a single franchise. Here’s a look at everything Dirk Nowitzki has accomplished, including his biography and family life.

biography

Nowitzki was born to Dirk Werner Nowitzki on June 19, 1978, in Würzburg to a family of athletes. His mother Helga Nowitzki (born Bredenbröcker) played professional basketball, his father Jörg-Werner was a professional handball player and represented Germany in international competitions.

He is the second of two children with his elder sister Silke Nowitzki, who is also a professional basketball player after a somewhat successful career in athletics. It was only logical that Dirk chose a career in sports. His initial favorites were football, tennis and handball, like his father, and rejected basketball, thinking it was a girl’s sport after seeing his sister and mother play the game.

Nowitzki was always a foot or taller than his peers. Finding his height a challenge in these sports, he decided to play basketball around the age of 13. He signed up for a local team and caught the attention of Holger Geschwindner, a former German basketball player. Geschwindner offered Nowitzki the role of mentor and coach and played an important role in him becoming the player he is today.

At the age of 16, Nowitzki started playing at his local second division club DJK Würzburg. Within two years, he was selected for the German national junior team, German national under-22 team, European Junior Select Team and World Junior Select Team, and was ranked as the greatest basketball talent of the last decade by Germany’s national basketball coach at the time.

Dirk Nowitzki was getting offers to play professional basketball from around the world at the time. NBA scouts and colleges were on high alert when he surpassed and even eclipsed NBA player Charles Barkley, who was in Europe for a Nike-sponsored event. However, he decided to stay with his local club and complete his education by writing the German Abitur. He then completed his mandatory service in the German Armed Forces before returning to his team for promotion to a higher league, which earned him the German Basketball Player of the Year award in 1998 until he received his university education.

In his rookie season, Nowitzki found it very difficult to pass and began to question his decision to move to America. It also didn’t help that the Mavericks were also struggling as a team at the time, making the situation worse. In 2000, Nowitzki began to establish himself as a star in the league. His game improved significantly when he was voted the second-best player in the NBA honors. He also made the NBA All-Star Sophomore roster and competed in three-point shooting, where he finished second.

From that point on, Dirk Nowitzki went from height to height, setting records and positioning his team to secure an NBA title. He first played in the 2006 NBA playoffs where he lost to the Miami Heat. The following season, he was named the NBA Most Valuable Player, the first European player to receive the award. He also joined the exclusive 50-40-90 club by scoring 50% from field, 40% for three-pointers, and 90% from the free throw line. In the 2010–11 season, Nowitzki once again led his team to their first-ever NBA title against the Heat. He was named Finals MVP for his efforts, which included playing Game 4 of the series with a fever.

The Mavericks haven’t been able to put together a decent playoff run since, but Nowitzki himself will go down in history as a legend of the game.

Dirk Nowitzki family – wife, children, sister

Dirk Nowitzki is married to Jessica Olsson, sister of Swedish twin footballers Martin and Marcus Olsson. The couple married in 2012 after dating for two years. They have three children; a daughter, Malaika Nowitzki, born July 2013 and two sons, the first, Max Nowitzki, born March 2015 and the other November 2016. His sister Silke currently manages her brother and works for international NBA television.

a house

The Nowitzki family currently resides in a five-bedroom, 9,215-square-foot mansion in Dallas, Texas that is reported to have cost $8 million. The mansion also has six bathrooms, a three car garage, tennis court, swimming pool and two basketball courts.