August 13, 2023 • 42 mins
Marc Stein hosts an hour of live coverage of Basketball Hall of Fame induction weekend from Springfield, Mass., and is joined for two segments by 97.1 The Freak All-Stars Ben and Skin ... who can't believe they've sneaked their way into Dirk's VIP traveling party to attend the festivities.
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(00:00):
Com Welcome to a Saturday Stein Linewith Mark Stein, presented by Panini Trading
Cards and Collectibles on ninety seven one. The Freak, the official home to
all Dallas Neverick's games, hosted bylegendary NBA reporter and publisher of his substract,
(00:20):
The Stein Line is big. I'mexcited for the new show. Can't
wait to listenet Here's Mark Stein.Friends, Welcome in to the latest edition
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of the Saturday Stein Line, presentedby Pannini Trading Cards and Collectibles, live
from Springfield, Massachusetts, live fromwho Paul Usa. I am so psyched
for this one. So psyched.I've been spouting over and over for days
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now. How ninety seven won.The Freak would bring you, guys,
the only live coverage in town fromBasketball Hall of Fame Induction weekend, and
we are here. The induction ceremoniesare tonight at Symphony Hall in Springfield for
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the star studded class of twenty twentythree. It's my fourth or fifth time
here, but this one is youknow, it's an all timer and the
party really started. At least forlucky me. I wound up on the
same commercial flight Wednesday to the northeastwith a certain dark Navitsky, and that
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was a site just seeing how manypeople wanted pictures with the man. Seeing
the stewardesses besieged Novitski asking him tosneak into the galley to take a picture
with him before we took off,seeing how accommodating he was. And it's
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been, Look, it's been forme. This is this is your life
week all week long, and I'vebeen just replaying so many videos, rereading
so many stories, listening over toa bunch of podcasts that I've done over
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the years with Bill Simmons. Simmonsalways had a habit of just pinning me
in a corner and getting all mybest Dirk stories out of me. September
for me, it marks twenty fiveyears next month, twenty five years since
the first time that I went toWurtzburg to watch Dirk play. It was
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during the lockout, just a coupleof months after the MAVs drafted him.
If I may, if you allowme a plug, I wrote a story
this week on my sub stack thatI hope you will check out. I
published it Thursday. I printed twentyfive years of covering Dirk stories. And
you know, I've been doing thisa long time, but there's been no
player, and certainly no Hall ofFame player that I've been able to cover
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so closely start to finish, andeveryone is here. I mean, this
is a this is a family reunionkind of atmosphere here because Dirk has everyone
here. And you know, hisfather Yurg, who everybody calls Jay Dub,
his mother Helga who everyone calls HelgusHolgerger Schfinder obviously his lifetime shot doctor
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Silka, his sister, his wholefamily, most of the eleven title team
is here, and you know itis it is. It's it's been days
and days of of a of ofa festival, and you know, I
(04:16):
in nineteen ninety eight I got togo to to to Dirk's hometown and you
know, I can't, I can'treally describe it's. First of all,
it is the most it is themost green place I've ever seen. It's
just really really green and clean.But like later in my career, I
also got to go to the VirginIslands to see where Tim Duncan is from.
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And I always say that what ifyou have the opportunity to go to
Urtzburg, or if you have theopportunity to go to the Virgin Islands,
to Saint Choix, where where Timis from, and see just how far
away from the NBA mainstream Dirk Novitskyand Tim Duncan hail from. And when
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you go there and you just it's, uh, it's it's truly wild.
Covering these guys has dominated so muchof my professional life and the last two
decades. But really seeing Dirk here, had a huge party Friday night last
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night, he rented out Tao inthe Mohegan Sun after you know, Friday
night is the first awards gala thatthe Hall of Fame hosts. Shout out
to my dear friend and longtime formerteammate, going all the way back to
the La Daily News, Mark Spears. He is the Kurt Gaudy Award winner
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in the print category. Holly Rowthe winner in the Kurt. She wins
the Kurt Gaudy Award in the ElectronicMedia category. So big gala last night,
then Dirk through, you know,a post event party at Tao,
and just the man looks so happy, you know, so just thrilled for
(06:04):
this. And I'm so glad Iwas wrong, I really thought, and
I feel like I know Dirk prettywell, having covered his whole career.
I thought I thought retirement would bemuch harder transition for him because he was
so basketball obsessed, unlike Steve Nash, who was also here. Steve always
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had a zillion interests, so Iyou know, I thought it would be
easier for Steve to transition into hispost playing career because he had so many
off court interests, whereas Dirk livedthe game, played the game, and
after games just went home and watchedall the late games on the West Coast.
NBA TV was his favorite channel,like Dirk was twenty four to seven
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NBA and and really I was wrongon both counts. Steve Nash surprised a
lot of people by becoming an NBAhead coach, and I don't think he's
done, and I don't think Brooklynwill be his only stop. I think
we'll see Nash coach again. AndDirk has just been He has so embraced
the post NBA life, traveling withhis family all over the place Australian Open
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skiing. But he truly looks atforty five and entering the Hall now as
a first ballot Hall of Famer,just so at peace. He is so
at peace and feels so accomplished withwhat he's done. And look, you,
guys, Dirk Navitsky has won fewerchampionships than any of the NBA luminaries
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who are being inducted this weekend.Dwyane Wade won three in Miami, Pau
Gasol won two with the Lakers,Tony Parker won four rings with San Antonio.
Dirk only has the one. ButI'm sorry, there is nothing you
can dissuade me from the belief thatDirk Navitsky is one of the finest twenty
basketball players in the history of thissport. There's nothing you can say.
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There's there's If you have an argumentagainst it, tell somebody else. I
don't want to hear it. Hescored thirty one thousand, five hundred and
sixty points in his regular season career, one spot ahead of Wilt Chamberlain.
He played twenty one seasons with onefranchise, And again, to me,
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that is a record that I equateto another championship because that record is not
going to be broken. You seethe way the NBA has evolved. In
the modern NBA, You're not gonnasee guys playing twenty one years with one
team, the one legged fade awayadopted by so many subsequent stars. That
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is the twenty first century equivalent ofthe skyhook in terms of its unblockability.
And before all that, before weeven get to the one legged fade away,
which is something that evolved later inhis career, Durknoviski chan change the
way his position is played. Andthat is something that very few players get
to say. And if you don'tbelieve me, read Steve Ashburner's piece this
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week on NBA dot com. BecauseKevin McHale, who was as good a
power forward as there was in thenineteen eighties, Kevin McHale told Ashburner the
same thing that Dirk Navitsky changed hisposition. And when guys like Kevin McHale
say it, it really really resonates. And again, guys that we're only
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doing an hour today, I wishwe could do three, because the weekend
has been that amazing. I hadnever met Gary Blair, whose incredible coaching
career started at South South oak Cliff, and Gary Blair toward told an incredible
story. He told an incredible storyyesterday at the press conference about having Dennis
Rodman in his pe class at Southoak Cliff for three years, and he
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talked about how he never scored ofour city point for his high school basketball
team. Neither did Rodman, andthey both ended up in the Hall of
Fame. It was a pleasure tomeet coach Blair. And there's a lot
of news going on with the Mathsright now. Like I've been saying,
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this August is unusually newsy, andthis week we've had lots of MAVs news.
The Mavericks signed Derrick Jones Junior toadd some wing depth. Luka Doncic
was supposed to play today against theUnited States. It would have been this
long awaited showdown with Jalen Brunson thatwe all want to see, but Luca
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took a knock in the first halfin Friday's game against Spain. For precautionary
reasons, Luca is not playing thegame against the United States, which is
a two thirty Central time today,but I think people will still want to
check that out just to get aglimpse of Team USA as the World cut
nears and there's you know, there'suh, sorry, I lost my train
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of thought here trying to run thisthing from from Afar. But we're doing
I'm so grateful here to MIX ninetythree one in Springfield to hostess. This
is awesome that we're able to getinto a live studio here and our franchise
players, Ben and Skin sauntered inhere. So for the rest of the
show after the break, Ben andSkin are going to be with us and
we are just gonna nerd out fortwo full segments. But we also had
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scheduled news this week. I hopeyou guys saw. I reported the other
night that the MAVs on opening Night, October twenty fifth, the MAVs will
be in San Antonio for Victor wembanYama's first NBA game, So to debut
in the NBA, Victor wemban Yamagets to see Luca Danticch, Kyrie Irving
and the Dallas Mavericks on October twentyfifth. We also found out this week
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that the Mavericks will be playing inPhoenix on Christmas against the Suns, who
I think have emerged as the modernday heat for the MAVs. There,
the foremost rivaled Skin is nodding hishead in agreement, So I think I
got that one right. For somereason, for some reason, Phoenix gets
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MAVs fans riled up more than anyone. So we we have we have all
these things to talk about, butI think we're going to We're gonna we're
gonna put that on hold because Iwant this too. I really want this
discussion to focus on NBA, onHall of Fame matters. We we we've
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still got plenty of summer left totalk about, you know, to talk
about all things MAVs and schedule,and I promise next week we'll go and
we'll be going in depth on theschedule because by next week we'll know the
full schedule by next Saturday show.And I know you guys want to get
into all that and how Luca looks. But again, this is this weekend
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is one of a kind. Withthis Hall of Fame cl Dirk Nivitsky going
in with his rivals Pau Gassol,Tony Parker, Greg Popovich, and of
course Dwayne Wade. We're gonna betalking about when when when we get Ben
and Skin dialed, and we willbe talking a lot about Dwayne Wade because
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I want to get their thoughts.I know they are like kids in a
candy store on this deal. They'reasking themselves how did we how did we
sneak into this thing? How didwe get here? From Richardson all the
way to Springfield? And they areso I cannot wait to get their perspective
on things, because you know,they are they're they're seeing some stuff that
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that I don't think they expected tosee here. But you know, when
I when I think about Dirk's impactin the league, and you know,
again, I feel like I feellike I have a pretty good handle on
it myself. But I heard agreat story that I want to share from
from Nikolovuchovich of the Chicago Bulls.And you know, we talk about Dirk
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changing the game, but the sortof trail blazer he was for Europeans and
Dirk, if you ask Dirk,he will always talk about the Europeans who
came before him, sabonus Khu,coach Petrovitch, Divach, Debt, left
Shremp from his own country. Hewill talk about the guys who made it
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possible for him to come into thisleague and made it easier for him to
come into this league. But oneof the things that's so remarkable about Dirk
is that that whole first year,everyone said it was a disaster, he
was a bust, he was soft, He would never live up to where
Dallas picked him. They should havetaken Paul Pierce. And then by the
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start of year three two, youknow, two years, not even two
years later, the whole league,the whole rest of the league, everybody
wanted their own Navitsky. Where isthe next Nevitsky? And teams all over
the league were trying to find theirown. And vouch told me a great
story this week about how when hemade his first All Star Game as a
member of the Orlando Magic, Dirkwas playing his last All Star Game in
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Charlotte, and Vouchevitch just told mejust how much it meant to him personally
to be able to thank Dirk personallyfor paving the way again, for making
it possible making teams around the leaguewants a seven footer who could face the
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basket, spread the floor, shootthrees, And now it's normal and everybody
wants one. And you know,Vouchevich just had a wonderful long career and
just resigned a new three year dealin Chicago, and and just to hear
the reverence with which someone like Vouchevichspeaks about Dirk, you know, it
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really opens your eyes to what hehas meant to European players from all from
and international players from all over theworld. And you know, Tony Parker
again part of this Hall of Fameclass, and Tony has won four rings
to Dirk's won. But you know, Tony said at the press conference yesterday,
Dirk is the European goat, anduh, it's it's uh if you
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can remember how rough it was thatfirst, you know, the thirteen year
climbed to the championship. Since thechampionship, Dirk, I always tell him,
You're like Martine your last eight years. You were like Martina Navratilova.
You were beloved because you were theyou know, the older guy, and
you'd already won and just everybody lovedyou. But Dirk was not universally loved
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those first twelve thirteen years in Dallas, Yes, but not He didn't have
the league wide and global appreciation thathe generates now. But you know,
enough gushing about him, because Ibought I've brought in two pros who are
gonna help me, who are reallygonna help me with it. It's so
funny because so many, so manytimes over the years I've made appearances on
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ben AND's Skin, and you knowthey like to trick me. They get
me in there for a segment andthen on the air they'll say, can
we keep you for a second segment, And they know that I can't say
no because I'm I'm trapped, I'mcaptive. But now I've done, I've
finally sprung this on them. Iarranged, I arranged a limo to bring
them to the studio. They arehere now. They rolled in here in
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a big escalade. The ride wasonly like two blocks. They demanded an
escalade to roll them in. Butthey are here. The franchise players of
The Freak Bennon's Skin, two segmentsof Springfield Who Paul Nba Nerddom come in
your way here on ninety seven oneThe Freak presented by Panini America. Everybody
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stick with us. This is dirtand whiskey and you're listening to the Saturday
Stein Line with my guys Steiny onninety seven one to Freak Everyone, an
absolute pleasure to rejoin you from Springfield, Massachusetts. The Saturday Stein Line presented
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by Pannini Trading Cards and Collectibles.And this is a freet I am joined
in a real show of role reversal. After I don't know how many years
I've been their guest many times,this is the first time they are my
guests the franchise, the faces ofthe franchise at the freak Well really Rhiner
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is. But let's let's just benice to these guys and tell them that
they're the faces of the franchise.Ben and Skin sitting with me in Springfield,
Massachusetts. The kids from Richardson,the Berkener boys are here in Springfield.
How did this happen? You guysare stop pinching yourself. It's really
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hard to put into words the waythe last you know, twenty eight hours
as felt from the time that wegot on the plane to sitting here with
you now in a studio that's noteven five minutes from the Basketball Hall of
Fame, and we're here talking aboutDirk. And you know, we rode
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with you this morning, Steiny fromwe're in this area called Mohegan's Son,
and we got up early and gotin a ride with you and we rode
over here and it's an hour drive. And that hour drive just added to
all the awesomeness of the weekend becausewe were reflecting on when Ben first talked
to you into coming onto the RogersReport on Case Star. Ben should probably
talk a little more about that.Yeah, we uh, we go way
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back. It's it's an honor tohave those roles reversed and to be on
your show. And uh yeah,man, I'm pinching myself. I feel
like, you know, Skin isan actual journalist. I mean, Skin
is actually a brilliant you know,he's incredibly become quite the journalist has it.
He become quite the polished suit wearingwell. He sideline man, he's
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one of the best analysts in theNBA. And I'm biased, but he
is brilliant, you know, sonof a coach, and he's a total
badass. I am a tourist,like I am, I keep expecting somebody
to throw me out of here andsay, hey, you're not supposed to
be here. But somehow it almostdid happen last night. A few times,
to be fair, I feel likeit's always teetering on the edge of
happening, Like it's always very closeto happening. But you know, as
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a lifelong basketball fan, a lifelongMaverick fan, to go on the twenty
one season journey that Dirk took uson as a as a collective fan base.
You know, that was insane.And then for Skin and I to
sneak into the media business and thenride his coat tails, you know,
and build a career out of thiswhere we can actually support our families.
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It's hard not to be retrospective andlook back on everything and get emotional because
you can see the way it's impactingthe big german. You see the way
it's impacting him, and he isteary eyed and reflective, and man,
he just did everything the right wayand there will never be another dirt.
I don't know if I've ever askedyou guys this quite the way I'm going
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to ask you now. But youknow, throughout on the run to the
championship, fifty win seasons every year, Dark became an All Star, clearly
one of the best players in theleague, but he was relentlessly doubted all
the way. You know. Ialways say he has such a unique career
arc because in OZ six they beatSan Antonio on their floor and I was
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working at ESPN at the time,and Bill Simmons said it, and I
totally agreed with him that Dirk isplaying this is the best forward play we've
seen since bird. He that isthe level Dirk reaching that series. But
then two rounds later they unravel againstMiami, they lose the finals, and
then the next four seasons, youknow, he's just drifting farther and farther
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away from the championship. So it'slike it seemed like he scaled the mountain,
then he comes back down. Wereyou guys worried it was just never
gonna happen? That twenty eleven wasthat there was never going to be a
championship. I mean, you guysare MAVs fans. First before your broadcasters,
tell me the truth. Did youafter six and then those subsequent rough
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years after, did you really believethat a championship was forthcoming? I didn't.
I don't know that I believe necessarilya championship was forthcoming. To me,
it got really bad when they tradedfor Jason Kidd with Avery Johnson as
the coach, because I'm looking atthis going you guys, know the offense,
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You've been running this idea that JasonKidd's just going to magically make this
team better when they are stagnant,like he's great when people are on the
move and then they bring Rick Carlislein. And remember they tried to instill
the Princeton offense and scrapped it beforecamp. So I don't know that I
thought that a championship was forthcoming,but I did think. I did believe
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in that twenty eleven team as beinga great team, and once they came
back in Game one against the Lakers, I thought they could get to the
finals. I did not think theywere going to beat the Heat. And
I think that's the most you know, extraordinary thing about all of it.
I do want to say this rightquick, because you know, Ben and
I walked in and you were talkingabout Tony Parker won this many rings,
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and Pal did this and all thesesorts of things, and everyone talks about
twenty eleven, which is a runthat is so spectacular and so special.
But to me, when you're talkingabout Dirk's greatness and you were talking about
this, they won fifty games elevenstraight seasons. If you want to see
his excellence, go to that firstyear and look at the roster, and
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then look at the roster eleven seasonslater. Go to the the O six
team that made it to the finals, and then go look at the two
eleven roster in an era where Tonyand Duncan and Manu played together for a
decade, and Kobe had Shack andthen had Pal and there's these teams that
were in it every year. Dirktook two completely different rosters outside of Jason
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Terry to two finals five years apartin that era. To me, that
is so impressive and just speaks tohis brilliance in ways that I don't know
that any thing else on his resumedoes. My favorite thing about that story
is after Skin and I were talkingabout that, I then brought it up
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to Dirk. It was just me, Skinn and Dirk talking there and I
was I couldn't help it. I'mjust looking at him glowing in his greatness,
and I'm like, this is athis is who Dirk is. So
I'm like, hey, Skin andI were talking to I. Skin was
mentioning that, like you and Jetwere the only guys from those the championship
run in two thousand and six andtwo thousand and eleven, and he didn't
he oh yeah, JJ wasn't hegoes yeah, he had never thought about
(25:03):
it. Most players would put thaton a necklace and wear it around going
I drug two teams to the championshipand it's like, that's who five years
apart, but that's who he is. And yeah, no, in terms
of I think sports, being afan of a team, diehard fan of
one team, your local team,is like buying a ticket to a lottery.
(25:26):
You know, it's like a heartbreakfactory. Most of the time.
You're like ninety nine point nine percentof the time you're gonna lose and have
your heart ripped out of your chest. And that's just the way sports is.
And so I was started to think, all right, it's never gonna
happen. You know, I'm acowboy fan too. And then since the
mid nineties, had had my heartbrokentime and time again, and I started
getting real pessimistic. So going intotwenty eleven, and we were at ESPN
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and they were like, hey,you guys, gotta get off the fence.
Talking to me specifically, you gottaget off the fence, like,
don't say I don't know if they'regonna be good or bad. Tell us
they're gonna be greater, they're gonnasuck, but have an opinion. Then
they're poking and prodded me, andI'm like all right, and that whole
year I called the MAVs the oneand done boys. They're gonna get in
the playoffs and get bounced out ofthe first round. And I stuck to
my guns the whole season. Whatan a hole because the first thing Mark
(26:08):
Cuban did when they handed him thechampionship was they called us the one and
done boys. Way to go.Luckily you're over it. He brings that
up every ten minutes. Nine.Oh man, Well, I wish,
I wish America. You could haveseen last night party at Tao. Ben
(26:32):
and Skin crashed it. Somehow theyhanded out forty one sparklers to try to
create try to recreate a club effect, and Ben, of course was right
in the middle of all that,waving sparklers with members of the twenty eleven
championship team. It feels surreal.You keep talking about, you know,
(26:52):
pinched me, and keep thinking I'mgonna get thrown out. I just I'm
just honored to have been there andanytime we've gone these adventures. For us,
we're from Dallas Fort Worth, youknow, born and raised, lifelong
Maverick fans, and we're on thatjourney. For us, it's very important
that when we share these adventures werewe don't ever want it to be.
Look what we get to do,you don't get to do it. We're
(27:14):
like, no, we're representing you. Come with us. This is what's
happening. And that's an important distinction. And so I wanted to share a
little bit of that from last night. I put a little bit on Twitter
of those Sparklers arriving. It wassurreal because I looked over and I'm standing
next to Holger who's talking to coachCarlisle and Dirk's dad, and then there's
like eight members of the twenty elevenchampionship team. Nash is there, We're
(27:38):
hanging out with Roddy b. Itwas nuts, man, it was almost
too much. All Right, we'regonna get We are gonna tell some more
stories from this weekend when we comeback. We've got some amazing sounds,
some tributes to Dirk from teammates andevery other luminaries from the organization. We're
gonna talk about Dwayne Waye and Dirkintersecting here. We're gonna get into some
(28:03):
controversial goat debate, all of that. Next here on ninety seven one,
the Freak. This is the SaturdayStein Line Quiz Mark Stein presented by Benini
Trading Cards and Collectibles f on yourofficial homes Wald Dallas Mavericks Games ninety seven
one The Freak. This is DirkNwhisky and you're listening to the Saturday Stein
(28:25):
Line with my guys Steiny on ninetyseven one The Freak. Everyone, I
want to welcome you back to theSaturday Stein Line here from Springfield, Massachusetts.
(28:48):
More Ben and Skin joining me ina second, but I want to
I want to play for you guyssome great audio that's assembled here in honor
of Dirk Nowitzki. Just a slewof his former teammates chiming in on this
Hall of Fame induction that is nowjust hours away. With a ninth pick
(29:11):
in the nineteen ninety eight NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Dirk Nowitzky from
Herzberg, Germany. Congratulations Dirk onbeing inducted into the twenty twenty three Hall
of Fame. It's definitely been aHall of Fame ride. Bradley finds Nevsky,
who comes up shooting and he's gothis first big blade field the well
(29:32):
deserved honor. Brother. I'm justproud of you to see where you've come
from, how you ended it.I'm proud of you. I'm proud of
your family, and I'm thankful tocall your brother. Yes, incredible career,
(29:52):
well deserved, everything that you accomplish, your champion, and I'm honored
just to call you a friend butalso a teammate forty one. Congrats to
an unbelievable career and rightfully a firstballot Hall of Fame. Just incredible twenty
one years with the mass the bestmav of all time, championship, all
the accolades, a million, AllStar games, a key to the city,
(30:14):
a street, a water burger,a planet. I mean, where
does it stop. Congrats to anincredible career and honor. I'm beat in
the Hall of Fame. Who's up? Derek's your friend and teammate, Devin
Harris here. Really proud of you. What you approached the game, what
you revolutionize the game, your souldeserved on this honor. Can't wait to
celebrate you. Congrats again, Dirt, Just want to say congrats. It's
(30:37):
amazing. We all know you deserveit. Playing to pick a role with
you winning a championship together and nowwatching you going into a Hall of famous
special man. Soop, graps andjoy and see you to Congratulations thirty Class
of twenty twenty three. Whoop,Hall of Fame. It's an honor to
being your teammates, your brother,your friend. Again big congrats, one
(31:02):
of a kind, Dirt, Congratulationson the Hall of Fame. And you
were true one of the grates ofall time and it was great to see
the journey. Congratulations, Dirt onthe Hall of Fame. I just want
to say thank you the story ofbasketball because I've been told without messing you,
I appreciated you. I love himtwo thousand and eleven for life.
It is not a dream. Theseclassed a keenolog of honor and it is
(31:25):
the highest scoring R and hard player, dirty and dirty, the rainbow Assassin.
Congratulations are going to this MS classman with a honor privilege, Must
respect, must love respects a latelove turn up. Dirty. Just want
(31:48):
to take congratulations, you know onmaking the Hall. I want you to
enjoy the moment. It was anamazing accomplishment and enjoy the moment. But
congratulations Dr Nevitski to the Hall ofFame and represents your work ethic, that
dication, your love to the game. And enjoy this moment. Been a
Hall of Famer in our eyes fora long time. You change the city,
the face of basketball in the city. Nobody deserves more than you.
(32:08):
See my brother from another journey mother, I just want to say congratulations,
get a legacy, your career secondto nine, your hustle, your dedication
to the game. I wish youall success. You know, God bless
you, God bless your family andall of love. Man, Dirt Day,
I just wanted to say congratulations.I'm so proud of you. You
(32:29):
teach the entire world that hard workdoes playoff and that do guys can and
do finish first, and most importantly, you prove that you could do it
on and off the court, representingyourself, your family, the maths,
and the entire city of Dallas inways like nobody else ever has congratulations.
(32:50):
You truly are a whole. ButDirt, I just want to say congratulations
from the Hall of Fame. Youdeserve this and everything that happened due and
you're an to everybody. I justwant to say congratulations, and we'll really
deserve this, jerk congratulations on theinduction. There's a long list of things
that you've done on the basketball court. But when I think of you,
(33:12):
and I think of the word change, I think of all the lives that
you've changed, the lives in Dallas, the lives throughout Texas, and the
lives around the world through your generosity. It takes a special athlete to do
the things that you've done on thecourt, but it takes a Hall of
Fame human to be able to usethe platform that basketball has provided and to
(33:35):
impact so many people along the way. Thanks for all that you do in
the communities, and congrats again onyour induction into the Hall of Fame.
Some moving words there at the endfrom Brian Cardinal Bonus points to any of
you who recognize all of those voices, and I'm guessing plenty of you.
(33:57):
Dad. We heard from Michael Finley, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Jason,
Terry Caron Butler, Devin Harris,Nico Harrison, Sean Mary and Maxi,
Cleeba, Dwight Powell, Mark Cuban, Luca don Chich. We're all
in there. I hope I goteverybody back here. On ninety seven one,
the Freak Mark Stein joined by theInimitable Freak Franchise duo of Ben and
(34:25):
Skin, I do have to checkwith you guys. So there's been there's
a lot of Dwayne Wade here too. Dirk has said over and over,
we're good. Now we've bonded.We put all the past in the past.
But being the journalistic stickler that Iam, I cannot, I cannot,
I could not ignore press conference Wadewent last after Dirk. Jacket and
(34:52):
ring ceremony, Wade went last afterDirk. I'm pretty sure tonight Wade speech
will be last after Dirk. Areyou guys, do you got? Is
all forgotten for the Birkener graduates withDwayne Wade and the Miami Heat. I
can only speak for my own personalemotions, and I've I've heard Skin have
(35:13):
so many delicious rants about this,So I'll let him speak for himself.
But just because Dirk is being aclass act and taking the high road does
not mean that we all have to. Let's acknowledge Dirk taking that high road
and say, what a badass.Not surprised, You're an incredible human being.
But I that I'm I'm not droppingmy I'm maintaining full sports hate.
(35:34):
I wish him no ill will crosspaths with Dwayne Wade here, though,
you will dap him up and they'llall be forgotten. I promise you,
I swear to God, I wouldnot. I might bring up the two
thousand and six finals how he shotseven hundred and forty seven thousand free throws.
I am never gonna let it go. You would not dap him up
if I would not dap him up, even if he reached out to me
first, I would. I wouldnot dap him. I would not return
(35:58):
dap. We will return to thenext machine next week. Unfortunately, I'm
I'm I'm trying to be professional hereand run the studio like I know what
I'm doing, So I'm not Idid a terrible job. I didn't even
throw out the text line today.But we're gonna bring on the steinline text
line next week. We're going todo a poll to see if anybody believes
that Ben Rogers would refuse to dapup Hall of Fame or Dwyane Wade if
(36:20):
they cross fast here in Springfield.What if Dwyane Wade walked up to Ben
right now, We're in that sleevelessmagician vest that he was wearing last night,
and he wanted to swap it withBen for Ben's Rollertown third Anniversary shirt
that he's wearing right now. Youknow Ben would do a shirt because if
you guys were watching the show,if you were watching the event last night,
(36:40):
basically things were running a little lateso that all the participants were asked
to remove their jackets just to makethe jacket unveiling a little faster. If
you noticed, Dwayne Wade had abeautiful double breast of jacket on, he
did not remove it because he clearlywanted to reveal the resplendent, sleeveless get
(37:00):
up he had on underneath. Man, I have tried to get over a
lot of the Dwyane Wade stuff,and hearing the way Dirk talk about it
has helped me in a lot ofthat regard. But I think really the
whole Dwyane Wade Dirk thing, allit does is show us how ridiculously great
Dirk is. Because there's a lotof people that exist in the kind of
(37:22):
world that Dwyane Wade exist in,and their egos are so large and so
out of control, that's kind ofnormal for them to act like prima donnas,
and we just don't get that fromDirk, and so we're sort of
I don't know, it's just ourexpectations change. Ben and I were able
to squeeze in a quick fifty minutetrip to the Basketball Hall of Fame on
the way up here, and weturned the corner and there's a picture of
(37:45):
Lebron James and Dwyane Wade doing thejersey swap at Staples the night after Miami
played there for the last time.And I don't know if you remember,
but it was like a forty fiveminute live thing where ESPN just stopped Sports
Center and they just showed it andit was the biggest corny spectacle of all
time. And I'm looking at thatit's hanging in the Hall of Fame and
I'm thinking, man, Dwyane Wade'sget a Dwayne Wade. You know.
(38:07):
It's just that ego is so big. We're just so lucky to have Dirk.
We're just so lucky to have Dirkthat we don't have to have our
hero act like a teenager in momentslike this. All right, well,
look, this is this is alsoa special weekend for mister Wade going into
the Hall of Fame. So whatWe're gonna leave that one there? But
(38:28):
something tells me we will revisit.We will revisit the topic very soon,
because yes, there I think thereis, there is there is a fair
bit of skepticism that that that Imean, Dirk and Wade say it's all
forgotten and their pals. I mean, you know, I had the interview
with Dirk on last week's show andI flat out asked him, are you
guys? Are you guys buddies?Now? Do we have to is that
the terminology we have to use?What? Like I said, We're gonna
(38:50):
leave it there on Wade, we'llget into that again, but in our
last few moments together before we haveto relinquish this studio. And again,
thank you so much again to Mixninety three one in Springfield for letting us
do this show live. I reallyreally really wanted to do a live show
from Springfield since we're all here together. The aforementioned Bill Simmons, we call
(39:10):
him the Podfather because of what he'sdone in this industry. He has a
Dallas based media critic named Brian Curtis, who Brian has always taken issue with
my take that Dirk is the goatof Dallas sports. The Cowboys are obviously
an institution unrivaled. The Mavericks,the Stars, the Rangers, the Cowboys
are on a different pedestal. Butmy argument is, I've lived here twenty
(39:34):
five years. I'm not a nativeDFW guy like you guys, But to
me, there is no singular cowboywho can match what he's done. When
I was young, even living inthe Buffalo area or southern California, Stawback
and Landry were these massive mythical figures. But that was a long time ago.
Am I am I? Am Iglossing over a particular cowboy? Or
(39:57):
do I mean? Am I slidingNolan Ryan by saying I mean you guys
tell me, you guys are thelocals. You tell me? Am I
am I on safe ground with thistake? All right? I think it's
open for discussion. I think it'sa safe take to make. I mean,
there's a debate to be had,is it? Is it? Troy
Aikman with three Super Bowls? IsAnimant Smith the same three Super Bowls and
the all time leading rusher in thehistory of the game, but Dirt twenty
(40:19):
one seasons with one team, sixthall time leading scorer. I mean,
he's he's incredibly special. Beating aSuper team draft, you know, all
those fifty win seasons. I thinkit's I think it's a valid debate topic,
and I'm sorry not to take aste I would I mean, let's
dude, whyn't you come jump onour show on Monday and let's bring this
up again and we'll recap this weekend. But I would see our running short
(40:43):
on time because you know, likeI said, I don't want to slight
those that Cowboys team won three titlesin four years. But my guess my
point was, could you narrow itdown to an Aikman or a Smith or
was it the collective? That's youknow, that's my that's kind of my
argument. Yeah, And that's whyI think it's a valid argument, because
you're comparing dirt to an entire franchise. In the Cowboys, Ben just named.
You know, a couple of playersfrom our era. Go to someone
(41:06):
fifteen years older than me and Ben, they're going to talk about Stabock,
Tony Dorsett, and then go evenolder than that and they start talking about
all these other greats from another era. Dirk is the Dallas Mavericks, and
I don't think there's a singular ranger. Nolan Ryan was late in his career.
Obviously, hockey's not as big asDallas I had. I think it's
Dirk just by the year fact thatno other Maverick touches him. It's not
(41:29):
even close. Guys. This wasamazing. I mean all I complain every
week that it goes too fast,but this was legitimately like it felt like
a four minute show. But again, it was really important to me that
we get together because we're all herebecause it is crazy, and I say
it all the time. To havegone to Wurtzburg in nineteen ninety eight and
(41:50):
to see where this thing ended uptruly hard to believe. Lots more Dirk
talk to come Monday when I joinedBen and Skin, and next year on
ninety seven, won the Freak
Com Welcome to a Saturday Stein Linewith Mark Stein, presented by Panini Trading
Cards and Collectibles on ninety seven one. The Freak, the official home to
all Dallas Neverick's games, hosted bylegendary NBA reporter and publisher of his substract,
(00:20):
The Stein Line is big. I'mexcited for the new show. Can't
wait to listenet Here's Mark Stein.Friends, Welcome in to the latest edition
(00:49):
of the Saturday Stein Line, presentedby Pannini Trading Cards and Collectibles, live
from Springfield, Massachusetts, live fromwho Paul Usa. I am so psyched
for this one. So psyched.I've been spouting over and over for days
(01:12):
now. How ninety seven won.The Freak would bring you, guys,
the only live coverage in town fromBasketball Hall of Fame Induction weekend, and
we are here. The induction ceremoniesare tonight at Symphony Hall in Springfield for
(01:36):
the star studded class of twenty twentythree. It's my fourth or fifth time
here, but this one is youknow, it's an all timer and the
party really started. At least forlucky me. I wound up on the
same commercial flight Wednesday to the northeastwith a certain dark Navitsky, and that
(02:00):
was a site just seeing how manypeople wanted pictures with the man. Seeing
the stewardesses besieged Novitski asking him tosneak into the galley to take a picture
with him before we took off,seeing how accommodating he was. And it's
(02:24):
been, Look, it's been forme. This is this is your life
week all week long, and I'vebeen just replaying so many videos, rereading
so many stories, listening over toa bunch of podcasts that I've done over
(02:45):
the years with Bill Simmons. Simmonsalways had a habit of just pinning me
in a corner and getting all mybest Dirk stories out of me. September
for me, it marks twenty fiveyears next month, twenty five years since
the first time that I went toWurtzburg to watch Dirk play. It was
(03:05):
during the lockout, just a coupleof months after the MAVs drafted him.
If I may, if you allowme a plug, I wrote a story
this week on my sub stack thatI hope you will check out. I
published it Thursday. I printed twentyfive years of covering Dirk stories. And
you know, I've been doing thisa long time, but there's been no
player, and certainly no Hall ofFame player that I've been able to cover
(03:30):
so closely start to finish, andeveryone is here. I mean, this
is a this is a family reunionkind of atmosphere here because Dirk has everyone
here. And you know, hisfather Yurg, who everybody calls Jay Dub,
his mother Helga who everyone calls HelgusHolgerger Schfinder obviously his lifetime shot doctor
(03:55):
Silka, his sister, his wholefamily, most of the eleven title team
is here, and you know itis it is. It's it's been days
and days of of a of ofa festival, and you know, I
(04:16):
in nineteen ninety eight I got togo to to to Dirk's hometown and you
know, I can't, I can'treally describe it's. First of all,
it is the most it is themost green place I've ever seen. It's
just really really green and clean.But like later in my career, I
also got to go to the VirginIslands to see where Tim Duncan is from.
(04:40):
And I always say that what ifyou have the opportunity to go to
Urtzburg, or if you have theopportunity to go to the Virgin Islands,
to Saint Choix, where where Timis from, and see just how far
away from the NBA mainstream Dirk Novitskyand Tim Duncan hail from. And when
(05:00):
you go there and you just it's, uh, it's it's truly wild.
Covering these guys has dominated so muchof my professional life and the last two
decades. But really seeing Dirk here, had a huge party Friday night last
(05:21):
night, he rented out Tao inthe Mohegan Sun after you know, Friday
night is the first awards gala thatthe Hall of Fame hosts. Shout out
to my dear friend and longtime formerteammate, going all the way back to
the La Daily News, Mark Spears. He is the Kurt Gaudy Award winner
(05:42):
in the print category. Holly Rowthe winner in the Kurt. She wins
the Kurt Gaudy Award in the ElectronicMedia category. So big gala last night,
then Dirk through, you know,a post event party at Tao,
and just the man looks so happy, you know, so just thrilled for
(06:04):
this. And I'm so glad Iwas wrong, I really thought, and
I feel like I know Dirk prettywell, having covered his whole career.
I thought I thought retirement would bemuch harder transition for him because he was
so basketball obsessed, unlike Steve Nash, who was also here. Steve always
(06:27):
had a zillion interests, so Iyou know, I thought it would be
easier for Steve to transition into hispost playing career because he had so many
off court interests, whereas Dirk livedthe game, played the game, and
after games just went home and watchedall the late games on the West Coast.
NBA TV was his favorite channel,like Dirk was twenty four to seven
(06:51):
NBA and and really I was wrongon both counts. Steve Nash surprised a
lot of people by becoming an NBAhead coach, and I don't think he's
done, and I don't think Brooklynwill be his only stop. I think
we'll see Nash coach again. AndDirk has just been He has so embraced
the post NBA life, traveling withhis family all over the place Australian Open
(07:14):
skiing. But he truly looks atforty five and entering the Hall now as
a first ballot Hall of Famer,just so at peace. He is so
at peace and feels so accomplished withwhat he's done. And look, you,
guys, Dirk Navitsky has won fewerchampionships than any of the NBA luminaries
(07:39):
who are being inducted this weekend.Dwyane Wade won three in Miami, Pau
Gasol won two with the Lakers,Tony Parker won four rings with San Antonio.
Dirk only has the one. ButI'm sorry, there is nothing you
can dissuade me from the belief thatDirk Navitsky is one of the finest twenty
basketball players in the history of thissport. There's nothing you can say.
(08:01):
There's there's If you have an argumentagainst it, tell somebody else. I
don't want to hear it. Hescored thirty one thousand, five hundred and
sixty points in his regular season career, one spot ahead of Wilt Chamberlain.
He played twenty one seasons with onefranchise, And again, to me,
(08:22):
that is a record that I equateto another championship because that record is not
going to be broken. You seethe way the NBA has evolved. In
the modern NBA, You're not gonnasee guys playing twenty one years with one
team, the one legged fade awayadopted by so many subsequent stars. That
(08:45):
is the twenty first century equivalent ofthe skyhook in terms of its unblockability.
And before all that, before weeven get to the one legged fade away,
which is something that evolved later inhis career, Durknoviski chan change the
way his position is played. Andthat is something that very few players get
to say. And if you don'tbelieve me, read Steve Ashburner's piece this
(09:09):
week on NBA dot com. BecauseKevin McHale, who was as good a
power forward as there was in thenineteen eighties, Kevin McHale told Ashburner the
same thing that Dirk Navitsky changed hisposition. And when guys like Kevin McHale
say it, it really really resonates. And again, guys that we're only
(09:31):
doing an hour today, I wishwe could do three, because the weekend
has been that amazing. I hadnever met Gary Blair, whose incredible coaching
career started at South South oak Cliff, and Gary Blair toward told an incredible
story. He told an incredible storyyesterday at the press conference about having Dennis
Rodman in his pe class at Southoak Cliff for three years, and he
(09:56):
talked about how he never scored ofour city point for his high school basketball
team. Neither did Rodman, andthey both ended up in the Hall of
Fame. It was a pleasure tomeet coach Blair. And there's a lot
of news going on with the Mathsright now. Like I've been saying,
(10:16):
this August is unusually newsy, andthis week we've had lots of MAVs news.
The Mavericks signed Derrick Jones Junior toadd some wing depth. Luka Doncic
was supposed to play today against theUnited States. It would have been this
long awaited showdown with Jalen Brunson thatwe all want to see, but Luca
(10:37):
took a knock in the first halfin Friday's game against Spain. For precautionary
reasons, Luca is not playing thegame against the United States, which is
a two thirty Central time today,but I think people will still want to
check that out just to get aglimpse of Team USA as the World cut
nears and there's you know, there'suh, sorry, I lost my train
(11:05):
of thought here trying to run thisthing from from Afar. But we're doing
I'm so grateful here to MIX ninetythree one in Springfield to hostess. This
is awesome that we're able to getinto a live studio here and our franchise
players, Ben and Skin sauntered inhere. So for the rest of the
show after the break, Ben andSkin are going to be with us and
we are just gonna nerd out fortwo full segments. But we also had
(11:28):
scheduled news this week. I hopeyou guys saw. I reported the other
night that the MAVs on opening Night, October twenty fifth, the MAVs will
be in San Antonio for Victor wembanYama's first NBA game, So to debut
in the NBA, Victor wemban Yamagets to see Luca Danticch, Kyrie Irving
and the Dallas Mavericks on October twentyfifth. We also found out this week
(11:50):
that the Mavericks will be playing inPhoenix on Christmas against the Suns, who
I think have emerged as the modernday heat for the MAVs. There,
the foremost rivaled Skin is nodding hishead in agreement, So I think I
got that one right. For somereason, for some reason, Phoenix gets
(12:11):
MAVs fans riled up more than anyone. So we we have we have all
these things to talk about, butI think we're going to We're gonna we're
gonna put that on hold because Iwant this too. I really want this
discussion to focus on NBA, onHall of Fame matters. We we we've
(12:35):
still got plenty of summer left totalk about, you know, to talk
about all things MAVs and schedule,and I promise next week we'll go and
we'll be going in depth on theschedule because by next week we'll know the
full schedule by next Saturday show.And I know you guys want to get
into all that and how Luca looks. But again, this is this weekend
(12:56):
is one of a kind. Withthis Hall of Fame cl Dirk Nivitsky going
in with his rivals Pau Gassol,Tony Parker, Greg Popovich, and of
course Dwayne Wade. We're gonna betalking about when when when we get Ben
and Skin dialed, and we willbe talking a lot about Dwayne Wade because
(13:18):
I want to get their thoughts.I know they are like kids in a
candy store on this deal. They'reasking themselves how did we how did we
sneak into this thing? How didwe get here? From Richardson all the
way to Springfield? And they areso I cannot wait to get their perspective
on things, because you know,they are they're they're seeing some stuff that
(13:46):
that I don't think they expected tosee here. But you know, when
I when I think about Dirk's impactin the league, and you know,
again, I feel like I feellike I have a pretty good handle on
it myself. But I heard agreat story that I want to share from
from Nikolovuchovich of the Chicago Bulls.And you know, we talk about Dirk
(14:09):
changing the game, but the sortof trail blazer he was for Europeans and
Dirk, if you ask Dirk,he will always talk about the Europeans who
came before him, sabonus Khu,coach Petrovitch, Divach, Debt, left
Shremp from his own country. Hewill talk about the guys who made it
(14:30):
possible for him to come into thisleague and made it easier for him to
come into this league. But oneof the things that's so remarkable about Dirk
is that that whole first year,everyone said it was a disaster, he
was a bust, he was soft, He would never live up to where
Dallas picked him. They should havetaken Paul Pierce. And then by the
(14:52):
start of year three two, youknow, two years, not even two
years later, the whole league,the whole rest of the league, everybody
wanted their own Navitsky. Where isthe next Nevitsky? And teams all over
the league were trying to find theirown. And vouch told me a great
story this week about how when hemade his first All Star Game as a
member of the Orlando Magic, Dirkwas playing his last All Star Game in
(15:16):
Charlotte, and Vouchevitch just told mejust how much it meant to him personally
to be able to thank Dirk personallyfor paving the way again, for making
it possible making teams around the leaguewants a seven footer who could face the
(15:39):
basket, spread the floor, shootthrees, And now it's normal and everybody
wants one. And you know,Vouchevich just had a wonderful long career and
just resigned a new three year dealin Chicago, and and just to hear
the reverence with which someone like Vouchevichspeaks about Dirk, you know, it
(16:00):
really opens your eyes to what hehas meant to European players from all from
and international players from all over theworld. And you know, Tony Parker
again part of this Hall of Fameclass, and Tony has won four rings
to Dirk's won. But you know, Tony said at the press conference yesterday,
Dirk is the European goat, anduh, it's it's uh if you
(16:29):
can remember how rough it was thatfirst, you know, the thirteen year
climbed to the championship. Since thechampionship, Dirk, I always tell him,
You're like Martine your last eight years. You were like Martina Navratilova.
You were beloved because you were theyou know, the older guy, and
you'd already won and just everybody lovedyou. But Dirk was not universally loved
(16:51):
those first twelve thirteen years in Dallas, Yes, but not He didn't have
the league wide and global appreciation thathe generates now. But you know,
enough gushing about him, because Ibought I've brought in two pros who are
gonna help me, who are reallygonna help me with it. It's so
funny because so many, so manytimes over the years I've made appearances on
(17:15):
ben AND's Skin, and you knowthey like to trick me. They get
me in there for a segment andthen on the air they'll say, can
we keep you for a second segment, And they know that I can't say
no because I'm I'm trapped, I'mcaptive. But now I've done, I've
finally sprung this on them. Iarranged, I arranged a limo to bring
them to the studio. They arehere now. They rolled in here in
(17:37):
a big escalade. The ride wasonly like two blocks. They demanded an
escalade to roll them in. Butthey are here. The franchise players of
The Freak Bennon's Skin, two segmentsof Springfield Who Paul Nba Nerddom come in
your way here on ninety seven oneThe Freak presented by Panini America. Everybody
(18:00):
stick with us. This is dirtand whiskey and you're listening to the Saturday
Stein Line with my guys Steiny onninety seven one to Freak Everyone, an
absolute pleasure to rejoin you from Springfield, Massachusetts. The Saturday Stein Line presented
(18:22):
by Pannini Trading Cards and Collectibles.And this is a freet I am joined
in a real show of role reversal. After I don't know how many years
I've been their guest many times,this is the first time they are my
guests the franchise, the faces ofthe franchise at the freak Well really Rhiner
(18:45):
is. But let's let's just benice to these guys and tell them that
they're the faces of the franchise.Ben and Skin sitting with me in Springfield,
Massachusetts. The kids from Richardson,the Berkener boys are here in Springfield.
How did this happen? You guysare stop pinching yourself. It's really
(19:08):
hard to put into words the waythe last you know, twenty eight hours
as felt from the time that wegot on the plane to sitting here with
you now in a studio that's noteven five minutes from the Basketball Hall of
Fame, and we're here talking aboutDirk. And you know, we rode
(19:32):
with you this morning, Steiny fromwe're in this area called Mohegan's Son,
and we got up early and gotin a ride with you and we rode
over here and it's an hour drive. And that hour drive just added to
all the awesomeness of the weekend becausewe were reflecting on when Ben first talked
to you into coming onto the RogersReport on Case Star. Ben should probably
talk a little more about that.Yeah, we uh, we go way
(19:56):
back. It's it's an honor tohave those roles reversed and to be on
your show. And uh yeah,man, I'm pinching myself. I feel
like, you know, Skin isan actual journalist. I mean, Skin
is actually a brilliant you know,he's incredibly become quite the journalist has it.
He become quite the polished suit wearingwell. He sideline man, he's
(20:18):
one of the best analysts in theNBA. And I'm biased, but he
is brilliant, you know, sonof a coach, and he's a total
badass. I am a tourist,like I am, I keep expecting somebody
to throw me out of here andsay, hey, you're not supposed to
be here. But somehow it almostdid happen last night. A few times,
to be fair, I feel likeit's always teetering on the edge of
happening, Like it's always very closeto happening. But you know, as
(20:42):
a lifelong basketball fan, a lifelongMaverick fan, to go on the twenty
one season journey that Dirk took uson as a as a collective fan base.
You know, that was insane.And then for Skin and I to
sneak into the media business and thenride his coat tails, you know,
and build a career out of thiswhere we can actually support our families.
(21:03):
It's hard not to be retrospective andlook back on everything and get emotional because
you can see the way it's impactingthe big german. You see the way
it's impacting him, and he isteary eyed and reflective, and man,
he just did everything the right wayand there will never be another dirt.
I don't know if I've ever askedyou guys this quite the way I'm going
(21:26):
to ask you now. But youknow, throughout on the run to the
championship, fifty win seasons every year, Dark became an All Star, clearly
one of the best players in theleague, but he was relentlessly doubted all
the way. You know. Ialways say he has such a unique career
arc because in OZ six they beatSan Antonio on their floor and I was
(21:48):
working at ESPN at the time,and Bill Simmons said it, and I
totally agreed with him that Dirk isplaying this is the best forward play we've
seen since bird. He that isthe level Dirk reaching that series. But
then two rounds later they unravel againstMiami, they lose the finals, and
then the next four seasons, youknow, he's just drifting farther and farther
(22:08):
away from the championship. So it'slike it seemed like he scaled the mountain,
then he comes back down. Wereyou guys worried it was just never
gonna happen? That twenty eleven wasthat there was never going to be a
championship. I mean, you guysare MAVs fans. First before your broadcasters,
tell me the truth. Did youafter six and then those subsequent rough
(22:30):
years after, did you really believethat a championship was forthcoming? I didn't.
I don't know that I believe necessarilya championship was forthcoming. To me,
it got really bad when they tradedfor Jason Kidd with Avery Johnson as
the coach, because I'm looking atthis going you guys, know the offense,
(22:52):
You've been running this idea that JasonKidd's just going to magically make this
team better when they are stagnant,like he's great when people are on the
move and then they bring Rick Carlislein. And remember they tried to instill
the Princeton offense and scrapped it beforecamp. So I don't know that I
thought that a championship was forthcoming,but I did think. I did believe
(23:12):
in that twenty eleven team as beinga great team, and once they came
back in Game one against the Lakers, I thought they could get to the
finals. I did not think theywere going to beat the Heat. And
I think that's the most you know, extraordinary thing about all of it.
I do want to say this rightquick, because you know, Ben and
I walked in and you were talkingabout Tony Parker won this many rings,
(23:33):
and Pal did this and all thesesorts of things, and everyone talks about
twenty eleven, which is a runthat is so spectacular and so special.
But to me, when you're talkingabout Dirk's greatness and you were talking about
this, they won fifty games elevenstraight seasons. If you want to see
his excellence, go to that firstyear and look at the roster, and
(23:55):
then look at the roster eleven seasonslater. Go to the the O six
team that made it to the finals, and then go look at the two
eleven roster in an era where Tonyand Duncan and Manu played together for a
decade, and Kobe had Shack andthen had Pal and there's these teams that
were in it every year. Dirktook two completely different rosters outside of Jason
(24:19):
Terry to two finals five years apartin that era. To me, that
is so impressive and just speaks tohis brilliance in ways that I don't know
that any thing else on his resumedoes. My favorite thing about that story
is after Skin and I were talkingabout that, I then brought it up
(24:40):
to Dirk. It was just me, Skinn and Dirk talking there and I
was I couldn't help it. I'mjust looking at him glowing in his greatness,
and I'm like, this is athis is who Dirk is. So
I'm like, hey, Skin andI were talking to I. Skin was
mentioning that, like you and Jetwere the only guys from those the championship
run in two thousand and six andtwo thousand and eleven, and he didn't
he oh yeah, JJ wasn't hegoes yeah, he had never thought about
(25:03):
it. Most players would put thaton a necklace and wear it around going
I drug two teams to the championshipand it's like, that's who five years
apart, but that's who he is. And yeah, no, in terms
of I think sports, being afan of a team, diehard fan of
one team, your local team,is like buying a ticket to a lottery.
(25:26):
You know, it's like a heartbreakfactory. Most of the time.
You're like ninety nine point nine percentof the time you're gonna lose and have
your heart ripped out of your chest. And that's just the way sports is.
And so I was started to think, all right, it's never gonna
happen. You know, I'm acowboy fan too. And then since the
mid nineties, had had my heartbrokentime and time again, and I started
getting real pessimistic. So going intotwenty eleven, and we were at ESPN
(25:47):
and they were like, hey,you guys, gotta get off the fence.
Talking to me specifically, you gottaget off the fence, like,
don't say I don't know if they'regonna be good or bad. Tell us
they're gonna be greater, they're gonnasuck, but have an opinion. Then
they're poking and prodded me, andI'm like all right, and that whole
year I called the MAVs the oneand done boys. They're gonna get in
the playoffs and get bounced out ofthe first round. And I stuck to
my guns the whole season. Whatan a hole because the first thing Mark
(26:08):
Cuban did when they handed him thechampionship was they called us the one and
done boys. Way to go.Luckily you're over it. He brings that
up every ten minutes. Nine.Oh man, Well, I wish,
I wish America. You could haveseen last night party at Tao. Ben
(26:32):
and Skin crashed it. Somehow theyhanded out forty one sparklers to try to
create try to recreate a club effect, and Ben, of course was right
in the middle of all that,waving sparklers with members of the twenty eleven
championship team. It feels surreal.You keep talking about, you know,
(26:52):
pinched me, and keep thinking I'mgonna get thrown out. I just I'm
just honored to have been there andanytime we've gone these adventures. For us,
we're from Dallas Fort Worth, youknow, born and raised, lifelong
Maverick fans, and we're on thatjourney. For us, it's very important
that when we share these adventures werewe don't ever want it to be.
Look what we get to do,you don't get to do it. We're
(27:14):
like, no, we're representing you. Come with us. This is what's
happening. And that's an important distinction. And so I wanted to share a
little bit of that from last night. I put a little bit on Twitter
of those Sparklers arriving. It wassurreal because I looked over and I'm standing
next to Holger who's talking to coachCarlisle and Dirk's dad, and then there's
like eight members of the twenty elevenchampionship team. Nash is there, We're
(27:38):
hanging out with Roddy b. Itwas nuts, man, it was almost
too much. All Right, we'regonna get We are gonna tell some more
stories from this weekend when we comeback. We've got some amazing sounds,
some tributes to Dirk from teammates andevery other luminaries from the organization. We're
gonna talk about Dwayne Waye and Dirkintersecting here. We're gonna get into some
(28:03):
controversial goat debate, all of that. Next here on ninety seven one,
the Freak. This is the SaturdayStein Line Quiz Mark Stein presented by Benini
Trading Cards and Collectibles f on yourofficial homes Wald Dallas Mavericks Games ninety seven
one The Freak. This is DirkNwhisky and you're listening to the Saturday Stein
(28:25):
Line with my guys Steiny on ninetyseven one The Freak. Everyone, I
want to welcome you back to theSaturday Stein Line here from Springfield, Massachusetts.
(28:48):
More Ben and Skin joining me ina second, but I want to
I want to play for you guyssome great audio that's assembled here in honor
of Dirk Nowitzki. Just a slewof his former teammates chiming in on this
Hall of Fame induction that is nowjust hours away. With a ninth pick
(29:11):
in the nineteen ninety eight NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks selected Dirk Nowitzky from
Herzberg, Germany. Congratulations Dirk onbeing inducted into the twenty twenty three Hall
of Fame. It's definitely been aHall of Fame ride. Bradley finds Nevsky,
who comes up shooting and he's gothis first big blade field the well
(29:32):
deserved honor. Brother. I'm justproud of you to see where you've come
from, how you ended it.I'm proud of you. I'm proud of
your family, and I'm thankful tocall your brother. Yes, incredible career,
(29:52):
well deserved, everything that you accomplish, your champion, and I'm honored
just to call you a friend butalso a teammate forty one. Congrats to
an unbelievable career and rightfully a firstballot Hall of Fame. Just incredible twenty
one years with the mass the bestmav of all time, championship, all
the accolades, a million, AllStar games, a key to the city,
(30:14):
a street, a water burger,a planet. I mean, where
does it stop. Congrats to anincredible career and honor. I'm beat in
the Hall of Fame. Who's up? Derek's your friend and teammate, Devin
Harris here. Really proud of you. What you approached the game, what
you revolutionize the game, your souldeserved on this honor. Can't wait to
celebrate you. Congrats again, Dirt, Just want to say congrats. It's
(30:37):
amazing. We all know you deserveit. Playing to pick a role with
you winning a championship together and nowwatching you going into a Hall of famous
special man. Soop, graps andjoy and see you to Congratulations thirty Class
of twenty twenty three. Whoop,Hall of Fame. It's an honor to
being your teammates, your brother,your friend. Again big congrats, one
(31:02):
of a kind, Dirt, Congratulationson the Hall of Fame. And you
were true one of the grates ofall time and it was great to see
the journey. Congratulations, Dirt onthe Hall of Fame. I just want
to say thank you the story ofbasketball because I've been told without messing you,
I appreciated you. I love himtwo thousand and eleven for life.
It is not a dream. Theseclassed a keenolog of honor and it is
(31:25):
the highest scoring R and hard player, dirty and dirty, the rainbow Assassin.
Congratulations are going to this MS classman with a honor privilege, Must
respect, must love respects a latelove turn up. Dirty. Just want
(31:48):
to take congratulations, you know onmaking the Hall. I want you to
enjoy the moment. It was anamazing accomplishment and enjoy the moment. But
congratulations Dr Nevitski to the Hall ofFame and represents your work ethic, that
dication, your love to the game. And enjoy this moment. Been a
Hall of Famer in our eyes fora long time. You change the city,
the face of basketball in the city. Nobody deserves more than you.
(32:08):
See my brother from another journey mother, I just want to say congratulations,
get a legacy, your career secondto nine, your hustle, your dedication
to the game. I wish youall success. You know, God bless
you, God bless your family andall of love. Man, Dirt Day,
I just wanted to say congratulations.I'm so proud of you. You
(32:29):
teach the entire world that hard workdoes playoff and that do guys can and
do finish first, and most importantly, you prove that you could do it
on and off the court, representingyourself, your family, the maths,
and the entire city of Dallas inways like nobody else ever has congratulations.
(32:50):
You truly are a whole. ButDirt, I just want to say congratulations
from the Hall of Fame. Youdeserve this and everything that happened due and
you're an to everybody. I justwant to say congratulations, and we'll really
deserve this, jerk congratulations on theinduction. There's a long list of things
that you've done on the basketball court. But when I think of you,
(33:12):
and I think of the word change, I think of all the lives that
you've changed, the lives in Dallas, the lives throughout Texas, and the
lives around the world through your generosity. It takes a special athlete to do
the things that you've done on thecourt, but it takes a Hall of
Fame human to be able to usethe platform that basketball has provided and to
(33:35):
impact so many people along the way. Thanks for all that you do in
the communities, and congrats again onyour induction into the Hall of Fame.
Some moving words there at the endfrom Brian Cardinal Bonus points to any of
you who recognize all of those voices, and I'm guessing plenty of you.
(33:57):
Dad. We heard from Michael Finley, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Jason,
Terry Caron Butler, Devin Harris,Nico Harrison, Sean Mary and Maxi,
Cleeba, Dwight Powell, Mark Cuban, Luca don Chich. We're all
in there. I hope I goteverybody back here. On ninety seven one,
the Freak Mark Stein joined by theInimitable Freak Franchise duo of Ben and
(34:25):
Skin, I do have to checkwith you guys. So there's been there's
a lot of Dwayne Wade here too. Dirk has said over and over,
we're good. Now we've bonded.We put all the past in the past.
But being the journalistic stickler that Iam, I cannot, I cannot,
I could not ignore press conference Wadewent last after Dirk. Jacket and
(34:52):
ring ceremony, Wade went last afterDirk. I'm pretty sure tonight Wade speech
will be last after Dirk. Areyou guys, do you got? Is
all forgotten for the Birkener graduates withDwayne Wade and the Miami Heat. I
can only speak for my own personalemotions, and I've I've heard Skin have
(35:13):
so many delicious rants about this,So I'll let him speak for himself.
But just because Dirk is being aclass act and taking the high road does
not mean that we all have to. Let's acknowledge Dirk taking that high road
and say, what a badass.Not surprised, You're an incredible human being.
But I that I'm I'm not droppingmy I'm maintaining full sports hate.
(35:34):
I wish him no ill will crosspaths with Dwayne Wade here, though,
you will dap him up and they'llall be forgotten. I promise you,
I swear to God, I wouldnot. I might bring up the two
thousand and six finals how he shotseven hundred and forty seven thousand free throws.
I am never gonna let it go. You would not dap him up
if I would not dap him up, even if he reached out to me
first, I would. I wouldnot dap him. I would not return
(35:58):
dap. We will return to thenext machine next week. Unfortunately, I'm
I'm I'm trying to be professional hereand run the studio like I know what
I'm doing, So I'm not Idid a terrible job. I didn't even
throw out the text line today.But we're gonna bring on the steinline text
line next week. We're going todo a poll to see if anybody believes
that Ben Rogers would refuse to dapup Hall of Fame or Dwyane Wade if
(36:20):
they cross fast here in Springfield.What if Dwyane Wade walked up to Ben
right now, We're in that sleevelessmagician vest that he was wearing last night,
and he wanted to swap it withBen for Ben's Rollertown third Anniversary shirt
that he's wearing right now. Youknow Ben would do a shirt because if
you guys were watching the show,if you were watching the event last night,
(36:40):
basically things were running a little lateso that all the participants were asked
to remove their jackets just to makethe jacket unveiling a little faster. If
you noticed, Dwayne Wade had abeautiful double breast of jacket on, he
did not remove it because he clearlywanted to reveal the resplendent, sleeveless get
(37:00):
up he had on underneath. Man, I have tried to get over a
lot of the Dwyane Wade stuff,and hearing the way Dirk talk about it
has helped me in a lot ofthat regard. But I think really the
whole Dwyane Wade Dirk thing, allit does is show us how ridiculously great
Dirk is. Because there's a lotof people that exist in the kind of
(37:22):
world that Dwyane Wade exist in,and their egos are so large and so
out of control, that's kind ofnormal for them to act like prima donnas,
and we just don't get that fromDirk, and so we're sort of
I don't know, it's just ourexpectations change. Ben and I were able
to squeeze in a quick fifty minutetrip to the Basketball Hall of Fame on
the way up here, and weturned the corner and there's a picture of
(37:45):
Lebron James and Dwyane Wade doing thejersey swap at Staples the night after Miami
played there for the last time.And I don't know if you remember,
but it was like a forty fiveminute live thing where ESPN just stopped Sports
Center and they just showed it andit was the biggest corny spectacle of all
time. And I'm looking at thatit's hanging in the Hall of Fame and
I'm thinking, man, Dwyane Wade'sget a Dwayne Wade. You know.
(38:07):
It's just that ego is so big. We're just so lucky to have Dirk.
We're just so lucky to have Dirkthat we don't have to have our
hero act like a teenager in momentslike this. All right, well,
look, this is this is alsoa special weekend for mister Wade going into
the Hall of Fame. So whatWe're gonna leave that one there? But
(38:28):
something tells me we will revisit.We will revisit the topic very soon,
because yes, there I think thereis, there is there is a fair
bit of skepticism that that that Imean, Dirk and Wade say it's all
forgotten and their pals. I mean, you know, I had the interview
with Dirk on last week's show andI flat out asked him, are you
guys? Are you guys buddies?Now? Do we have to is that
the terminology we have to use?What? Like I said, We're gonna
(38:50):
leave it there on Wade, we'llget into that again, but in our
last few moments together before we haveto relinquish this studio. And again,
thank you so much again to Mixninety three one in Springfield for letting us
do this show live. I reallyreally really wanted to do a live show
from Springfield since we're all here together. The aforementioned Bill Simmons, we call
(39:10):
him the Podfather because of what he'sdone in this industry. He has a
Dallas based media critic named Brian Curtis, who Brian has always taken issue with
my take that Dirk is the goatof Dallas sports. The Cowboys are obviously
an institution unrivaled. The Mavericks,the Stars, the Rangers, the Cowboys
are on a different pedestal. Butmy argument is, I've lived here twenty
(39:34):
five years. I'm not a nativeDFW guy like you guys, But to
me, there is no singular cowboywho can match what he's done. When
I was young, even living inthe Buffalo area or southern California, Stawback
and Landry were these massive mythical figures. But that was a long time ago.
Am I am I? Am Iglossing over a particular cowboy? Or
(39:57):
do I mean? Am I slidingNolan Ryan by saying I mean you guys
tell me, you guys are thelocals. You tell me? Am I
am I on safe ground with thistake? All right? I think it's
open for discussion. I think it'sa safe take to make. I mean,
there's a debate to be had,is it? Is it? Troy
Aikman with three Super Bowls? IsAnimant Smith the same three Super Bowls and
the all time leading rusher in thehistory of the game, but Dirt twenty
(40:19):
one seasons with one team, sixthall time leading scorer. I mean,
he's he's incredibly special. Beating aSuper team draft, you know, all
those fifty win seasons. I thinkit's I think it's a valid debate topic,
and I'm sorry not to take aste I would I mean, let's
dude, whyn't you come jump onour show on Monday and let's bring this
up again and we'll recap this weekend. But I would see our running short
(40:43):
on time because you know, likeI said, I don't want to slight
those that Cowboys team won three titlesin four years. But my guess my
point was, could you narrow itdown to an Aikman or a Smith or
was it the collective? That's youknow, that's my that's kind of my
argument. Yeah, And that's whyI think it's a valid argument, because
you're comparing dirt to an entire franchise. In the Cowboys, Ben just named.
You know, a couple of playersfrom our era. Go to someone
(41:06):
fifteen years older than me and Ben, they're going to talk about Stabock,
Tony Dorsett, and then go evenolder than that and they start talking about
all these other greats from another era. Dirk is the Dallas Mavericks, and
I don't think there's a singular ranger. Nolan Ryan was late in his career.
Obviously, hockey's not as big asDallas I had. I think it's
Dirk just by the year fact thatno other Maverick touches him. It's not
(41:29):
even close. Guys. This wasamazing. I mean all I complain every
week that it goes too fast,but this was legitimately like it felt like
a four minute show. But again, it was really important to me that
we get together because we're all herebecause it is crazy, and I say
it all the time. To havegone to Wurtzburg in nineteen ninety eight and
(41:50):
to see where this thing ended uptruly hard to believe. Lots more Dirk
talk to come Monday when I joinedBen and Skin, and next year on
ninety seven, won the Freak
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