Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks legend, attended the franchise’s homecourt where the team played their sixth semifinal playoff series game against the OKC Thunder. Before the game began, the special advisor shared a fun moment with his former Mavs teammate.
A video uploaded by the NBA’s official page on X (formerly known as Twitter) showed Nowitzki’s reunion with Richard Jefferson but in an odd way. During a pregame analysis, when ESPN’s Dave Pasch and Jefferson were discussing the game, an arm came into the frame and wrapped the latter’s neck.
The camera panned towards the face and the arm belonged to the former NBA champion Nowitzki, who was spotted holding RJ in a chokehold position. All three of them had a good laugh and the 14-time All-Star then wiped Jefferson’s forehead.
The two former teammates shared the locker room for the 2014-2015 season. RJ was a free agent while Nowitzki spent his NBA career only in the Mavs before a tearful retirement in 2019. The franchise qualified for the NBA playoffs in the same season but was swept off by the Houston Rockets in round one of the series.
Jefferson met Nowitzki later at the courtside where the 7-foot German was sitting, and the duo had an amusing exchange after years of their on-court bond. Nowitzki certainly had a great time as his team went ahead to win the game as well as the series.
Dirk Nowitzki Celebrates Mavs Win Over OKC
The Dallas Mavericks were already leading by 3-2 in the series thanks to Luka Doncic and his special team. However, things started to look difficult for them in the first half of Game 6 as the OKC had taken an early 16-point lead.
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In the latter half, the Mavs stunned the American Airlines Center crowd by showing their best and chasing the difficult bar set by the Thunder team. Doncic added yet another triple-double and got support from teammates Kyrie Irving and Derrick Jones Jr, who chipped in 22 points each on the scoreboard. On watching such an action-filled performance by his team, Dirk Nowitzki was thrilled. After the game, he posted, “Western conference finals!!!! @dallasmavs” on X.
The team confirmed their spot in the Western Conference Finals which will start on May 23 and surely Nowitzki will attend the series as well to cheer for his team.
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