Needless to say, the Complex bloggers are a little gassed about the NBA playoffs right now. It looks like the run to the Finals will be a classic, with a good chance of an uber-throwback Celtics-Lakers matchup. Heck, even the NBA's commercials are dope this year. Half Shaq-half Kobe talking heads? Bang, bang. But we couldn't help notice a certain, shall we say, peculiarity about the Dirk Nowitzki-Tim Duncan mashup. It seems there's a certain, shall we say, foreign substance on Dirk's upper lip. Dude's got a three-day old beard going, so it ain't shaving cream. Tapioca pudding perhaps? Chocalate chip ice cream? Or…nah, it couldn't be. But just in case, check a couple Dirk No-Wipe-Ski clips after the jump. Is the Mavs' main man a flopper or a killer?
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On Saturday, during the New Orleans Hornets' 104-92 win over the Dallas Mavericks in game one of their first-round playoff series, four-year NBA veteran David West tested the manhood of nine-year vet Dirk Nowitzki. After a whistle had been blown, the Hornets' power forward'displeased with receiving an inadvertent elbow to his lip from a man who listens to David Hasselhoff'walked up to the Mavericks' seven-time All-Star and All-NBA superstar and had a few words with him. Then West finger banged his face before referees separated them.
Publicly disrespected by a relative nobody, Nowitzki did nothing, which lead former pros Magic Johnson and Charles Barkley to suggest that it made him look soft. Maybe he is soft. Or maybe the big German recognized that his value to his team is much higher than West's and that retaliation might get him suspended and cost his team the series. Or maybe he's on some Wayne/Juelz shit and just couldn't feel his face. Decide for yourself after the jump, where some pimp-slap-happy sportscasters review the incident.
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Dirk Nowitzki is doing his best to shake a monkey off his back. Last night, Nowitzki hit a clutch three to beat a talented Utah Jazz team and put the Dallas Mavericks (50-29) back in the playoffs, where he might regain the ability to show his face in public.
A year ago, after posting a dominating regular season record of 67-15, 2007 NBA MVP Nowitzki and the one seed Mavs were embarrassed in the first round of the playoffs by the eight seed Golden State Warriors (Ay Bay-Bay), a team that had just barely made the postseason. The basketball equivalent of a younger brother giving his older brother's woman the Jamaican accordion led many to question Nowitzki's leadership and manhood. The big German questioned himself, too (though not his manhood, as far as we know). He disappeared into the Australian outback on a backpacking trip to hide from the world.
Now, with a new teammate'onetime superstar point guard Jason Kidd'and an eighth straight season of 50 wins and a playoff appearance, it's possible that Nowitzki could shed his shame. Then again, the Western Conference is a beast, and beasts can only be tamed by bestiality (or so we hear). Soon we'll know if Nowitzki is ready to shake that monkey off and give it some stiff German discipline. Watch Dirk's clutch performance from last night after the break.
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