Alexander, you are one lucky dude.
Alexander's a 19-year-old basketball fan from Frankfurt, Germany. The teenager won a Facebook contest, courtesy of Nike Basketball, with a simple purpose: dream as crazy as Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk's crazy dream 14 years ago was an understated one: to play in the NBA. Shy, introverted, and nervous, Nowitzki came in with the deer in headlights look on his face.
Watching Dirk and his Dallas Mavericks play earlier this week versus the Oklahoma City Thunder, I saw something different in 2012 that I never would've imagined in 1998. Dirk, full of confidence and vigor, wasn't about to get bullied around by two physical specimens in Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. Nope, he was pushing and swinging back, and talking crazy in the process. It's crazy to see what happens once you achieve your dreams. They change truly change you.
Hopefully, Alexander has a positive change after meeting Nowitzki. “I want to play Dirk in one-on-one,” Alexander said and Nike sent him on his voyage to Dallas to hoop with No. 41 and also present him with a custom Bespoke Air Force 1, representing Dirk's journey through the NBA, from the colors of his Mavs, his signature fadeaway, his shirt number and the date on which he became world champion.
Check out the photos below for more, and it may inspire Kenny to get him a custom pair of these as well. Retail customers can have their individual Nike Sneaker designed at www.NIKEiD.com.
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Eddie Maisonet is the founder and editor emeritus of The Sports Fan Journal. Currently, he serves as an associate editor for ESPN.com. He is an unabashed Russell Westbrook and Barry Switzer apologist, owns over 100 fitteds and snapbacks, and lives by Reggie Jackson’s famous quote, “I am the straw that stirs the drink.”
