Must-read of the week:

A great example of sports writing, and simply just a great, great read. It’s going to be hard not to root for Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks after reading this.

The piece goes from last season’s heartbreak to the beginnings of Nowitzki’s basketball career and back to the future. With passages like the following, how can you resist?

“Geschwinder approached basketball with the frenzy of a mad scientist. Using calculus and physics and factoring in Nowitzki’s height, he calculated the “optimal angle” Nowitzki should shoot the ball from, encouraging him to shoot a high-arching rainbow shot, releasing the ball high above his head. Every morning before school, Nowitzki would take 500 of these shots. He also made him do his push-ups from the tips of his fingers so the ball would leave his hands at “sub-optimal” velocity.

A basketball team was like a good jazz band, he told Nowitzki. Some players were virtuosos, and others were specialists, but to make good music they all had to know their parts and play them well. Sooner or later, everyone would have to step up and play a solo, and the others would fade into the background. He had Nowitzki learn to play the saxophone to reinforce this principle.”

That’s just a fraction of the greatness in here. Please read and leave a comment.