Dirk Nowitzki's teammate witnessed his Hall of Fame potential early on: "Things that he was doing in practice, with the perimeter skills and his size"

Greg Buckner and Dirk Nowitzki entered the NBA in 1998, both starting their careers with the Dallas Mavericks. They were teammates for four seasons and Greg had closely observed Dirk and his growth as a player, admitting that he had never seen anything like him.

Nowitzki certainly reinvented the big man role in the NBA, adding a new dimension of skill to it. The seven-footer was not limited to the paint area, but could shoot mid-range and 3-pointers as well. Not to mention his elite footwork, pump fakes, high basketball IQ and clutch abilities.

Sharing the locker room with Nowitzki, Buckner had noticed potential signs of greatness from the Mavericks center. Highly impressed by what he saw, he went a little too far when stating how even Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird could never have been as good as him.

“The things that he was doing in practice, with the perimeter skills and his size, I had never seen anything like that. So I said this kid is going to be a Hall of Famer. I said, ‘I don’t know what the hell, how good Larry Bird was, or what Larry Bird was, but there’s no way he could have been as good as this kid is going to be.’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, you’re crazy, whatever,'”stated Buckner, sharing insights about Nowitzki’s early days in the league.

Similarities between Dirk and Larry

Nowitzki and Bird are both NBA icons, who played their entire career for one franchise and brought them many glorious moments, highlighted by a championship. A common denominator for Nowitzki and Bird was their versatile skill sets, which broke away from the traditional NBA mold at the time.

Both Nowitzki and Bird were suited to play other positions as well, given their all-around playmaking abilities. Oddly enough, Nowitzki started his career in a small forward position.

As a big man, this hindered him while defending guards who were faster and more agile, which ultimately led to his transition to playing power forward.

Though the above commonalities between the two legends seemed legit, there is no denying that Bird had a greater influence on the game. The Celtics icon and his Los Angeles Lakers nemesis, Magic Johnson, took the NBA to new heights of popularity at a time when the NBA was desperate to attract more attention to its product.

Nowitzki, while arguably the greatest European in the NBA’s history, didn’t have such a burden as Bird.

Bird had high admiration for Nowitzki

Unlike some in the old-school era, who despised the modern era and its players, Bird felt honored by being compared to Nowitzki.

“I’ve always admired the guy. He’s had a great run (in the 2011 playoffs), but I’ve always been very impressed with him, his work ethic, his loyalty to his country. It’s really an honor for me to have people compare us. He rebounds. He plays at his own pace. He sort of controls the tempo on offense. It’d be nice to be seven feet and when they run plays and switch (defenders) on him, it doesn’t bother him at all. He can see over everybody,” said Bird, adding how he always marveled over Nowitzki’s signature one-legged jumper.

The two superstars shared a high mutual respect and always displayed humility. Even though Buckner may have gone overboard when stating how Bird could never have been as good as Nowitzki, it’s understandable. One could assume that witnessing Dirk’s potential first-hand had Greg emotionally charged.

He was right in predicting that Nowitzki was going to have a Hall of Fame career.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 5, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Dirk Nowitzki’s teammate witnessed his Hall of Fame potential early on: “Things that he was doing in practice, with the perimeter skills and his size”

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