“Oh sh**, Paul Pierce is my favorite player” – Don Nelson on how Paul Pierce’s draft slide nearly made him change his mind about taking Dirk Nowitzki originally appeared on Basketball Network.

The Dallas Mavericks will forever be remembered for pulling off a heist in the 1998 NBA Draft. The Mavs hid Dirk Nowitzki from the rest of the league so that nobody would take a chance on him during the draft night.

Advertisement

Dallas then plucked Dirk at No.9 via the Milwaukee Bucks, and he would go on to have a legendary 21-year career in the “Big D” that included the franchise’s only NBA title in 2011.

Recalling draft night during the press conference for his Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, former Mavericks head coach and general manager Don Nelson disclosed that he almost did not want to pick Nowitzki that night.

“In that draft, Paul Pierce was my favorite player,” revealed Nelson. “And we had Paul Pierce going Top 3, so we wouldn’t consider that he would even be there. Would you believe it that when No.9 came up, Paul Pierce was there and Dirk Nowitzki. And I looked at Donnie, and I said, ‘Oh sh**, Paul Pierce is my favorite player. He’s gonna be a star.'”

Nellie had second thoughts

Pierce left Kansas after his junior season and was a consensus First-Team All-American in 1998. He was projected to be a Top 3 to 5 pick as he was one of the most NBA-ready prospects in his class.

Advertisement

But in an unexpected slide, Pierce had yet to be taken off the board when the Mavericks were on the clock. For a while, Nellie thought about Pierce, but his son Donnie reminded him of a promise they had made.

“Donnie says, ‘Come on, Dad, you know what we’ve been doing for the last month.’ We were hiding him in Donnie’s basement so nobody else could interview him. So anyway, I said, ‘You’re right. We made a commitment and we’ll stand on it. And we took Dirk,” he added.

Dallas did not pick Dirk outright with their No.6 pick. They picked Robert Traylor, whom the Milwaukee Bucks coveted, and then traded Traylor to Milwaukee for the No.9 pick, which became Dirk and Pat Garrity. Nelson then flipped Garrity for a young point guard, Steve Nash, in one of the most brilliant draft day sequences ever.

Related: “The greatest debut of a shoe since Mike” – Jeff Teague says Tyrese Haliburton gave his new Puma shoes an iconic debut

It wasn’t a bed of roses early on

But while the Nelsons succeeded in getting German legend, it wasn’t a smooth sailing journey. Nowitzki averaged only 8.2 points per game as a rookie. Some wondered if his jump-shooting style would last in the league. Even Dirk doubted if he would become a star. But Nellie persevered and never gave up on his international protege.

Advertisement

“It was tough for a while in Dallas,” he continued. “People thought I was a mad scientist. They may have been right. I don’t know about that one. Anyway, we stuck with him and we got Nash in a trade. And then history can answer the rest of it, for sure.”

Dirk eventually became the player the father and son Nelson envisioned him to be. In 2007, he won the NBA MVP award, and in 2011, he led the Mavs to their first-ever NBA title. On the other hand, Pierce didn’t do too badly in Boston as he became a legend of the most storied franchise in the NBA.

Related: Tim Hardaway admits Don Nelson ruined his draft stock to get him to Golden State: “He took all my money away”

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.