> Team leader Dirk Nowitzki criticized Erick Dampier after Amare Stoudemire outscored the Dallas center 40-0 in Monday night’s 127-102 Phoenix victory.
> “He’s a step slow on everything,” Nowitzki said after the game. “He never got involved in the game. He has always been in foul trouble. The first series was the same thing. He gets a quick two fouls in the first two or three minutes, and we can’t be aggressive any more. Then he gets the third foul and has to sit.”
> Nowitzki didn’t stop there.
> “The bottom line is we’ve got to get something out of our center position,” he said. “We really haven’t gotten anything out of it.”
> Nowitzki also shouted at Dampier as the two ran down the court following a three-point play by Stoudemire over the Dallas center’s back.
TZBlueIce
I mean I saw the clip on twitter by a salty OKC fan. You don’t need to convince Mavs fans here, lol. The team is constantly talking about how much they trust they have for each other and their play on the court backs that talk up. I’m very much not worried about team chemistry.
applegore
Everybody on the team wants to win. I guarantee Gafford didn’t even give it a second thought. All it is is a talking point for haters.
mavericksnipe
This goes to show most fans don’t know anything about playing sports, especially at a high level. Yelling is a completely normal thing in all sports. It’s nothing personal whatsoever. This team isn’t soft either. I doubt Gafford got offended or upset. We’re trying to win a chip. No place to be soft
Tootsiez
If anyone thinks luka was harsh on gafford they’ve never really been on a team with good leadership.
Shivles87
All the greats do this. Tom Brady yelling at his teammates on the sideline happened all the time.
FarMobile4219
People think of Dirk as the fun, goofy dad-like figure from Luka’s rookie year. Dude was nothing but a cold blooded MFer who took on KG, Tim Duncan, Lebron, KD pretty much everyone damn near by himself. Thank you for posting this clip OP
Chickpounder420
lmao they expect a “leader” not to be shouting and letting teammates mistakes go unnoticed or ignored
LuciusVarinus
Luka dapped him up after as they walked back to the court…I don’t get what the big deal is.
MilkmanResidue
Dirk was already mad because his barber cancelled on him before the game.
dhoo8450
Im a newer fan (yes, I got on board during Lukas first season as it coincided with me starting to play ball again for the first time since being a kid and wanted to pick an NBA team – am absolutely a MFFL now and will never change) so really cool to see this older footage and gave me a different perspective on Dirk and Luka. Nice!
Zubrowka182
Gosh… 17 comments so far and no mention of who hit the shot, that’s NASHTY YALL! In your face Jet!
12 Comments
Long story short, a much ado about nothing lol.
Dirk was rougher and more demanding of his teammates in the 1st 10 years of his career. [And he wasn’t shy of letting them know.](https://www.espn.com/nba/story?id=2057488&src=desktop)
> Team leader Dirk Nowitzki criticized Erick Dampier after Amare
Stoudemire outscored the Dallas center 40-0 in Monday night’s
127-102 Phoenix victory.
> “He’s a step slow on everything,” Nowitzki said after the
game. “He never got involved in the game. He has always been in
foul trouble. The first series was the same thing. He gets a quick
two fouls in the first two or three minutes, and we can’t be
aggressive any more. Then he gets the third foul and has to sit.”
> Nowitzki didn’t stop there.
> “The bottom line is we’ve got to get something out of our
center position,” he said. “We really haven’t gotten anything out
of it.”
> Nowitzki also shouted at Dampier as the two ran down the court
following a three-point play by Stoudemire over the Dallas center’s
back.
I mean I saw the clip on twitter by a salty OKC fan. You don’t need to convince Mavs fans here, lol. The team is constantly talking about how much they trust they have for each other and their play on the court backs that talk up. I’m very much not worried about team chemistry.
Everybody on the team wants to win. I guarantee Gafford didn’t even give it a second thought. All it is is a talking point for haters.
This goes to show most fans don’t know anything about playing sports, especially at a high level. Yelling is a completely normal thing in all sports. It’s nothing personal whatsoever. This team isn’t soft either. I doubt Gafford got offended or upset. We’re trying to win a chip. No place to be soft
If anyone thinks luka was harsh on gafford they’ve never really been on a team with good leadership.
All the greats do this. Tom Brady yelling at his teammates on the sideline happened all the time.
People think of Dirk as the fun, goofy dad-like figure from Luka’s rookie year. Dude was nothing but a cold blooded MFer who took on KG, Tim Duncan, Lebron, KD pretty much everyone damn near by himself. Thank you for posting this clip OP
lmao they expect a “leader” not to be shouting and letting teammates mistakes go unnoticed or ignored
Luka dapped him up after as they walked back to the court…I don’t get what the big deal is.
Dirk was already mad because his barber cancelled on him before the game.
Im a newer fan (yes, I got on board during Lukas first season as it coincided with me starting to play ball again for the first time since being a kid and wanted to pick an NBA team – am absolutely a MFFL now and will never change) so really cool to see this older footage and gave me a different perspective on Dirk and Luka. Nice!
Gosh… 17 comments so far and no mention of who hit the shot, that’s NASHTY YALL! In your face Jet!