Nowitzki chases Olympic dream for Germany
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-02 10:13

"It's got to be a once-in-a-lifetime feeling to live together with the best from around the world in the Olympic village and getting to know people from different sports."

The tragedy for Nowitzki has been that Germany's best seasons came in the wrong years, when they peaked too early to qualify.

They got third at the 2002 world championships, second at the 2005 European championships and fourth in Europe in 2001. But they failed to qualify for the 2000 and 2004 Olympics after poor European campaigns - seventh in 1999 and ninth in 2003.

Nowitzki, eager to change all that this year, said he enjoys the more relaxed attitude to patriotism that has changed the country since the 2006 World Cup tournament that Germany hosted.

"It's really a privilege for me to play for Germany and I'm proud to be part of it, to hear the national anthem and to sing along with it," said Nowitzki. "It's a wonderful thing that Germany has become more relaxed about all that than before.

"What's wrong about waving a German flag out of sheer joy?"

He shrugs off the criticism from some that toiling for Germany in the off-season might hurt his performance in the NBA.

"Playing for Germany has actually helped me a lot more than it might possibly have hurt me," he said.

Nowitzki also politely disagreed with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who was quoted in the Dallas Morning News as saying he did not believe Olympic-bound NBA players were motivated by patriotism but by money.

"I can understand Mark doesn't like to see his players playing for their national teams in the summer due to the risk of injury," said Nowitzki, whose insurance for Germany matches is paid for by the German basketball federation.

"But to his credit he has always let me play. Mark knows how much I enjoy playing for my country and that the Olympics has been my dream. It has nothing to do with money."

 

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