DALLAS -- Four years later, Dirk Nowitzki finally got his championship on the court at American Airlines Center.
Nowitzki joined Becky Hammon of the WNBA San Antonio Silver Stars and former Houston Rockets star Kenny Smith to lead Team Texas to victory in the Haier Shooting Stars competition on All-Star Saturday Night.
So, is it redemption for his Dallas Mavericks losing the 2006 NBA Finals to the Miami Heat on the same floor?
"What happened in 2006?" asked a laughing Nowitzki. "It's obviously a great, fun way to start off the weekend for me. I have a lot of people here, a lot of Germans who were following me and we brought a crowd to Dallas, so it was great."
Team Texas beat out the Los Angeles team of Pau Gasol (Lakers), Marie Ferdinand-Harris (Sparks) and Brent Barry (Clippers) in the finals, winning with a blazing time of 34.3.
The Atlanta team of Joe Johnson, Angel McCoughtry and Steve Smith and the Sacramento team of Tyreke Evans, Nicole Powell and Chris Webber were eliminated in the first round.
"I'm not going to say anything to [TNT broadcast partner] Charles [Barkley] that I have another trophy that he didn't win," joked Smith. "Hey, this is different from my NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. This was all fun. This was about having a shooter's touch. I shoot better in Texas."
Smith actually employed a strategy in the competition, which consisted mainly of trash-talking to Webber and Smith.
"I talked to C-Webb and I talked to Steve," Smith said. "I wanted to get inside their heads. I didn't think I could get inside Brent's head, but I also didn't think they could beat us, because we had Dirk. Our pro was a better shooter than their pro (Gasol). Hey, I'm the weak link.
"The thing is if you that first shot, it's trouble. I told Chris, 'If you miss the first shot, you're gonna miss five or six in a row.' I planted that seed in his head. What you've got to remember is a lot of guys have never been in a competition where you're just out there by yourself. You're used to playing with teammates and now it's just you and the 20,000. It's a different feel. It's not the same."
Hammon had previously won the Shooting Stars event at New Orleans when she teamed up with San Antonio Spurs stars Tim Duncan and David Robinson and took a little grief back home for joining a team with a Maverick leading the way.
"I felt pretty good coming into the night with Dirk," Hammon said. "But don't make me go sour on my boys from San Antonio. I always brag about Tim Duncan and David Robinson being very nice and Dirk is just as good a gentleman."
Nowitzki, a former winner of the Three-Point Contest, chuckled and said he's considering go for a sweep of all the events on All-Star Saturday Night next year.
"Actually, I'm a little bit disappointed, because I wanted to shoot 3-pointers at home year," Nowitzki said. "But the NBA didn't invite me."
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