Editing Dirk Nowitzki (section)

===DJK Würzburg (1994–1998)===
When Nowitzki joined the team, DJK played in [[German basketball league system|Germany's second-tier level league]], the [[2. Basketball Bundesliga|Second Bundesliga]], South Division. His first trainer was Pit Stahl, who played the tall teenager as an outside-scoring [[forward (basketball)|forward]] rather than an inside-scoring [[center (basketball)|center]] to use his shooting skills.<ref>Sauer, 25</ref> Nowitzki chose to wear the jersey number 14 because [[Charles Barkley]] wore that number during the [[1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team|1992 Olympics]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Yousuf |first=Saad |date=2018-12-04 |title=From No. 1 to 77, the Dallas Mavericks explain the story behind their jersey numbers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/692881/2018/12/04/from-no-1-to-77-the-dallas-mavericks-explain-the-story-behind-their-jersey-numbers/ |access-date=2025-05-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In the [[1995 in basketball|1994–95 Second Bundesliga season]], ambitious DJK finished as a disappointing sixth of 12 teams; the rookie Nowitzki was often benched and struggled with bad school grades, which forced him to study rather than work on his game.<ref>Sauer, 26</ref> In the next [[1996 in basketball|1995–96 Second Bundesliga season]], Nowitzki established himself as a starter next to [[Finnish people|Finnish]] star forward Martti Kuisma and soon became a regular double-digit scorer. After German national basketball coach [[Dirk Bauermann]] saw him score 24 [[point (basketball)|points]] in a DJK game, he said, "Dirk Nowitzki is the greatest German basketball talent of the last 10, maybe 15 years."<ref>Sauer, 30–31</ref>

In the [[1997 in basketball|1996–97 Second Bundesliga season]], Nowitzki averaged 19.4 points per game and led DJK again to second place after the regular season, but could not help his team gain promotion.<ref>Sauer, 33–38</ref> In the following [[1998 in basketball|1997–98 Second Bundesliga season]], Nowitzki finished his "[[Abitur]]" (German [[A-level]]s), but had to do compulsory military service in the [[Bundeswehr]] which lasted from September 1, 1997, to June 30, 1998.<ref name=nbabio/> The 18-year-old, who had grown to {{convert|6|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}} tall, made progress, leading DJK to a 36:4-point total (in Germany, a victory gives 2:0 points and a loss 0:2) and ending as leading scorer with 28.2 points per game. In the promotion playoffs, DJK finally broke its hex, finishing at first place with 14:2 points and earning [[promotion and relegation|promotion]] to the next higher league; Nowitzki was voted "German Basketballer of the Year" by the German BASKET magazine.<ref>Sauer, 38–45</ref>

Abroad, Nowitzki's progress was noticed. A year later, the teenager participated in the [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] "Hoop Heroes Tour", where he played against NBA stars like [[Charles Barkley]] and [[Scottie Pippen]]. In a 30-minute show match, Nowitzki outplayed Barkley and even [[slam dunk|dunked]] on him, causing the latter to exclaim: "The boy is a genius. If he wants to enter the NBA, he can call me."<ref>Sauer, 39–40</ref> On March 29, 1998, Nowitzki was chosen to play in the [[Nike Hoop Summit]], one of the premier talent watches in U.S. men's basketball. In a match between the U.S. talents and the international talents, Nowitzki scored 33 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 14 [[rebound (basketball)|rebounds]] and 3 [[steal (basketball)|steals]] for the internationals<ref name=nbabio/> and outplayed future US NBA players [[Rashard Lewis]] and [[Al Harrington]]. He impressed with a combination of quickness, ball handling, and shooting range, and from that moment a multitude of European and NBA clubs wanted to recruit him.<ref>Sauer, 42–43</ref>