Germany goes cock-a-hoop for returning NBA hero Dirk

DIRK NOWITZKI, the German playmaker who led the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA Finals victory, admitted he was “overwhelmed” by the response as he came back to his tiny home city Wuerzburg yesterday.

The 33-year-old, voted the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals win over Miami Heat, made his first appearance in Germany 16 days after his team’s triumph and was greeted by a crowd of 3,000 fans at the city’s basketball stadium.

“It’s absolutely overwhelming what’s going on here,” said the visibly moved Nowitzki upon returning to the Franconia city of Wuerzburg, 120km from Frankfurt.

“I had not expected this and I won’t forget this day for the rest of my life.”

Nowitzki was greeted with chants of ‘MVP’ and was welcomed with a standing ovation when he entered the arena in which he started his professional career by helping DJK Wuerzburg win promotion to the Bundesliga in 1997.

Despite a marathon two week-long party in America, Nowitzki says he is keeping his feet on the ground and answered questions from fans and over 140 journalists for more than an hour.

Following the press conference, the party for ‘Dirkules’, as he has been dubbed, was due to get into full swing.