Before Dirk Nowitzki Became A Star, He Was Pretty Goofy-Looking

Before Dirk Nowitzki became the NBA’s Last Boy Scout and the only man standing between the Miami Heat and an NBA Title, he was... Just a gangly rookie who smiled a lot. And before that, he was just a German teenager with a tragic bowl cut and a completely unfair height advantage. At least he ditched the bowl cut for the photo above.

Some high school highlights are after the jump.

Pretty cool, right?

For more blasts from the past, check out Hoop Magazine’s highlight reel of NBA Finals stars as teenagers. Because even it’s irrelevant, I’m a total sucker for stuff like this. They’ve got some pretty awesome grainy footage of guys like Jason Kidd (making a fool out every poor high schooler in his midst), and also clips from LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, and one spectacular shot of Dirk at his introductory press conference in Dallas.

Personally, though, my favorite before-and-after will always be back when Udonis Haslem was the doughy, babyfaced center for the Florida Gators. Still pretty surreal that he looks like this now.

(Photo Via Vincent Laforet /Getty Images)