In the midst of great players like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Michael Jordan, many superstars go underappreciated. The glamor and glory of players touted as the ‘GOATs’ often leads fans to undermine the legacies of some All-Time greats, who have contributed significantly to their teams’ success. Charles Barkley once went on to talk about a similar legend and how good he was as a new kid on the block. The Philadelphia 76ers legend mentioned how Scottie Pippen was destroyed by this future Dallas Mavericks legend.

Barkley mentioned how a young Dirk Nowitzki took the Houston Rockets for a spin, especially the great Scottie Pippen. Barkley was so impressed by young Nowitzki that he called the relevant people to book a place for the 7 feet phenom at Auburn. The NBA legend narrated the story in his usual hilarious style of storytelling.

Charles Barkley on witnessing Dirk Nowitzki destroy Scottie Pippen

The legendary Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki was a behemoth on-court. He won the NBA title against a prime LeBron James and the Miami Heat. There are many stories that describing his greatness, but none would be as entertaining and engaging as the one told by Charles Barkley. At the time, Barkley was behind his Philly days and Scottie Pippen also said goodbye to Chicago. Both decided to join forces with the Houston Rockets in 1999.?

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The story that Barkley narrated clearly described the talent of Nowitzki. He mentioned how Scottie Pippen, who was one of the best defenders in the league then, had to suffer in the hands of the seven-foot legend.

Apparently, an 18-year-old Nowitzki dropped around 50 odd points against the Rockets. Barkley specifically recalled how Pippen got ?His a** kicked? during the game. Pippen, Barkley and co. were helpless in front of the German’s domination on the hardwood. According to 1993 MVP, he called Nike after the game to know about the kid.

“I was like ‘Find out about this kid, give him anything he wants, he’s got to go to Auburn’” said Barkley in an old video. The response that Barkley got was that Dirk is supposed to go to the army. To which the 76ers legend hilariously replied “Dude that dude is 7ft tall he’s not going to the army. Who’s he gonna hide behind?“?

The Mavs legend did stay in the NBA , because he was destined to put Dallas back on the basketball map.

Dallas Mavericks won the 2011 NBA title?

Dirk Nowitzki led the Dallas Mavericks to their maiden NBA title in 2011. The Mavs winning against Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and the ‘superteam’ Miami Heat as underdogs was a huge achievement.

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What is your opinion on Barkley’s story? Let us know in the comments below.