Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki was honored at the first NBA Awards Show with the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the Year Award.
The 19-year vet said, "Yes, great honor to be here for the first Awards Show. I never thought I would get a Teammate of the Year award, but it means a lot to me. It means that I lead my teammates the right way, on and off the floor. I was fortunate when I got in the league, I had some great teammates to show me the way and that was Steve Nash and Michael Finley, two great, unbelievable pros that basically raised me right in this league and I basically followed in their footsteps ever since."
In his acceptance speech Nowitzki cracked, "I'm pretty sure none of my teammates voted for me... I joke a lot with them and we have a lot of fun. Just try to make 'em feel welcome. Get the best out of them. On on the court I'm tough on them sometimes but I'm just trying to get the best out of them."
Nowitzki is known to give a teammate the business when the Mavericks arrive in that player's hometown for a game by saying, "Your town sucks..."
This is why he is a great NBA teammate.
