Quote from: ghostzapper on Today at 06:41:45 pmCredit BJH who did his best Calvin Borel imitation in that race.  He bumped with Track Phantom coming out of last turn but otherwise couldn't have had a better trip.  Absolute difference in the outcome. 

Quote from: jbcarol on April 16, 2024, 03:39:10 pmBarkley recalls offering to pay Dirk Nowitzki to sign with Auburn

by: Matt Connolly
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QuoteInside the NBA on TNT has a special guest on Saturday night, with Dirk Nowitzki filling it for Shaq. The Denver Nuggets are Minnesota Timberwolves for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals but in the show's fashion, some off-topic conversation came up due to Nowitzki's presence.

Back in the day, Charles Barkley attempted to recruit Nowitzki to play for Auburn. He told the story again on Saturday night but originally did on the Pat McAfee Show in April. Nowitzki had to enter the German Army before eventually being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 1998.

Nowitzki wound up winning an NBA championship in 2011 and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023. Not many believe he could have asked for a better career but maybe if college basketball wound up being an option, some things could have gone differently.

"Don't you think if you had went to Auburn, like I tried to talk you into, you would have been more successful?" Barkley asked.

"I think so, yeah," Nowitzki said. "But it went well. I went straight (to the NBA) from the Army, which you didn't believe me at the time."

Auburn was not the only school recruiting Nowitzki at the time but he ultimately decided to enter the NBA Draft as an 18-year-old. The Tigers wound up doing just fine without Nowitzki, going 29-4 and winning the SEC regular season title. Head coach Cliff Ellis earned the program's first-ever one-seed in the NCAA Tournament and just second-ever Sweet Sixteen.

In what was already a historic season for Auburn, it's scary to think what they could have accomplished with a prospect like Nowitzki.

Charles Barkley tells story of recruiting Dirk Nowitzki to Auburn

Quote from: Kris P. Bacon on Today at 06:14:59 pmAgreed. Except for the first sentence