So, I wanna talk about that 1998 NBA draft. Man, that was a wild night. I was glued to the TV, eager to see where the chips would fall, you know? There were so many great players that year – Vince Carter, Paul Pierce, Jason Williams, and, of course, Dirk Nowitzki.

I was messing around with some data, looking at old draft picks, and it just hit me again how crazy the Dirk Nowitzki situation was. See, I got curious about how things played out back then, so I started digging.
First, I pulled up the draft order, you know, the whole list of who went where. Turns out, Dirk was actually drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks! They picked him 9th overall. Ninth! Can you believe that? A guy who’d become a legend, just sitting there at number nine.
But then, here’s where it gets interesting. I started looking into trades that happened that night. And guess what? The Bucks, they traded Dirk to the Dallas Mavericks right after they drafted him. Along with some other guy named Pat Garrity, who I also looked up, but Dirk’s the real story here.
So, I was like, “Why would they do that?” I mean, Dirk’s a future Hall of Famer. Turns out, they had this deal cooked up with Dallas beforehand. The Bucks wanted this big fella from Michigan, Robert “Tractor” Traylor. They were so set on him that they made the trade, even before the draft started. I found an interview with the Bucks’ scouting director at the time, Larry Harris, and he confirmed it. Said Dirk was never gonna be in Milwaukee.
Now, here’s where I got real deep. I watched some interviews with Dirk himself, just to hear his side of the story. He was on Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s podcast, “The Thanalysis Show,” and he talked about it. He said he knew there was a chance he’d be traded, but it was still a whirlwind experience. Then he talked about his whole career with the Mavs, how they won the championship in 2011, and all that.

I spent hours, honestly, just piecing this whole thing together. Reading old articles, watching clips, the whole nine yards. And the more I learned, the crazier it seemed. The Bucks had a legend in their hands, and they let him go.
- I made a list of all of Dirk’s accomplishments.
- Compared his career stats to other players drafted that year.
- Even charted his points per game over the years, just to see his growth. It was insane to see it all laid out like that.
After all this digging, it’s just wild to think about what could have been. Dirk in Milwaukee? It’s one of the biggest “what ifs” in NBA history, right up there with other draft day drama. But you know what? It all worked out for Dirk. He became a legend in Dallas, and that’s what really matters. I just like going down these rabbit holes, makes for a good story, right?
Dirk, man, what a player. That one-legged fadeaway was a thing of beauty.