Mike Fisher
"My Dirk Story'' -- and we all have them, all of us, 21 years of them, media and fans and friends and co-workers and citizens of the world -- is kind of a little story, and it isn't really about sports at all. Read about it here.
Jared Sandler
Dirk is my first true sports love.
I don't know if I can boil it down to one, which is obviously why he's been celebrated as the legend and icon he is. Obviously, the title run was special. The first part of that was while I was finishing up at USC. I put up with Lakers fans for four years so when the Mavs swept I walked around campus in a Dirk Jersey with a broom the whole next day. I remember basically missing an entire baseball game of ours vs. Cal-State Fullerton because I was in the clubhouse streaming Game 1 of the OKC series.
I spent the first part of the NBA Finals driving from Los Angeles to Great Falls, Montana for my first job in professional baseball broadcasting. Thankfully, I didn't miss a second of the series. I spent Game 6 all by myself in Great Falls pacing and jumping and screaming and ultimately crying because Dirk got his ring. Like many, while I was excited as a Mavs fan, I was more excited that he got the ring he deserved.
Ultimately, Dirk is the most significant athlete in DFW history. Period.
I wrote an open letter to Dirk that you can read here.
Gavin Dawson
My favorite memory is as Dirk as a broadcaster. "Shut it doooown, let's go hoooome." I forget who dunked it. What I remember is how he could bring the fun of the locker room into the living room. So often with players they want to be polished, and are nervous to let their hair down. And if they do let their hair down it's regrettable. Dirk was willing and very capable to be himself in any setting, and a broadcast chair is an incredible test for that. That's why people have reacted so favorably to him throughout the years and why he spent his entire career in one place. Everybody wants to spend more time with people like Dirk for lots of reasons and on those telecasts it was locked in for me.
Cory Mageors
The championship parade was awesome. My wife had a couple of tickets to her company suite and I took my then 3-year-old son with me. We watched most of the parade within the confines of the arena and then saw the entire team had made its way to the balcony.
Avery and I walked over to the area in the Platinum Club level and noticed a small crowd inside watching. Outside Dirk was singing We Are The Champions to thousands of singing MFFL. It was an awesome moment. Then, as the Mavericks came through the club to head down to the arena floor where they would address the fans again, my son was on my shoulders in line with Dirk's eyes.
Now, Avery and I watched every single game we could that season together. I have pictures of him sitting in our living room in his Dirk jersey screaming after big plays. So Avery absolutely knew who Dirk was.
He started to claw at my head and I looked up and he said: "There's Dirk!"
Over a row of people, Dirk reached back and gave Avery a high five as he made his way through the crowd.
My kid had the biggest smile on his blue cotton candy covered face and I couldn't stop smiling with him. There we were, 26 years apart and cheering for our favorite player.
Dirk has reached generations of Mavs fans and this year he will add yet another group that will be able to watch at least one more season of his amazing career.
All of these Dirk moments are memories I somehow was able to capture and hold on to.
And this season I hope we'll have one more moment to add to our bank.
See my top-5 Dirk moments here.
Kevin Hageland
Like a lot of other people, I will go with Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals.
I was set to get together at a friend's house - my girlfriend and I got there and I found out they had cut the cord and didn't have any way to watch the game … I said I'm really sorry, I have to go and left. The friendship remained fine and I didn't regret it for a second cause I had to see just the opportunity for our city's first-ever basketball world title and for the most loyal athlete in D/FW history to finally get his championship.
And if I wasn't sure it was worth it - watching Dirk run off the court with just a handful of seconds left was so amazing! We all knew why he ran off, what he needed and that he was about to come back out to the court to get what he so richly deserved. Still awesome … even 8 years later!
