Dirk Nowitzki came very close to becoming a member of the Boston Celtics.
Back before the 1998 NBA Draft, the two teams with very keen interest in Nowitzki were the Dallas Mavericks and the Celtics. Other NBA teams knew of Nowitzki’s skill set from the time he scored 33 points and grabbed 14 rebounds at the Nike Hoop Summit in San Antonio in ’98 during the weekend of the Final 4.
But no teams were willing to pull the trigger on Nowitzki except the Mavs and Celtics, whose coach, Rick Pitino, knew the 7-footer all too well.