A trip to the free-throw line can be daunting for even the best shooters of all time. Even Dirk Nowitzki , who sank 87.9% of his attempts from the charity stripe, was prone to feeling the pressure, especially in high-stakes situations.
In the 2006 playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks legend helped his squad defeat the San Antonio Spurs with his clutch free throws in two consecutive games. When asked what his secret was , Nowitzki admitted to sometimes singing to take the pressure off. His choice of song? David Hasselhoff's "Looking for Freedom."
Saved by The Hoff
For those wondering why Dirk had the "Knight Rider" and "Baywatch" star's cover in his mind, that's because the song had been a big hit in Germany since 1989. It became a staple song in the country during the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Hasselhoff sang it at the famed site on New Year's Eve wearing a piano scarf and a leather jacket. The artist was there to serenade pro-German reunification activists, who were celebrating the bringing down of The Wall around two months earlier.
Since then, "The Hoff" became an icon in Deutschland, and Nowitzki was one of the many Germans who idolized him.
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Dirk Diggler's crunch-time FTs
It's unclear whether humming other tunes would have been helpful for the 14-time NBA All-Star. Perhaps it wouldn't have mattered because of his shooting proficiency.
Still, Nowitzki has Hasselhoff to thank for helping him stay calm and collected at the free-throw line in the 2006 Western Conference semis.
The hoops legend first had to overcome the nerves in Game 3, with San Antonio up by a point late in the contest. Sent to the foul line, Dirk calmly sank both freebies to steer Dallas to a 104-103 victory and a 2-1 series lead. The following meeting came down to the wire again, with Nowitzki's pair of FTs sending the game to overtime, where his squad took over.
After the Spurs extended the round to a seventh and deciding contest, all they needed to advance and complete what would have been a three-peat was to prevent Dallas from erasing a three-point deficit in crunch time.
The German forward delivered by completing a three-point play, courtesy of a Manu Ginobili shooting foul.
It's unclear if the 2007 NBA MVP hummed Hasselhoff's hit before he hit the overtime-sending free-throw shot. But he certainly looked calm before draining the charity toss and in the extra period, where he also made two more FTs.
Related: Avery Johnson recalls his time with Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas: "Another Tim Duncan with a different type of game"
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