Quote:
Magic says Nowitzki should start a fight
# Former Golden State summer league player Barea now a Maverick
By Geoff Lepper
STAFF WRITER
Article Launched: 11/09/2007 03:01:15 AM PST
OAKLAND -- According to Magic Johnson, honor demanded that Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki reclaim his manhood from the Warriors on Thursday night with his fists.
It was a notion that had Warriors forward Al Harrington almost busting out in laughter.
"The last thing we're worried about is a fight," Harrington said. "It's the fifth game of the season, but if that's what he has to do, then that's what he has to do."
Johnson was taping a promotional spot for TNT's broadcast of Thursday night's game when he told colleagues Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley what he had in mind for Nowitzki.
"If I'm Dallas, I gotta start a fight," Magic Johnson said. "No, I'm serious. If I'm Dallas, Dirk has gotta go swing on somebody. Send a message. You know why? Golden State, as we say on the street, punked them. ... This game, if I'm Dirk, I will walk up and just smack somebody."
Nowitzki, shown the video while taping a segment for TNT's online channel, didn't seem too keen on the idea.
"Well, you know, that's not really my kind of mentality," Nowitzki said.
Nor was it something that Warriors coach Don Nelson could condone.
"I love Magic Johnson," Nelson said, "but that's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
Some of Nelson's players didn't mind the idea so much. Center
Patrick O'Bryant, for example, was willing to make a bodily sacrifice for the cause: "I'll take a blow if it gets Dirk out of
the game."
Zero Tolerance