It’s 2005. Dirk Nowitzki is eating a calamari Caesar salad, dining with Mavericks teammate Michael Finley and equipment manager Al Whitley, and has never been more uncomfortable in his life.



“Are you kidding me right now?” Whitley has just asked him.



“What was I supposed to do?” Nowitzki responds.



Minutes earlier, a kid had approached them asking for an autograph, and then another, and another, until an entire bag full of sports memorabilia sported Dirk Nowitzki’s fresh Hancock.



“A kid walked up with a bag!” Whitley replies.



“He went to the store, and came back and hit you up!” Finley says. “And asked you to sign a LeBron (jersey)!”



“And you signed it!”



“What do you want me to do?” Nowitzki asks.



“You’re not signing another man’s jersey,” Whitley says.



“Step up!” Finley...