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I watched the Dirk documentary at the AAC. It was cool.

On Tuesday, the Mavericks broadcast the Dirk documentary for free at the AAC.

By Tim Cato
Andreas Rentz/Getty Images

Despite covering it on our site last summer and even reviewing the German release, I had yet to see the Dirk documentary -- titled The Perfect Shot -- that everyone had been raving about. I was out of town when they had a press screening. I missed it in theaters. To have the Mavericks put it on the jumbotron at the American Airlines Center on Tuesday, totally free, was a great gesture by an organization that has shown a pattern of looking out for MFFLs.

I'd estimate a couple thousand fans showed up and besides the chill -- is Stars training camp coming up next week? -- it was a great environment. There wasn't a lot of fan engagement besides cheers when you'd expect them -- after 2011 and at the end -- but David Stern earned some heckling when he came on, moments after showing footage of the Heat celebrating on Dallas' floor after the 2006 Finals, and said, "That's how basketball goes sometimes."

In no particular order, here's some thoughts from the showing.

  • Dirk's MVP trophy sits in his parent's house in Germany, next to his father's "Player of the Year" handball trophy. That's one of the most Dirk things in this entire doc.
  • Holger calls his business of training people basketball the "Institute of Applied Nonsense." Which is a funny joke by itself, before you realize how much he's committed to it: he has business cards with that same phrase and a picture of what I believe was a crazy-looking Albert Einstein on it.
  • Something I never realized in that infamous Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash press conference (the bowl cut and the bleached hair) is that Holger was lurking in the background in a new suit himself. That's the only time I've ever seen Holger not in workout gear or his leather jacket, plaid shirt combo. It was so awkward.
  • Yao Ming! They got a Yao interview!
  • Dirk still asks for gas money from his mom when he goes home to Germany. That's adorable.
  • They had some, uh, extra popcorn at the end of the premiere. They threw three bags at me that I begrudgingly took, likely never to eat.
If you missed the showing, that's unfortunate. But it's available online and on iTunes and I'd highly recommend you check it out.

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