COLOGNE, Germany -- It was supposed to be a transatlantic surprise party, but this is Dirk Nowitzki. Secrets in the Dallas Mavericks' organization don't last long before the face of the franchise finds out.
So Nowitzki inevitably discovered, well before touchdown, that a delegation of Mavericks players, former teammates, team officials and various staffers would be flying all the way to Germany this week for the premiere of a new German-produced documentary about the future Hall of Famer's career and life.
Yet Nowitzki nonetheless came away openly touched to see the likes of Monta Ellis, Devin Harris, Rick Carlisle, Donnie Nelson, Keith Grant, Michael Finley and Brian Cardinal among a traveling party of some 40 guests from Dallas, all of whom descended upon Cologne to see the unveiling of "Nowitzki: Der Perfekte Wurf," which translates to Nowitzki: The Perfect Shot.
After weeks of promotional appearances in advance of Thursday's release throughout Germany, Nowitzki saw the film for the first time alongside the rest of his friends and colleagues from the states at an unveiling Tuesday night that attracted more than 2,000 spectators in seven different theaters ... with another 1,500 fans lining the red carpet for a glimpse of the former league and Finals MVP and his colleagues from Big D.
"I was a little overwhelmed," Nowitzki told ESPN.com. "I didn't think this movie was big enough for so many people to come over for three days and do all this with me. People who've been with me for 15 or 16 years like [longtime Mavs employee] Lisa [Tyner] and Donnie, my teammates Monta and Devin, [former teammates] Fin and Cards, Coach Carlisle showing up with his whole family ... it meant a lot to me."
The nearly two-hour documentary, distributed as a full-fledged film throughout Germany, is directed by Sebastian Dehnhardt and produced by Leopold Hoesch. Dehnhardt also helmed the movie Klitschko, released in 2011 about the famed boxing brother duo of Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.
And this story likewise features a tandem, chronicling Nowitzki's rise from a Bavarian teenager adept at tennis and handball to an eventual NBA champion under the tutelage of his longtime shot doctor Holger Geschwindner, whose unconventional methods and reliance on physics helped the 7-footer develop into the sweetest-shooting big man in the game's history.
"I've been looking forward to it for months now," Nowitzki said. "I thought they did a fantastic job, not only showing highs in my career, but also lows, even lows in my personal life. I thought they found a good mixture of putting it all together."
The film is largely in German with English subtitles -- including the bulk of Nowitzki's speaking parts -- aside from the various interviewees directly from the NBA. Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Vince Carter join Finley as the current and former NBA All-Stars interviewed for the documentary, with prominent roles as well for Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, recently retired NBA commissioner David Stern and both Donnie Nelson and father Don Nelson, who served as Nowitzki's first coach in the NBA..
Negotiations to firm up the details about the film's U.S. release are in the final stages, but we can share a few highlights of the production in the interim:
• Finley on the close understanding between Nowitzki and Geschwindner: "Their relationship is a very unique one. It's like the Mad Scientist and Frankenstein. I can remember watching some of their workouts early in Dirk's career and I just didn't understand what they were doing [or] why they were doing it. But once you get to talk to Holger and Dirk and understand the importance of each move they do, each breathing technique they do, you understood."
• Nowitzki's wife, Jessica, on the same subject: "They sort of have this relationship where they understand each other without even talking to each other. ... We call it in Swedish telepathie. I don't know, maybe they have their own language."
• Geschwinder acknowledges, in response to criticism of his unconventional methods and his unflattering reputation in some corners as the "Einstein of basketball," that he has been referring to his office for years as the "Institute of Applied Nonsense" ... replete with business cards carrying that title.
• Nowitzki's former German Nike rep and close friend Ingo Sauer shares that one of Dirk's father Joerg's old handball trophies is displayed in a more prominent place in his parents' house than Dirk's 2007 MVP trophy.
• Dirk's mother, Helga, debuted for the German national women's basketball team in 1966 and tells the story about frequently keeping her son near the bench in a stroller while she was playing after his birth in June 1978.
• Former USC coach and Nike director of basketball George Raveling re-tells the old story of how Nowitzki ducked out of town right before a playoff game for his hometown Wurzburg X-Rays -- who were in the process of trying to qualify for Germany's top division -- to come to America in the spring of 1998 for the Nike Hoop Summit in San Antonio that ultimately cemented Nowitzki as an NBA lottery pick. Recalling how Dirk's mentor showed up at the Nowitzkis' home early in the morning to whisk him off to America, Joerg Nowitzki says: "That's Geschwindner for you."
• Don Nelson on Nowitzki's rookie season, laughing as he recalled shrugging off Dirk's concerns about his early NBA struggles and imitating the youngster's accent: "So he came to me and he said, 'Oh, I think I want to go home.' That was the most dramatic thing that happened that year."
• Cuban on buying the Mavericks from Ross Perot Jr. in January 2000: "There wasn't really a lot of negotiation. I wanted the team. This was during the Internet go-go bubble. And the funny behind-the-scenes fact is that there would be days when the stock price of our company [Broadcast.com] would go up 20 dollars [or] 30 dollars and that would pay for the whole price of the Mavericks. That's how crazy the stock market was. And so I really didn't negotiate. I said, 'How much you want for it?' [Perot] gave me a price -- $285 million -- and I said yes. And that was over."
• Dirk himself on why he has consistently refused more off-the-court opportunities as a brand endorser: "They'd be pulling me by the nose all summer."
• Joerg Nowitzki reveals that Dirk, after all of his NBA riches, still goes to his mother to get money when he's back home in Germany for the summer. "It's crazy," Joerg says, "but that's how it is."