We all have ways of calming ourselves, of blocking out the world and all of its pressures. There’s closing your eyes and breathing deep, talking yourself down, meditation, and Dirk Nowitzki’s favorite technique: singing a song. This is no secret, of course. It’s well known that Dirk sang to himself at the foul line in pressure situations. Recently, however, Dirk shed some new light on his crooning ways.
Once, it was thought that he only sang David Hasselhoff songs, but as Dirk revealed to the Awesome Boring podcast, there was another band he favored at the stripe: the Counting Crows. More specifically, “Mr. Jones.”
https://soundcloud.com/gimletmedia/teaser-awesome-boring-pilot-episode
The sweet sounds of the ‘Hoff contrast a bit with Adam Duritz (singer for the Counting Crows). Just take these two examples.
Here’s “Mr. Jones,” Dirk’s preferred free throw line number.
And here’s a random song from the Hoff.
Duritz’ voice is a bit more grating than the Hoff’s, whose voice has an undeniable Broadway quality (which makes sense, given that he’s been in several musicals, including Jekyll & Hyde), yet it’s not so grating that it can’t be mentally soothing in high-pressure situations. One might think that a slower Counting Crows song, such as “Anna Begins” or “Colorblind” would be a more apt choice, given their slower tempo, but clearly Dirk thought “Mr. Jones” worked the best. Whether Dirk wholly embraced this method right away is unclear, but more likely than not, he wanted to be someone who believes.
Rather than shy from his free throw woes under pressure, he rose to the occasion. After all, Dirk wanted to be a big star.
(Via Awesome Boring)
