Nowitzki Earns NBA MVP

Dirk Nowitzki, star forward of the Dallas Mavericks, became the first European basketball player to win the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA.

Nowitzki beat out Steve Nash, 1,138 points to 1,013. Nash was going for his third straight MVP award, a feat only achieved by the best of the best NBA players in history.

The Mavericks, led by Nowitzki, dominated the NBA during the regular season, compiling a 67-15 record, a total eclipsed by only five other teams in the history of the NBA. During one particular stretch of the season, the Mavericks won 33 of 35 games.

“Even when I heard I was MVP, I was sad to watch all these playoff games and know that we’re not a part of it,” Nowitzki told The Associated Press. “It’s heartbreaking still to me. I was trying to be positive and be really happy, but it’s going to take a while for it to really sink in.”

This was one of those rare times when an MVP failed to get his team out of the first round of the playoffs. The No.1 seed Mavericks were eliminated in six games by the No. 8 seed Golden State Warriors.

Kobe Bryant finished third in the voting with 521 points, including 2 first-place votes.

Griffey’s Unusual Gift Turns Heckler Into Fan

It is commonplace for fans at a sporting event to heckle an opposing team’s player, usually the star player or players. It is uncommon, however, for the player being heckled to make any kind of response to his heckler, just as it is uncommon for the heckler to change his tactics midway through the game.

All this happened on Friday night when Ken Griffey Jr. and the Cincinnati Reds visited Los Angeles to take on the L.A. Dodgers.

Griffey encountered Dodger fan Matt Schafer, 25, who felt he needed to throw the star player off of his game.

Schafer made himself known to the Red, using a wide array of verbal assaults throughout the first six innings whenever Griffey trotted past him.

“He was just on me every time I came in,” Griffey said to The Associated Press. “Him being a little larger than normal, I just asked, ‘Shouldn’t you be wearing a support bra?’ ”

In the sixth inning, Griffey sent a Reds assistant into the clubhouse in search of the largest supportive device they had. The assistant retrieved an XXL athletic supporter and handed it to Griffey. He then wrote the number 3 and “JR” on the waistband, wrapped it in a brown paper bag and, on his next trip out to the field, tossed it into the stands toward Schafer.

Schafer, a musician from San Pedro, Calif., said in his myspace.com blog, “When Griffey came back in, I told him I was sorry about what [I] said about his mom, and that I wanted to make up. He shot me a grin. When he came out in the eighth, he shot me another smile, and I told him he still has the greatest swing in baseball. I hope he heard me. I think he did. I love Griffey.”

Hopkins to replace Boeheim at Syracuse

According to sources, ESPN is reporting that Syracuse has reached an agreement with assistant coach Mike Hopkins to replace coach Jim Boeheim at Syracuse when Boeheim decides to leave.

The deal has been in the works for several months, and details of the designation are still being ironed out in Hopkins’s new contract. There is no set timetable on the succession of Boeheim, and there doesn’t seem to be any indication that Boeheim is ready to leave Syracuse.

Boeheim, 62, is a hall of fame coach and owns a National Title from the 2003 season, in which he led an Orange team comprised of Carmelo Anthony and Gerry McNamara, among others, to cut down the Nets in New Orleans, La.

In his 31 years as the coach of Syracuse, Boeheim has compiled a 750-264 overall record with 25 tournament berths and 3 Final Fours. In addition to being his alma mater, it is the only school he has ever coached. His 750 victories are tied for fourth among active coaches in NCAA history with Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun.

Although unusual, there is a precedent for this type of deal. Texas Tech in particular has a similar deal in place with assistant coach Pat Knight, who is to take over when his father, Bob Knight, decides to move on.

Reach reporter Anthony Dion at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.