Dirk Nowitzki Helps Guy Out During Amateur Dunk Contest, Probably Regrets It Immediately

Things have not been going too great for the Dallas Mavericks on the court lately, and it wasn't going great outside their arena either ahead of Game 3 when Dirk Nowitzki got inadvertently crunched while trying to help someone out during an amateur slam gunk competition.

According to Larry Brown Sports, the Hall of Famer was at PNC Plaza outside of American Airlines Center for what looked to be some kind of fan fest. Part of it involved an amateur slam dunk contest, and a guy named Chris asked if the German-born 7-footer would help him out by holding the ball while he jumped over him.

Nowitzki agreed — because he seems like a nice enough guy — but that was a big mistake.

Here's why. Chris gave it the old college try, but I'm not so sure he would've cleared Spud Webb let alone Dirk Nowitzki.

First of all, when someone says, "Can you hold the ball for me so I can jump over you for this slam dunk contest?" your first follow-up needs to be, "Is it an amateur slam dunk contest?" and if they say it is, then you politely decline unless you want to spend the next couple of weeks sticking Icy Hot patches on your back.

Secondly, if you're the guy in the amateur dunk contest, don't overestimate your jumping ability. Sure, we'd all like to say we have hops, but the reality is someone is going to get hurt if you get caught trying to impress people.

Also, if you're going to compete in one of these contests, you don't want to break the back of one of the home team's franchise greats.

That last one could probably go to the top of the list.

Fortunately, Nowitzki seemed to be no worse for wear, because that looked like quite the shot. Image taking two kneecaps to the back. That wouldn't feel good.

Maybe that was an omen for what was to come on the court in Game 3. Maybe Nowitzki represented the Mavs while Chris was Celtics incarnate.