<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>The Star-Telegram - Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith all criticized Dirk Nowitzki on Saturday night when he failed to respond after David West tapped him on the face several times, according to the Star-Telegram. "You can't let a man put his hand on your face in the playoffs," Johnson said. "I love Dirk Nowitzki," Barkley said. "Terrific, great player. But they're trying to say to you, 'We think you're soft.' That's what it means.... You've got to slap his hand down, and then you got to say, 'Hey, let that guy drive to the basket' and then you've got to knock the hell out of him." The Mavericks seem to be happy that Dirk decided against retaliating. "I love those guys, but they are living in 1998," Mark Cuban said. "In this year's NBA, you retaliate, you get suspended. That's happened to us too many times. The NBA saw it, and it's up to them to deal with it." In the end Nowitzki was upset that a technical foul was even called on him, as he felt his restraint warranted a pass.</div> Source
What a surprise, Dirk being called soft. I'd have never guessed it. Dirk is a great player and all, but he is the epitome of a soft big man. He lets people do whatever they want to him.
Thats been one of the things people have said about him for years now...they're not going to stop saying it til he goes out and proves them wrong.
I agree with the TNT guys and Mark Cuban here. Dirk can't just let West get in his face and even touch his face without doing anything back. The Hornets are punking him and hes not doing anything about it. IMO Dirk should have given West a strong shove in the chest in that situation. That way you probably don't get suspended (probably a technical foul), you don't just back down like a puss, and if David West throws any punches then hes gonezo for at least 1 game. Dirk should have done something but not something to get himself suspended. Could anyone else see David West pulling this shit with any other superstar in the league? Even calm guys like Yao wouldn't just take that shit without doing anything. You'd think another Mav would at least come up and defend Dirk and risk being suspended. Practically every other player in the league would have hit West in the face or at least gone after him if he slapped/touched them like that, imagine if he did it to Artest, Ben Wallace, Baron Davis, Rasheed, Jermaine O'Neal, Paul Pierce, etc. Dude woulda got stomped out on the spot.
Or, you can look at it in the way that Dirk was smart enough to keep his cool and not do anything stupid which would get him suspended - considering the Mavericks need him the most. Lets say if someone did that to Kobe, and Kobe retaliated by punching him - you guys would be calling him an immature punk
