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Charles Barkley, To 18-Year-Old Dirk Nowitzki: “Dude, Who The Hell Are You?”

We’re not sure what event this locker room video was taken from (it looks like a celebrity softball game of some kind) but we do know that its contents — Charles Barkley regaling a roomful of people about meeting an 18-year-old Dirk Nowitzki — are fantastic.

After witnessing young Dirk drop 52 points on Scottie Pippen (who, at that time, was considered the best lockdown defender in the world) during an exhibition game in Germany, Chuck approached the baby 7-footer and asked him, simply, who the hell he was. Then, Charles began the full-court (and completely against-the-rules) process of recruiting him to Auburn, apparently getting Nike involved and promising Dirk “anything he wanted” if he went to Barkley’s alma mater. Alas, Dirk in Navy Blue and Burnt Orange was not to be, and the next year, he’d be drafted by Milwaukee (and summarily traded to Dallas). The rest is history. [Reddit]