A Magazine by the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation

Thomas Pletzinger

Thomas Pletzinger was born in 1975 and grew up in Hagen, then the basketball capital of Germany. His career as a professional player ended before it even began. He lives in Berlin, where he writes and watches basketball games. After his first novel Funeral for a Dog (2008; translation Norton 2011), he spent one season with the professional basketball team Alba Berlin for his nonfiction nonfiction book Gentlemen, We Are Living on the Edge (Kiepenheuer & Witsch 2012). In 2019, his book about Dirk was published. It’s called The Great Nowitzki (translation Norton 2022). www.thomaspletzinger.de

Stories by Thomas Pletzinger

  • The Nowitzki Way
    Dirk Nowitzki made it all the way from Wuerzburg, Germany, to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Thomas Pletzinger recounts Dirk's long and improbable journey.

  • The Great Nowitzki
    In 2012, the writer Thomas Pletzinger went to Dallas to write about Dirk – and then accompanied him until the end of his great career. The German bestseller is now finally available in English – and FORTYONE has an exclusive sneak peek for you!

  • Music to his Ears
    Los Angeles, Shanghai and Randersacker – The photographer Tobias Zielony and the writer Thomas Pletzinger accompanied Dirk Nowitzki for months. FORTYONE has a sample of their reporting for you.

  • Now I’m here.
    He's from Wuerzburg, he's tall, he can shoot, he plays for the Mavericks – Maxi Kleber showed FORTYONE around Dallas. His new town.

  • Love 15. Love 30. Love 41.
    The Pro Celebrity Tennis Classic in Dallas – with Owen Wilson, Donald Young, Andy Roddick and many more. And FORTYONE.

All Authors

Bobby Karalla

Moritz Wagner

FORTYONE

The Well Creative

Thomas Pletzinger

Tobias Zielony