Watch: Mavericks legend nearly taken out in dunk attempt

Dirk Nowitzki. Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Mavericks legend nearly taken out in scary dunk attempt gone wrong

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated Jun 14, 2024 12:26 PM ET

Any fan with enough confidence and guts to attempt a dunk over Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki better be pretty darn sure that they can leap over the seven-footer.

One would-be high-flyer only revealed as "Chris" took that leap of faith outside the American Airlines Center ahead of Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday, and things didn't go as planned.

With clips of the near-disaster flooding social media on Thursday and Friday, viewers saw just how much scarier the incident could have ended up being.

Almost took Dirk out last night pic.twitter.com/z5efnU4UtO
— Dallas Texas TV (@DallasTexasTV) June 13, 2024

The fan appeared to have a good running start, got plenty of air on his jump and ended up making it to the rim cleanly. The failed exchange of the basketball sent the terrifying moment into motion, though, as he couldn't clear the Hall of Famer's frame, and the two men went crashing toward the hoop.

Fortunately, it looks like nobody got injured.

When the emcee prompted the witnesses to "clap it up" for both Nowitzki and Chris, it seemed that the fans were too astonished to have any kind of reaction other than stunned silence.

Victor Barbosa

Victor Barbosa is a passionate follower of MLB, the NBA and NFL, with a deep interest in Boston-area teams. He graduated from Springfield College -- The Birthplace of Basketball -- in 2013 with a degree in Communications-Sports Journalism. Previous bylines include FanSided, Heavy and Syracuse

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