Holger Geschwindner

Geschwindner taking a jump shot for the West German national team during the 1972 Summer Olympics

Holger Geschwindner (born 12 September 1945 in Bad Nauheim, Hessen) is a German former professional basketball player. He is known as the long-time coach and mentor of ex-Dallas Mavericks player Dirk Nowitzki. Geschwindner first met Nowitzki when the future basketball superstar was 16 years old.

Geschwindner acted as an official coach of the Dallas Mavericks and runs a basketball academy in Würzburg, Germany, that he calls the Institute of Applied Nonsense. In 1995, Geschwindner calculated the optimum angle of a jump shot to be 60 degrees.

Early life

A native of Würzburg, Geschwindner is alleged to have learned basketball as a young boy from an American soldier stationed in Germany.

References

• Berendt, Johannes. "Q&A; With Holger Geschwinder". 3-Point Report. NBA Germany. Archived from the original on October 12, 2004.
• "Holger Geschwindner". Derra-bie (in German). Archived from the original on August 8, 2003.
• Harrell, Eben (March 20, 2008). "Holger Geschwindner". Time. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008.