The reason I started liking basketball really wasn't so much from watching it as a child, but from always playing it. Started playing with my friends when i was little, didnt seriously start watching basketball until around 1996 when the Jazz went to the Finals against the Bulls. My mom was a big John Stockton/Karl Malone fan so I started watching them. Became a Mavs fan the year they drafted Dirk and after I went to a game his rookie season. I remember after seeing that game, i wanted to play like he did. Shooting 3's and shooting from the outside as a post player. All my life while playing organized basketball, i've always played the 4 or 5 spot. When i started out, i wanted to play like Karl Malone. After seeing Dirk, I started trying playing like him.