Dirk Nowitzki On Cristal Taylor: "Everyone Has Different Tastes"

Well, what he actually said was, "Jeder hat einen anderen Geschmack," which sounds infinitely more romantic. This came in conversation with Germany's Bild, Nowitzki's first interview since his pregnant ex-fiancée's arrest. He added: "Some people love Italian food, some don't."

Among the other revelations: It sounds like poor Dirk was madly in love with Taylor, a grifter whom he supposedly called his "little jailbird." You Teutons out there can read the Bild interview here. For the rest of you, The Dallas Morning News has the recap:

According to the article, published on Bild's Web site Monday evening and due on newsstands today in Germany, Nowitzki has started to feel better about his private life recently.

"In the beginning, I was very down and disappointed, sad and furious," Nowitzki said. "But I made a few steps forward and I think someday I will be over it totally."

[...]

The Mavericks' perennial all-star verified that the couple met via an allegedly fluke phone call.

"She told me she dialed the wrong number and was trying to call her brother," Nowitzki said. "We talked, texted and e-mailed a lot over the next three years, but we never met. It was more of an Internet type of flirt.

"We had daily contact, then none for months. But we were friends for so long, we finally met and the first meeting was good. Then in December, we got engaged, but we didn't have a real date for the wedding. She had further plans and wanted to get married in July.

"She was an interesting woman. She was funny and never boring."

Nowitzki was asked about the mockery of Taylor's appearance in some of the unflattering photos that have been published.

"Well, everybody has different tastes," he said. "Some people love Italian food, some don't."

As for the emotional scars left by the difficult liaison, Nowitzki said: "I still want to have a family, but the wounds have to heal first. I want to raise a family and have a couple of small Dirks running around. But it will not be easy to win my heart."

I urge you to read the Babelfish translation, which better captures the felicities of the German tongue. Headline: "I groped in such a way in case of dear."

Dallas Mavericks' Nowitzki talks about relationship with ex-fiancée [The Dallas Morning News] I groped in such a way in case of dear [Bild, via Babelfish]