BERLIN: NBA star Dirk Nowitzki has been named Germany's Sportsman of the Year, the first basketball player to take the award.
In a poll of 1500 sports journalists, the 33-year-old, who led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA title in June and took the MVP award for the series in the process, came in ahead of Sebastien Vettel, who won the Formula One world title for the second straight year.
The Sportswoman of the Year award went for the second time to biathlete Magdalena Neuner ahead of tennis player Andrea Petkovic.
The team award went to Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund ahead of the German national team.