Dirk Nowitzki suffered a serious high ankle sprain that threatened to end his season as the Dallas Mavericks entered the NBA playoffs. Thanks to the Ultimate Ankle Brace fitted specifically for his abnormally shaped ankle by Bledsoe, Nowitzki was able to return to play and lead the Mavericks to key wins, scoring 32 points in one game, despite his ankle only being 60-75% healed. The brace allowed Nowitzki mobility while protecting his injured ankle, helping save the Mavericks' season.

1. Nowitzki On Winning Streak Thanks to
Ultimate Ankle Brace
Closing in on the NBA playoffs, 2007 League MVP Dirk Nowitzki, power forward for the Dallas
Mavericks, went down with a serious high ankle sprain that might have ended his season.
Dirk Nowitzki is not the kind of player you would want to lose entering the playoffs. Thanks
to the Ultimate Ankle Brace by Bledsoe, he is still on the court.
Fitting Nowitzki was no easy task. His ankle bone is fibrosed and abnormally shaped from a
number of previous injuries. Dirk is also 7 feet tall with a size 15-1/2 shoe. Only the
Ultimate Ankle could accommodate him.
How did it work for him? Judge for yourself.
Courtesy of BOB BAUM, AP Sports Writer
PHOENIX —A hobbled Dirk Nowitzki brought the offense. Jason Kidd triggered the
defense.
The result was a fourth-quarter rally that may have saved the season for the Dallas
Mavericks. Nowitzki scored 32 points and the Mavericks rallied from 13 points down
early in the fourth to stun the Phoenix Suns 105-98 on Sunday.
Nowitzki, in his third game back since missing four with a sprained left knee and
ankle, scored 12 in the fourth quarter.
Nowitzki’s falling-down 16-foot runner with 32.2
seconds left sealed the win. “I stumbled about 18
times,” Nowitzki said of the play. “But I was able to
gather myself right at the end. Just that one little step
at the end was all I needed, and I was able to knock it
down.
Dallas coach Avery Johnson estimated Nowitzki’s ankle was 60
percent to 75 percent normal.
Making a difficult situation worse, Shaquille O’Neal rolled up
on Dirk’s ankle during the game. Dionne Calhoun, Nowitzki’s
trainer said Dirk didn’t get hurt. “The brace is working
perfectly! He is a little sore, but that is to be expected playing
so much on such a bad high ankle sprain, but the brace is
absolutely perfect!” Calhoun said.
Nowitzki is a seven-time NBA All-Star and seven-time member
of the All-NBA Teams, and is the first European-born player in The Bledsoe Ultimate Ankle Brace is
NBA history to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player award. clearly visible beneath the sock on
Nowitzki’s left ankle. The Ultimate
Regarded as one of the best European players in basketball Ankle allows him to perform, though
history, Nowitzki was named "European Basketball Player of he is suffering the result of a serious
the Year" by Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport for high ankle sprain.
five years in a row and voted FIBA European Basketball Player
of the Year in 2005.

2. Gary Bledsoe fitted Dirk Nowitzki with an Ultimate Ankle Brace to get him out of his walking
boot and into something more mobile. He liked it a lot. Gary fitted another one into his game
shoes. He liked it even better. It was fitted to his ankle after tape was applied and over his
full length orthotics, therefore the two sizes were different.
Dionne, his trainer, was very pleased and asked to have catalogs of our entire line. Dirk was
also extremely pleased. “I thought he wasn’t going to let go of my hand while thanking me so
much for doing this,” said Bledsoe. The doctor asked about the price for just the brace if
they buy them later. When Gary told him in the 80 dollar range, his comment was, “That’s
way too cheap!”
This product has taken some very elite athletes back to play very quickly over the past few
years when nobody else had a product to do that. The Cowboys’ Terrell Owns missed three
weeks with the same sprain
The Mavs were on the verge of missing the playoffs altogether before Dirk returned to the
line-up, but now the Mavs look to be a shoe in to qualify for the post-season after winning
two of their three games both SU and ATS this past week. They have two at home against
Utah and New Orleans this week along with road dates with Seattle and Portland, so it would
be a meltdown of epic proportions if indeed the Mavs failed to qualify for the second season.