Ordinarily, a bearded German backpacker cruising around Australia's east coast in a campervan isn't a cause for curiosity.

Ordinarily, the backpacker isn't seven-foot tall, the best basketballer on the planet, has a pay packet the size of a small country's GDP and is named "Dirk".

Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks superstar and reigning MVP of America's National Basketball Association, has been chilling out under the radar in Australia in search of the "meaning of life", according to German reports.