Which NBA player spent the summer backpacking in Australia searching for the meaning of life?

Back home, he is now having severe issues with his mother over his haircut.

"She desperately wants to send me to the barber," the beloved son moaned. "I am almost 30 but my mother treats me as if I was 12. I guess mothers have to be like this."

To make matters worse, someone nicknamed the Shot Doctor is currently torturing our friend in a small gym.

It is located in the tiny city of Wuerzburg, Germany.

Please meet the 2007 NBA MVP Dirk Nowitzki in his quest to overcome one of the biggest disappointments of his life — the first-round playoff exit against eighth-seeded Golden State.

"That was extremely disappointing, just as the Finals loss to Miami one year ago," Nowitzki revealed in an interview with German Sportbild magazine. "But that doesn't mean that everything we did in Dallas was bad."

Nowitzki would not be one of the best basketball players on the planet if he hadn't received some special tutoring from mentor Holger Geschwindner. And you could bet that the Shot Doctor would come up with a special holiday treatment.

"We toured five weeks through Australia, New Zealand and Tahiti. With a rucksack. That was about the only place in the world where nobody would recognize me and I could move somewhat freely," Nowitzki stated. "At Ayers Rock a few tourists noticed me but the trip was just right to clean my mind."

Down under, the Dallas Mavericks star was looking for answers.

"I have been exploring the sense of life. I haven't entirely found it yet but I will keep looking," he said with a smile.

He won't have too much time to answer philosophical questions in the next weeks as he is shaping up for that will be a busy summer. Germany are among the favorites to win the European Championships in Spain, and Nowitzki will join his fellow countrymen for their preparations on August 14. The Dirkster has set the bar high — he is eager to win qualification for next year's Olympic Games.

"For every athlete there is no bigger thing than the Olympics. For me that's right behind the NBA title," he said.

And to be in top shape, Nowitzki is currently undergoing gruelling drills from long-time coach and mentor Geschwindner. "It's very exhausting."

Still, Dirk is enjoying the summer. "Yes (I do), even though I am so exhausted after the workouts that I can barely move. But I happily accept the full-service treat from my mother. My training clothes easily fill a washing machine. I'm glad she takes care of that. She is even ironing my shirts."