The basketball journey of Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki has been a unique one. Nowitzki was the ninth overall pick of the 1998 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks who quickly traded him to the Mavericks. Nowitzki entered the NBA as a relative unknown in the United States from his native Germany. And there wasn’t much expected of Nowitzki upon his arrival to the NBA as he was joining a Mavericks franchise that hadn’t made postseason in nearly a decade.
Dirk Nowitzki
As a rookie, Nowitzki would average 8.2 points per game in the lockout shortened 1998-1999 NBA season. But as the Mavericks barely missed making the playoffs in the following season, Nowitzki began to emerge. During the 1999-2000 NBA season, Nowitzki averaged 17.5 points per game, and by his third season he was able to average 21.8 points per contest as he helped the Mavericks reach the playoffs for the first time since 1990, along with their first postseason series victory since 1988. The 7-foot Nowitzki was beginning to be a household name among NBA fans and the best was yet to come.
Nowitzki was flourishing in the wide-open offensive system of head coach Don Nelson as he along with point guard Steve Nash and shooting guard Michael Finley made the Mavs one of the NBA’s trendiest teams. Nowitzki would earn his first All-Star Game appearance in 2002 as he and the Mavericks were holding their own in the tough Western Conference against the likes of the Los Angeles Lakers and center Shaquille O’Neal, the San Antonio Spurs and power forward Tim Duncan, the Sacramento Kings and power forward Chris Webber, the Minnesota Timberwolves and power Kevin Garnett and the Portland Trail Blazers and power forward Rasheed Wallace. 2001 would mark the beginning of a string of 12 consecutive playoff appearances for the Mavericks as you could all but pencil in Nowitzki to drop 25 points per night.
But as Nowitzki continued to put up stellar numbers, while the Mavericks were one of the better teams in the Western Conference, they couldn’t get over the hump and win the NBA Championship. The Mavericks finally won the Western Conference Title in 2006, and they would win the first two games of the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat. However Dallas would go on to lose the next four contests. The following season would see the Mavericks have the best record in the NBA at 67-15, while Nowitzki was the league’s MVP as he averaged 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists. But unfortunately for the Mavericks, they would be eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors. Nowitzki would continue to be one of the NBA’s best players, but the only thing that was missing from his resume was an NBA Title.
That would change in 2011 as the Mavericks made it back to the NBA Finals where they would once again face the Heat. And whereas the Mavs lost in six games to Miami in 2006, they would turn the table and win it all. Nowitzki would shine bright on the big stage as he averaged 27.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists to be named as NBA Finals MVP. The giant Nowitzki would be lauded in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by other professional teams in the area such as Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League who honored him for bringing the Mavericks their first NBA Championship.
Since then the Mavericks haven’t had a title team around Nowitzki, but he has still gone about his business. Nowitzki has made three more All-Star Game appearances after winning the NBA Championship, and even at the age of 38 with his best years behind him, he continues to add to his soon to be Hall of Fame resume.
This past Tuesday night saw Nowitzki head into that rare air. Against the Los Angeles Lakers, Nowitzki scored 25 points in the Mavericks 122-111 victory. But the cherry on top of the Mavs victory was that Nowitzki was able to reach the 30,000-point plateau for his NBA career. Nowitzki joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to reach the feat. Rightfully so when it happened, Nowitzki’s teammates along with team owner Mark Cuban who arrived in Dallas around the same time that he did mobbed him on the court and showered him with the praise and accolades that he deserved as he is truly one of the best to have done it.
Nowitzki had some intense battles with Duncan and the Spurs in the regular season and playoffs alike as there was a mutual respect, while he has carried the German banner on his 7-foot frame. Nowitzki wasn’t the first European to play in the NBA, but he helped to revolutionize the game. Before Nowitzki there weren’t too many big men attempting three-point shots. But for Nowitzki’s NBA career he has shot 38% from behind the three-point arc, while his 1,755 made three-point field goals are 15th all-time. Nowitzki has never averaged a double-double in a season, but he has managed to average 7.8 rebounds for his career, while routinely coming up big on the boards when Dallas has needed him to.
Nowitzki played in arguably the best era for power forwards in NBA history and came out of it smelling like a rose. Hands down Nowitzki is the best player in the history of the Mavericks, while he joins other big men in Texas such as Duncan and Hakeem Olajuwon to carry a franchise for an extended period of time. Nowitzki continues to get it done in the NBA, and 30,000 points simply adds to the fact that he is one of the best to have ever done it.
Source: Basketball-reference.com
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