Defining Dirk Nowitzki’s place in Dallas history
Dirk Nowitzki (photo. Monte Isom)
Clearly, the Dallas Mavericks don’t measure up to the Celtics or Sixers in terms of NBA tradition. So that’s why, in contrast to earlier discussions about Paul Pierce and Allen Iverson, I’m going in a different direction with this one.
Last night, Dirk Nowitzki dropped a baseline jumper in the third quarter of Mavs/Lakers to crack the 20,000-point mark for his career. The moment was significant enough that it almost eclipsed the fact that Dallas eventually lost the game; Dirk even (maybe) got a haircut in preparation for the special day.
There’s little argument that Dirk is the greatest Maverick of all-time as far as what he’s done with the franchise. He ranks No. 1 in career scoring, rebounding, field goals, threes, free throws, and is No. 2 in steals, blocks and points per game. He won the franchise’s only league MVP award, and guided Dallas to its first-ever NBA Finals appearance. The Mavs have made nine playoff appearances during Nowitzki’s carer, whereas in the previous 18-year period B.D. (Before Dirk), they made only six postseasons.
But is Dirk the greatest player to ever wear a Dallas uniform?
In other words, do you think Dirk is pound-for-pound better than the likes of Jason Kidd, Steve Nash, Mark Aguirre, Alex English, Rolando Blackman, Calvin Booth, Mike Finley, Adrian Dantley, Tim Hardaway, Detlef Schrempf, Derek Harper, Wang ZhiZhi, Nick Van Exel, Sam Cassell, Shawn Marion and Dennis Rodman?
Tell us what you think…
January 14th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Heckler says:
oh shit. a throwback.
Wang ZhiZhi….
January 14th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
Heckler says:
wow. and the list above didnt even mention Michael Finley.
wassup with that Austin?…..oversight?!!?
January 14th, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Bill says:
WANG ZHI ZHI!!!!!!! Yeah Heckler!
January 14th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Ian says:
heckler is right finley was better than most of those dudes on the list.
dirk is by far the best mav ever.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Promoman says:
It’s a toss-up between Jason & Dirk.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
dagwaller says:
GMOAT, Dirk Nowitzki.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Austin Burton says:
My bad on Finley. He was on there when I originally wrote it, but somehow got deleted in the process.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
Celts Fan says:
JKidd is clearly (to me) better than Dirk historically, but, based only on their time in Big D, it’s def Dirk. Finley and Dirk is relatively close right now (still Dirk though,) but it won’t be by the time Dirk hangs ‘em up…
January 14th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Dapro says:
Dirk is Goat of the Mavs org but if Jkidd played his entire career with Dallas then this wouldn’t be an discussion.
Dirk needs a big who intimidates, an enforcer on his team. Dallas never scares teams physically
January 14th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
osmosis11 says:
Dirk is the best mav ever. Kidd and nash’s best years were on other teams.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
The other Aj says:
I has to be Dirk.
Nash & Kidd had their best years when they were on other teams. Same goes for Rodman, Dantley, & English. Finley hasn’t accomplished what Dirk has, and the rest of those guys aren’t even on his level and shouldn’t even be in the conversations.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
The other Aj says:
**It has to be Dirk, not “I”
January 14th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
NewYorkDaredevil says:
Dirk is the Best Maverick ever. No question.
January 14th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
NewYorkDaredevil says:
Dirk is the Best Maverick ever. No question.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
BK2LV says:
i love this site but man can somebody please fix the damn page this grey words on grey background sucks….. im squinting to read and its the same on my phone come on its been like 2 weeks already…..
January 14th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
star_bury says:
That’s a dumb question. Pound for pound, Nash is the best. Nash is 6-3, 178. At 7-0, 245, he’d dominate Dirk.
I’m also surprised Jamison isn’t on the short-list.
Still, Dirk is the best player to ever play for the Mavs.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Austin Burton says:
@#8-9-10-11: That’s the question. Pound-for-pound, is Dirk better than those other guys? (No matter what team their prime was on.)
January 14th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
star_bury says:
@AB, Is the question “pound-for-pound” or “stat-for-stat, accomplishment-for-accomplishment”?
I’ll go Nash for the first, Kidd for the second. But I’d imagine Dirk will catch Kidd eventually being 5 years younger.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Austin Burton says:
@star_bury: One and the same. When I say pound-for-pound, that’s what I mean.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Mark says:
A toss up for me between Jason Kidd and Dirk, honestly. Can’t go wrong with these potential future Hall of Famers.
Statistically I’d give a nod to Nash, but he’s lead his team nil to the finals. And the other greats (The Worm, Fin4, Tim Bug) I’d classify more of a supporting cast and not a franchise player.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Celts Fan says:
If we’re talking all-time best on any team with these guys, not just their time in Dallas, it’s Kidd (clearly to me, but to each his own,) then Dirk, then Nash (sorry, but 2 great years, 5 very good years, and the rest average to above average don’t make you better than Kidd – a PG who’s clearly better than him to me (I’d put Kidd right after Magic, Oscar, Zeke, GP (too hard to quantify Cooz, so he’s left outta this, but he’d be 5 if you’re looking to include old guys too) and would have an MVP for his Nets days for the same reasons Nash got his if they didn’t coincide w/ TD and Shaq’s “You CANNOT f*ck w/ me” primes or better than Dirk – a guy who, despite his defensive shortcomings looks like Ron Artest mixed with Dennis Rodman compared to Nash.)
January 14th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
Mr. Wang says:
Finley was the ONE bright beacon of light during the end of the dark yrs for the mavs ‘97-00…..but ya, really to define the mavs in eras
80’s: Mark Aguire-Rolando Blackman-Brad Davis-Derrick Harper
late ’80s: Roy Tarpley (oops)
early ’90s: 3 J’s (Jimmy Jackson-Mashburn-Kidd)
mid/late ’90s: Fin-dawg-A.C. Green-Erick Strickland
early 2000’s: Big 3 of Finley-Nash-Dirk (w/Van Exel)
mid ’00’s to now: Dirk-Terry-jHO (stackhouse)
…so easy pick….DIRK.
January 14th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Wang ZhiZhi?! LOL. He isn’t even the best non-American to wear a Mavs jersey. Blackman (Panama), Nash (Canada), Schrempf, Dirk and even Uwe Blab (Germany), and Rodman (Alien).
The Diggler is the best ever all-time Maverick. Some had better careers like Kidd and maybe Nash too. But not while wearing a Mavs uniform.
January 14th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Wang ZhiZhi?! LOL. The lefty Chinese isn’t even the best non-American to wear a Mavs jersey. Blackman (Panama), Nash (Canada), Schrempf, Dirk and even Uwe Blab (Germany), and Rodman (Alien) were way better.
The Diggler is the best ever all-time Maverick. Some had better careers like Kidd and maybe Nash too. But not while wearing a Mavs uniform.
January 14th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
sh!tfaced says:
WTF?! lol. Sorry.
January 14th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
dapro says:
AB if your saying over their entire career, then I’ll take Kidd all day…
Nash is def a great pg but he only plays one style as opposed to JKidd who defines the style
Let me put it this way, Nash is a high mileage Camaro, worth it out in the open and in an up-tempo pace, but not as much fun driving on a bumpy city street
JKidd is the GM assembly line, he builds cars. He can do Camaro’s, Pick-ups, Caddys all to suit the team needs
He’s probably the greatest player that has done more with less that I’ve seen
January 14th, 2010 at 4:15 pm
karizmatic says:
Dirk isn’t better than Jason Kidd.
January 14th, 2010 at 5:58 pm
rbw says:
dirk and kidd are even. both are HOF at their respective positions and both have led their teams to the NBA Finals. Only Dirk did it in the West
January 14th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Mark says:
Dirk is the best Mav ever, but maybe not the best player to ever play for the Mavericks. All of his moments have been in a Mav uni, where Jason has had Finals appearances and other great accomplishments outside the DFW metroplex.
Though Kidd would provide the most challenge for best NBA player ever to be a Maverick, my opinion is biased that still Dirk has the advantage. Hard to overlook the assists, but all the first team awards combined with the MVP are huge.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
POPPI GEE says:
Greatest Maverick of all time is Sarah Palin lol.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
dragonyeuw says:
Best Maverick? Yes. Kidd was at his best in Phoenix and New Jersey. Nash wasn’t the caliber of player he is now in his Dallas years, he reached superstar status the last 5 years in Phoenix.
January 14th, 2010 at 8:54 pm
ctkennedy says:
forget maverick dirk one of the best 15 players of the last 20yrs other than shaq jordan duncan kobe and hakeem u can put him up against ANYBODY that was in the league at that time
January 14th, 2010 at 10:12 pm
Ian says:
ctkennedy
anybody?? malone and robinson are way better
January 14th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
ash says:
dirk is in the top 15 players of the 1990s and 2000s. prolly 14 or 15.
January 14th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Justin Solomon says:
MASHBURN…. BEST MAV EVER
January 15th, 2010 at 8:25 am
fLaVa says:
Dirk is the best mav ever… ops i mean IRK cuz he plays no D.
January 16th, 2010 at 4:58 am
QQ says:
No doubt about it. Best Mav ever.