Dirk Nowitzki Becomes The 6th NBA Player Ever To Reach 30,000 Points
Prettaaaayyyy prettayyyyy prettayyyy cool moment last night for Dirk, the Mavs, the NBA, and anyone who has enjoyed watching this legend play over the last 18+ seasons. Not only was it fitting that Dirk achieved this historic mark with his patented fadeaway, but here is the list he joins as the only players in the history of the NBA to break 30,000 career points.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Karl Malone. Kobe Bryant. Michael Jordan. Wilt Chamberlain. That’s it, that’s the list.
Think for a second how ridiculous that is. Shaq didn’t (28,596), Hakeem The Dream didn’t (26,946), same goes for Dominique (26,668) or Moses Malone (27,409) or Pierce (26,364) or Duncan (26,496). Lebron will for sure get there (28,318), but last night Dirk joined the rarest of rare.
It’s almost incomprehensible that this unknown skinny as hell German kid developed into not only a surefire HOF player, but one of the all time greats. When he was drafted by 9th MIL in 1998, they immediately shipped him and Pat Garrity to Dallas for Robert “Tractor” Traylor (RIP). Whoops! For his career Dirk has averaged 21.8 points 7.8 rebounds 2.5 assists with 47/36% splits. He’s currently 15th all time in 3PM, and if he continues his current pace, he should end up in the Top 10 when he finally hangs it up (he has 1 more year at $25M if he wants it). Obviously what makes Dirk special is the fact that he has spent his entire career in a Mavericks uniform. He stayed through some pretty brutal years, a pretty brutal screw job (2006 Finals) and ultimately brought the franchise it’s only championship in 2011. What also makes Dirk unique is that he’s on that rare list of superstars who you don’t even remotely hate. How could you hate Dirk? You can’t, and this is someone who had 877 career points against the Celtics which was the most against any Eastern Conference team and I don’t even hate him.
Dirk has something else in common with some of those guys on the list above. He has a signature move that changed the NBA. You hear about Kareem’s sky hook, Malone’s Special Delivery Dunk, well the Dirk fadeaway is right up there. At 7 feet tall this shot is virtually unstoppable, and even at age 38 it remains deadly. What makes this move unguardable is there’s no spot he can’t make it from. Elbow? Swish. Baseline fade? Buckets. FT line? Forget about it. At his height it’s an impossible shot to block, and the fact that he has been able to make it this consistently for this long is truly amazing.
Here are some other pretty crazy facts about Dirk’s career:
– Since his age 35 season, Dirk has played in 80, 77, 75 and 36 (so far) games. That’s wild.
– Dirk has made four All NBA 1st teams, five All NBA 2nd teams, and three All NBA 3rd teams
– He’s currently 10th all time in made baskets, 7th all time in made FTs, and 8th all time in DREB
– After this season he will have made over $220M in his basketball career. That’s a lot of Schnitzel
– In terms of career win shares Dirk is sandwiched between Lebron and KG for 8th all time
– With career postseason averages of 25/10/2.5 he was clearly a player that elevated his game when it mattered most
– Surprisingly Dirk has only finished in the Top 5 for MVP voting just three times in his entire career
Simply put, getting to 30,000 points is a ridiculous achievement, and since the Mavs aren’t making a deep playoff run anytime soon, a fitting final notch on what has been one of the best careers the NBA has ever seen.
So congratulations to Dirk, I suppose I can officially move you into my favorite German player ever position, narrowly edging out the great Detlef Schrempf.