NBA Consensus: Dirk Nowitzki Isn't a Leader?

Like the old saying goes, if everyone believes something it must be wrong.

Come to think of it, does someone actually say that? Or is it just me.

Either way, I believe it. Now more than ever—especially in the NBA.

Case in point—I have been hearing over and over since the NBA Finals when the Miami Heat beat the Dallas Mavericks how Dirk isn't a leader, and this is why the Mavs can't win a championship.

I find this opinion incredibly ridiculous. Where does this come from? What is the logic behind it?

How can anyone try to diminish what Dirk has accomplished, even without winning a championship? Not only is he the first European player to lead his team to the finals in NBA history. He is also the first white player to truly lead his team to the NBA Finals since Larry Bird, 20 years ago! Think about that.

And Dirk did it through an incredibly tough conference and through

the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs. And he did it without getting the respect other

NBA superstars get, because Dirk has always been treated like a second class citizen in the NBA.

I am sure Phoenix Suns fans can understand how this feels. They saw Bruce Bowen and the entire San Antonio defense get away with the same "bear hug" defense Bowen and company employed against Dirk. Because with players like Nash and Dirk it pays to foul them. Because the ratio of fouls committed, to fouls called, will always be lower than other, more preferred, superstars. Especially guys with a lot of highlight dunks that fit the standardized mold of NBA superstar. 

Yet Dirk got through his "bear hug defense" and went to the NBA Finals and Nash didn't.

And Nash had two other superstars playing around him and a team full of talent and a team built perfectly to complement his skills—while Dirk had no other All-Star caliber player and a team built to actually hurt Dirk's game rather than complement it. 

Dirk was even lambasted for not being able to beat Shaq and Dwyane Wade—two mega-superstars who are given carte blanche in the NBA.

Dirk supposedly choked because he couldn't beat a team with two superstars without another superstar on his team other than himself?

Even now, because of this Kidd trade to Dallas, you have people saying the Mavs didn't believe in Dirk as a leader. It's not Dirk people don't believe in—it's Dirk's second banana that is in question. That's why what Dirk has done is so incredible, because he is truly carrying that team entirely.

And this is why Kidd was brought in. No team wins with only one leader. You need multiple leaders to win championship. The Mavs have a great one in Dirk, but that's all they have. And that's why Kidd's experience is so important on the Mavs. Because if anything killed the Mavs in the NBA finals, it was his supporting cast's total lack of experience. Even Avery was completely inexperienced. There wasn't an assistant coach in the NBA with less coaching experience than Avery and he was coaching in the NBA Finals.

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