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Let’s face it, most people at the WWL (World Wide Leader a.k.a ESPN) love to say how soooooft Dirk is, how he can't for the life of him lead a team or be clutch, how he is not a franchise player. When in reality Dirk has been the Mavericks’ franchise cornerstone since the early 2000s, and a damn good one at that, and has been a top 10 player for the greater part of his time with the Mavericks.

After a so-so rookie year where he looked lost at time and even with his 20 MPG average only appeared in 47 games, Dirk began his rise to the pinnacle of the league’s big men.

His sophomore season was a large success. In his campaign, he averaged 18 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, playing in all 82 (81 starts) games. He also had a very impressive 112 Offensive (team points scored with him on the court) rating, good enough to rate him amongst the 20 best offensive players in the league and in only his second season.

In his third season playing for the Mavericks, he continued to improve all across the board, nabbing All-NBA Third Team honors, an All-Star Game berth and most importantly, a playoff spot for the Mavericks. This was his first season above the 20 PPG mark. During the 2006-07 season, Dirk led his team to 67 wins.

Let’s face it, that team had NO big man talent on the team behind him, Harris was the PG the majority of the time and he was still very raw offensively. So Dirk’s supporting cast was three wingmen in Howard, Terry, and Stackhouse who all, while solid, were not great. Yet he was able to lead them over the top teams in the West.

And he had plenty of big games against the best teams in league, examples include his 35-point, seven-rebound and 27-point, 10-rebound games against the Phoenix Suns, and his 31-point, 10-rebound and 36-point, eight-rebound games against the interstate rival, the San Antonio Spurs. And don’t forget 28-point, 12-rebound game

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