An Unloved Superstar: Why Dirk Nowitzki Should Be Appreciated

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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 at the Palace versus the Detroit Pistons or the 38-point, seven-rebound game at Utah.

Before the 2006-07 season, Dirk was not talked about as a superstar, therefore not hated as one. Certainly, the Warriors/Mavericks playoff series can be accredited to all the hate that Dirk does indeed get. Don Nelson, coach of the Warriors, knew Dirk better than anyone because he had coached his early years in Dallas, and knew how to stop him.

But it wasn’t exactly Nowitzki who was stopped. It was the rest of his team, who just couldn’t cope with the pressure and intensity that the Warriors played at. They had not experienced it enough in the regular season to know what they were up against.

Dirk still averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds, and displayed leadership abilities, but the Mavericks were in a state of shock after being defeated that first game by the Warriors that their confidence never really picked up again. 

Certainly, Dirk is dependable in any situation. He has amongst the league’s best players in fourth-quarter scoring, over plenty of other dominating big men such as Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard. He is also amongst the best free throw shooters in the fourth quarter also, hitting 90 percent of his shots from the line when it counts.

When the clock is running down, and is in "crunch" time, Dirk converts FGs at a strong 46 percent, which is extremely impressive considering the coverage and double teams thrown at Dirk.

In the entirety of his career, Dirk has lead the Mavericks to eight playoff visits, been amongst the top scorers in the league nearly every season, led the league in PER in two seasons, made an NBA Finals appearance, been named to three All-NBA First teams, and had been names the league’s Most Valuable Player for the 2006-07 season.

In his time with the Mavericks, the team has been behind the San Antonio Spurs as the second most successful regular season team in the NBA. A lot of that success can be attributed to Dirk Nowitzki. 

But, of course, statistics can only tell part of the story. You have to watch Dirk’s game to truly appreciate the talent and skill in the big man. There hasn’t been another seven-footer in the league that has had the ability to create a shot like Dirk Nowitzki can.

There hasn’t been another seven-footer who’s been able to be as agile as Dirk. He is a once in a generation player. Bigger forwards are too slow to stop him and smaller forwards are too weak to be able to contain him, or his high-arcing jumpshot.

In my opinion, he can be counted towards being one of the ten best players of this decade. His game is far from a lot of the other European players that come into the league and his style does not resemble the stereotypical "soft Euro" game.

Written By: ?uestlove and vanSHE

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