Dirk Nowitzki Becomes 6th Player in NBA History to Score 29K Points

With a three-pointer at the 10-minute, 22-second mark in the third quarter of his team's game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night, Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki became the sixth player in NBA history to record at least 29,000 career points, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The NBA congratulated the Mavericks star on Twitter:

In 18 seasons, all with Dallas, Nowitzki has averaged 22.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.

The 37-year-old German is a 13-time All-Star and helped lead the Mavericks to the 2010-11 NBA title with a 4-2 series victory over LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

Here is a replay of Nowitzki's milestone shot:

The 7-footer captured the 2006-07 regular-season MVP award and will retire as the most prolific foreign-born scorer to play in the NBA.

Rank	Player	Points
1	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	38,387
2	Karl Malone	36,928
3	Kobe Bryant*	33,290
4	Michael Jordan	32,292
5	Wilt Chamberlain	31,419
6	Dirk Nowitzki*	29,008
7	Shaquille O'Neal	28,596
8	Moses Malone	27,409
9	Elvin Hayes	27,313
10	Hakeem Olajuwon	26,946

Prior to this season, Nowitzki said he would like to play two more years, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News (via Ananth Pandian of CBS Sports):

"

Obviously it gets closer, but it's not like I'm thinking of the beach every day. I want to play two more years under contract here, hopefully at a high level, compete, hopefully be efficient when I'm out there. And then retirement obviously comes soon enough. But as of now, I still think I can play at a high level. I'm going to work my butt off here these four weeks to get in the best shape I can get, and then leave it all out there again.

"

No matter what happens over the next year or two, Nowitzki is a sure-fire Hall of Famer and will go down as one of the greatest-shooting big men of all time.