Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki Nearing 30,000 Career Points
Dallas Mavericks veteran big man Dirk Nowitzki enters Tuesday's matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers requiring just 20 points to reach 30,000 for his career, per NBA History on Twitter.
The 19th-year veteran has had his playing time scaled back somewhat this season, resulting in a significant drop in production from previous campaigns. In fact, Nowitzki is averaging his fewest points per game (13.6) since his rookie campaign in 1998-99.
Nowitzki has spent the entirety of his career with Dallas, totaling 1,376 appearances and 1,345 starts with the club prior to Tuesday's action. Brad Davis has the second-most appearances (883) with the franchise, while Rolando Blackman has started the second-most games (781) behind Dirk.
Neither of the two trailing Nowitzki comes close to reaching Nowitzki's point total with the franchise. He sits more than 13,000 points clear of second place Blackman for the most in team history—an output that will be difficult for anyone to surpass.
While the Mavericks haven't posted one of their better campaigns this season, they are just 2.5 games back of the Denver Nuggets for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. With the roster now mostly healthy and J.J. Barea's return from a calf injury on the horizon, Dallas has won four of its last five contests and has a good shot of making that five of six Tuesday evening.
Should the club fail to claw its way back into the postseason, it would mark just the third time since Nowitzki joined the league that it has missed out. The first two times occurred in the German-born star's first two NBA seasons.
When Nowitzki finally decides to call it quits, he has assuredly checked off enough boxes to earn his way into the Hall of Fame. His accolades include an NBA Championship, an NBA Finals MVP, a regular-season MVP, 13 All-Star nominations and 12 All-NBA teams.
