NBA Looming Legacies Part One: Dirk Nowitzki

“The biggest thing that will define my legacy is how I’ve done it, and what I’ve done, and who I am.”

When one looks back on their body of work, there truly is nothing that stands out more than the successes and failures of their career. How one accomplishes their goal or lets it slip through their fingers is always what is remembered most vividly.

This accurate interpretation of what composes a legacy comes from none other than Shaquille O’Neal himself. The Diesel’s legacy is intact and can be looked back upon fondly now that Shaq is officially “The Big 401K.”

But if these NBA Finals have taught us anything, it’s that athletes of superior magnitude, the “superstars” of the league, are constantly shaping their legacies. It is not something that is finalized once a player finally hangs it up and rides off into the sunset. It is a continually changing landscape of perception that is impacted by every tick of the game clock, especially in the post-season.

The last two months have been saturated with scintillating basketball. Upsets and domination. Breathtaking displays of athleticism and chess-like coaching moves. Hell, we can even throw Mark Cuban’s extended silence up there as a surprising playoff achievement. The one constant of it all, however, is the continued formation of legacies, two of which stand above the rest.

The question that everyone is trying to answer now that all is said and done is what did these playoffs mean for Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James?

Let’s start with the Determined German: Holy Sh*t!

I think that is an appropriate summation for Mr. Nowitzki’s post-season performance. Dirk averaged 27 points and 8 boards per game over the course of the Dallas Mavericks’ improbable run to Basketball supremacy. Oh, he also missed 11 free throws…for the entirety two-month playoffs.

But his numbers are only a slight portion of what this performance means for him in the grand scheme of things. Dirk and his Mavs have always had the stigma of being “soft” or not tough enough physically and mentally, especially after their epic collapse during the 2006 Finals. In fact, they always reminded me a little bit of Apollo Creed after Rocky I. “Dammit, I won the match but I lost the fight!” screams a passionate Creed as he wades through countless pieces of hate mail. The Dallas Mavericks seemed to follow a similar path.

The team always performs well in the regular season only to be bounced out in the first or second round. I realize Creed still held the championship belt after his first fight with the speech challenged gorilla, err Sylvester Stallone, but you know what I’m getting at. When push came to shove, the Mavs always lost the fight.

Now, however, all previous reputations regarding Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have been more than abolished with this unexpected and sustained run of excellence. I mean, the Mavericks actually played defense during these playoffs!

The Mavericks survived a crushing defeat in Round One after letting the Portland Trailblazers come back from a 26-point deficit. This proved to be a defining moment for the team. As Jason Kidd admitted, they had to look themselves in the mirror and realize that they simply could not let this losing environment continue any longer. So instead of wilting under the pressure of yet another late game collapse, the Mavericks went out and played championship basketball for roughly 8 weeks. 

They swept the two-time defending champions, effectively ending the Kobe-Phil era. They then outplayed and out coached the Oklahoma City Thunder behind Dirk’s truly astounding late game heroics (think Goldberg shooting the game winning goal in Mighty Ducks) and ability to will his team to victory. The Mavs made several come from behind wins against the younger and more athletic Thunder team. (Side Note: Russell Westbrook manages a game about as well as Anthony Weiner uses Twitter).

It was at this point that the seven footer decided that he was going to play a little bit better than everyone else in the upcoming Finals series. Dirk’s fourth quarter performances were the pinnacle of clutch. When the Mavs absolutely needed a bucket there was simply no stopping him, he always came through with the much-needed play. His step back fade away always hit the bottom of the net. His constant pivoting after his dribble had been stopped kept creating just enough space. Whether it was his go-ahead three pointer with 3.6 seconds left in Game 2 or his lefty lay in with less than 20 seconds left in Game 6, Dirk was about one thing these past few weeks: making plays. Nowitzki once again obtained the status of un-guardable.

Not even a triple digit fever could stop him for going off for 10 points in the final quarter of Game 4. (Conspiracy theory: David Stern snuck into Dirk’s room and injected him with the flu virus “V for Vendetta” style in an attempt to assure a Super Friends series victory). I can barely work my DVR with a fever, let alone carry a team to an NBA championship.

Dirk Nowitzki deserves and earned this ring and his Finals MVP award. In doing so, he effectively placed himself in the top 25 players of all time and cemented himself as the greatest European born player to ever attempt a shot in the NBA. His unbreakable determination to win allowed him to close out countless games in dominant fashion. The Miami Heat’s number one ranking in defensive efficiency and their two stud perimeter stoppers meant nothing once the game entered its final phase.

Rarely does an athlete play so incredibly well and hit so many big shots that the millions of people watching are left truly surprised when a shot doesn’t go in. On the contrary, seldom are fans not surprised when a player turns an ice cold night into a championship sealing performance, as Nowitzki scored 18 points in the second half after going just 1-12 in the first in the deciding Game 6. Fans should be grateful for being treated to one of the best individual playoff performances in the last two decades.

If a gangly, awkward moving and strange looking seven foot German can turn an entire nation into Dirk-a-holics, than I am pretty confident his legacy is in good standing.

The same cannot be said for the self-proclaimed king, LeBron James. Stay tuned for Part two of The Looming Legacies to hear my thoughts on James’ place in NBA history.