NBA Finals 2011: How Does Series Win Impact Dirk Nowitzki's Legacy?

Dirk Nowitzki is now an NBA Finals MVP and NBA champion, as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat in Game 6, taking the 2011 NBA Championship, 4-2.

Arguably one of the best seven-footers to play the game, Nowitzki has one of the smoothest jump-shots of any big man in league history. For his career, he has shot 47.6 percent on 16.8 shots per game. What makes both marks all the more impressive, the level of difficulty of the shots Nowitzki will take is as high as it gets.

In watching the guy enter the league and make an impact from the start, we have come to know Nowitzki as a talented player, one who can score the rock and get off shots nearly at will.

Yet it wasn't until this postseason that Nowitzki redefined himself not only as a great player in the league today, but as one of the best to play this game.

In this 2011 NBA playoffs, Nowitzki averaged 27.7 points per game, the second-most behind Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Kevin Durant. He also averaged 26.0 points and 9.7 rebounds in the NBA Finals, as the Mavericks were able to overcome the Miami Heat in their first crack at a championship since 2006.

Now, with an NBA Finals MVP to his name as well as an NBA championship, Nowitzki enters an elite group of players. An NBA championship is what seems to and what ultimately should legitimize a Hall-of-Fame talent. Consistent, all-star production is never good enough.

Nowitzki is not only a Hall-of-Famer, but he may add another title to his name when it's all said and done. He has proven to be a winner since the beginning when he joined the Mavericks organization.

After two seasons of failing to make the postseason in 1998 and 1999, the Dallas Mavericks would make 11 consecutive postseason appearances, a mark which is still an active streak. In the Western Conference, where making the postseason is arguably more difficult than in the East, the streak is just that much sweeter.

Talk about winning. In the words of Charlie Sheen, the guy wins, he's a winner. Eleven consecutive playoff appearances is nothing to take for granted.

The one thing that had separated Nowitzki's legacy from being a strong one to a great one was his ability to get it done once the team enters the postseason. After losing the 2006 NBA Finals to the Miami Heat, the Mavericks were knocked out of the first round every season until the 2011 postseason.

After grinding out the Portland Trailblazers, sweeping the defending-champion Lakers and breaking down the Thunder, the Mavericks found themselves with a shot of revenge. Now, having taken down the Heat and won an NBA championship, the drought is over for the 10-time All-Star.

Nowitzki is now in the conversation as one of the better bigs to play the game, boasting an impeccable jump-shot, elite basketball intelligence in his play, and an ability in the clutch that matches anybody else in the game. If Nowitzki and company can put together another couple of postseason runs and make another NBA Finals, Nowitzki will hands down be a Hall-of-Famer in Springfield when his career is in the books.

This 2011 NBA championship against a favored Miami Heat team has taken his legacy to another level, as Nowitzki now is not just a great player, but arguably one of the top seven-footers the league has seen.