Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki and the Top 7 Power Forwards in Team History

While the NBA scuttles around arguing over dollar signs and player contracts, fans are left wondering when their favorite players and teams will hit the court again with the goal of winning a championship. Team previews and free agents will be a hot topic if the league ever comes back, but for now that talk is dependent on the league returning at all in 2011-2012.

While the fans wait, it is a great time to look back at the top players and positions that have made franchises in the NBA what they are today. 

For the current champions, the Dallas Mavericks, no position has been more productive or high profile over the last decade than that of power forward. Dirk Nowitzki has been a stronghold at power forward since the Mavericks began their current streak of 11 consecutive 50-win seasons.

But others have helped pave the way for success in the city of Dallas, and those players are worth mentioning when it comes to the history books that have chronicled the success of the Mavs over the years.  

7. Antoine Walker/Antawn Jamison

During the '03-'04 season, Antoine Walker was the "point forward" in Don Nelson's system that used a lot of offense and not very much defense. His 27 percent shooting from three, 55.4 percent from the free-throw line and attitude left fans in Dallas wanting more.

Antawn Jamison, a very good player and sixth man off the bench for the Mavs in that year, ended up being the centerpiece of the deal that brought young Devin Harris to Dallas in the 2005 NBA draft.

Walker and Jamison both averaged around 14 points a game, and Walker even dished out 4.5 assists per game on a team that scored a lot of points, but wasn't able to compete in the postseason style that the NBA often demands.  

Both were part of a season that many would like to forget, and one that ended in major changes for the team. Who can forget the onyx uniforms that were scrapped after the 30-point collapse in L.A.? Steve Nash departed in free agency for Phoenix after the season.

Their one season in Dallas wasn't one that deserves to be immortalized, but it did produce the fourth 50-win season in a row and several new players for the following year. Both Walker and Jamison were dealt in the offseason for players including Harris and Jason Terry.

6. Eduardo Najera

"Fast Eddie" has been a fan favorite since his rookie year in Dallas in 2000, and upon his return stint during the '09-'10 season. His numbers aren't sparkling, but his effort and hustle on teams that played no defense and showed virtually no pride on the defensive end of the ball made the Mavs and their fans appreciate how Najera played the game. 

His highest average totals in points and rebounds only came to 6.7 and 5.5, respectively, but his impact was felt on the court more than it was in the box score. It wasn't a surprise to hear Bob Ortegel laud Najera for his commitment to defense by taking a charge or flying across the wood to grab a loose ball.

Hustle plays and a great attitude have allowed Eddie to stay in the league as long as he has. His athletic talent isn't the highest, but no one will be bested on a play that could go either way. As a coach, fellow teammate or fan, what else can you ask for?

5. Roy Tarpley

Tarpley could have been a staple in the NBA's "Promising Young Players of the 1990's" article had his career not been shortened by drug abuse. After the 1991 season, Tarpley was banned from the NBA and played several years overseas. He even had a second chance for the Mavs in '94 and on into '95, but was permanently expelled after violating the terms of his original probation upon reentering the league. 

Part of a Mavericks team that featured Rolando Blackman, Derek Harper, Sam Perkins and James Donaldson, Tarpley averaged double-digit points and rebounds in four of the six seasons he played in Dallas. He was a part of the 1988 team that took the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the Western Conference Finals.

Simply put, Tarpley would be second or third on any Mavericks list in almost every category had his career not been cut short by drug abuse. It is disappointing to go back and watch Tarpley play and wonder what if, but his legacy is cemented as one that will always be associated with what could have been.  

4. A.C. Green

A.C. Green is simply one of the nicest guys in the NBA. His record 907 games in a row will probably be broken someday, but probably not by a guy as hard working and deserving as Green.

He came to the Mavs in a midseason trade involving Jason Kidd going to the Phoenix Suns, and Michael Finley and Green coming back to the Mavs. While his career as a Maverick wasn't as flashy or high profile as his 907 straight games, he always knew how to get the job done (see Eduardo Najera).

Green started 157 games during his two-and-a-half seasons with the team, and broke the Ironman record for consecutive games played during his time in Dallas. Green is also active in the community, starting the A.C. Green Youth Foundation.   

3. Jay Vincent

You have to go way back into the NBA history books to find the name Jay Vincent, but when you do, you find a player who made a difference for the Mavericks during their first several seasons of mediocrity as an expansion franchise. 

He averaged 21.4 points as a rookie from Michigan St., and was the best player on what was an otherwise underachieving and not very good team during the first part of the Dick Motta years in Dallas. His production never quite creeped back up to the level it was during his first season, but he had four more good years as a starter for the Mavs and helped bridge the gap to the team that was very competitive in the late 1980's. 

He was traded by the Mavericks before the 1986 season for a future first-round draft pick (Willie Burton), but Vincent enjoyed his most successful seasons donning the blue and green in Dallas. 

2. Sam Perkins

Perkins anchored the inside in the late 1980's for a good Mavericks squad, one that you look back at and think they might have been able to hang with the "Bad Boys" Detroit Pistons team had they ever been able to get past the Lakers. 

Perkins made a name for himself first as a high school All-American, then as a sidekick to Michael Jordan at North Carolina. After Jordan went second overall in the 1984 NBA draft, Perkins was then taken by the Mavericks with the fourth overall selection and began a six-year stint in Dallas that included a lot of fast break dunks, like the one in the picture above. 

Perkins hovered around 15 points and eight rebounds for the majority of his time in Dallas, and along with Roy Tarpley and James Donaldson formed a formidable inside presence that made teams not want to bring the ball in the paint. He was also a good free-throw shooter, staying above 80 percent, and recorded the only 30-20 game in Dallas' franchise history, doing so against the Houston Rockets in 1986. 

1. Dirk Nowitzki

Nowitzki is at the top of the basketball world, so why wouldn't he be the obvious choice for the best power forward to ever play the position in a Mavs uniform. He is a perennial All-Star, a perennial selection for All-NBA, a one-time NBA league MVP and now has an NBA Championship and Finals MVP in his trophy case. The last two were icing on the cake to an already Hall of Fame caliber career for the big German. 

His stats speak for themselves. He hasn't shot below 46 percent or averaged lower than 20 points since his second season, and his body of work in one city for one team speaks for itself.

Mavericks fans shutter to think what might have happened had Dirk decided to test free-agent waters before last season, but he actually took a hometown discount to stay with the team that traded for him on draft night in 1998 in what has turned out to be one of the best trades in the history of pro basketball. (Nowitzki and Pat Garrity for the late Robert "Tractor" Traylor).

There isn't much to say about Dirk that people don't already know. He stays below the radar, returning to Germany in the offseason to work on his game and spend time with his family. He even survived a scandal involving a criminal trying to marry him and take his money. Dirk is the essential piece and best player this franchise has ever had, position aside. He is a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the best European to ever play the game. (Sorry Pau!)

The scariest thing about Dirk is that he is in his prime. If the Mavs are able to keep their team in tact, depending on the labor and cap situation, Dirk might be able to add to his already outstanding legacy.