Dirk Nowitzki
Teams
Dallas Mavericks - 1998-19
Playoffs
Appearances - 15 (2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011,2012,2014,2015,2016)
Conference Finals - 3 (2003,2006,2011)
NBA Finals - 2 (2006,2011)
Championships - 1 (2011)
Awards and Honors
MVP - 1 (2007)
Finals MVP - 1 (2011)
All-NBA First Team - 4 (2005,2006,2007,2009)
All-NBA Second Team - 5 (2002,2003,2005,2006,2007,2008,2009,2010,2011)
All-NBA Third Team - 3 (2001,2002,2004,2008,2010,2011,2012)
*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)
All-Time Ranks
Total Points - #6
Three-Pointers Made - #12
Free Throw Percentage - #18
Total Rebounds - #27
Points Per Game - #50
Total Blocks - #54
Total Steals - #93
League Leads
Total Points (#4-2009,2010, #5-2003,2005,2006,2007)
Free Throw Percentage (#2-2007,2010,2014, #3-2012, #4-2006, #5-2016)
Points Per Game (#4-2005,2009)
After turning pro at age 16 in Germany and playing 4 seasons in the Bundesliga, Dirk Nowitzki was chosen by the Milwaukee Bucks with the #9 overall pick, then immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Robert Traylor, who was the #6 pick in the same draft, in one of the most one-sided trades in history.
He didn't make a splash immediately, averaging only 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds as a rookie, but he finished #2 in the Most Improved Player voting the next year, when he increased those numbers to 17.5 and 6.5. At this point, the Mavericks hadn't made the playoffs in a decade, but Nowitzki would change that the next year, turning the franchise from perennial losers to a perennial playoff team.
In his third season, he averaged 21.8 points and 9.2 rebounds and was named to the All-NBA Third Team, the first member of the Dallas Mavericks to ever receive that honor. He also got Dallas into the playoffs and to the second round, but they fell to the Spurs in 5 games despite Nowitzki's 42 points and 18 rebounds in the final game.
He continued to get better over the next couple years, finishing the 2003 season with 25.1 points and a career high 9.9 rebounds per game, and leading the Mavericks to 60 wins in a season for the first time ever. After fighting through the first two rounds of the playoffs in 7 games each, they Mavericks faced the Spurs in the Conference Finals, but after Nowitzki injured his knee in Game 3, Dallas went down in 6 games.
The team experimented with shifting Nowitzki to center the next year, and the result was the worst year he would have in his prime. They moved him back to power forward the next year, and the result was the two best seasons of his career, with his peak coming in 2006, when he scored a career high of 26.6 points per game and grabbed 9 rebounds a night. That season, they were able to beat the Phoenix Suns in the Conference Finals, getting revenge for the previous season's second round loss, and went on to play Miami in the Finals. After taking a 2-0 lead, Dallas lost 4 straight while Nowitzki struggled, and they fell short of the ultimate goal.
The next year, Nowitzki's numbers dipped slightly from his peak the year before, down to 24.6 points and 8.9 rebounds, but he also joined the 50-40-90 club, becoming its 5th member with shooting averages of .502 from the field, .416 from three, and .904 from the line. He also led Dallas to the best record in the league and was awarded the MVP for his efforts, but the season ended in a huge disappointment when Dallas became the third #1 seed ever to lose to a #8 seed.
Nowitzki continued to play at the same high level for the next 3 years, climbing up the all-time leaderboards along the way, but kept falling short in the playoffs. That ended in 2011, when they swept the 2-time defending champion Lakers in the second round, then beat the Thunder in 5 games to reach the Finals for the second time in his career. They again faced the Heat, and Nowitzki won the Finals MVP after leading Dallas to the title in 6 games while averaging 26.0 points per game.
After the championship, Nowitzki's career began a slow, graceful decline. He never won another playoff series, but he continued to score at a high level for the next 5 seasons. He ended up playing 21 seasons, all for Dallas, the most ever with a single team, and he currently sits at #6 on the all-time scoring list. He has an MVP and a Finals MVP award, and is easily the best European player of all time at this point, and he is definitely one of the greatest to ever play the game.
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