Rating the highest 50 gamers in NBA historical past…
20. Dirk Nowitzki
Nowitzki, a German basketball legend, performed his whole 21-year NBA profession with the Dallas Mavericks after being drafted No. 9 general in 1998 by the Milwaukee Bucks and traded to Dallas.
Standing at 7-feet tall, he’s broadly thought to be one of many best energy forwards and European gamers in NBA historical past.
Nowitzki additionally basically modified the sport for large males, making it the norm (and these days, the requirement) for facilities and energy forwards to step exterior and shoot threes.
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Dirk’s profession statistics embrace 31,560 factors (20.7 ppg), 11,489 rebounds (7.5 rpg) and three,651 assists (2.4 apg) over 1,522 video games, making him the highest-scoring foreign-born participant in NBA historical past and sixth on the all-time scoring listing at retirement.
Nowitzki led the Mavericks to fifteen playoff appearances, together with their first NBA Finals in 2006 and their solely championship in 2011, incomes Finals MVP that yr.
Nowitzki’s particular person accolades embrace the 2007 NBA MVP award, making him the primary European to win it, 14 All-Star choices and 12 All-NBA Crew honors.
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Nowitzki’s signature one-legged fadeaway soar shot and flexibility have been key to his success, and he holds quite a few Mavericks franchise information.
Internationally, he led Germany to a bronze on the 2002 FIBA World Championship and a silver at EuroBasket 2005, incomes MVP in each.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Corridor of Fame in 2023 and chosen to the NBA seventy fifth Anniversary Crew in 2021.
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