{"id":30257,"date":"2020-04-09T16:15:06","date_gmt":"2020-04-09T20:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=30257"},"modified":"2020-04-09T16:15:06","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T20:15:06","slug":"remebering-dirk-nowitzki","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/04\/09\/remebering-dirk-nowitzki\/","title":{"rendered":"Remebering Dirk Nowitzki"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dirk Nowitzki<\/a><\/strong> played his final home game as a Dallas Maverick<\/a> one year ago today. He has the sixth most points in league history. He owns the majority of Maverick records from games played, points, rebounds, blocks, and so much more. Sure, he owns the Mavericks records for most fouls and turnovers, but that’s a testament to his longevity.<\/p>\n

Dirk Nowitzki is not only the greatest Maverick of all time but the greatest international player in the history of basketball. His legacy protrudes to levels so much larger than that, however. He changed the game of basketball. More than 20 percent of league players are international players and only a mere number of about five percent was the case during Nowitzki’s arrival. Out of the five major player awards given after the 2018-2019 season, four of the recipients were international players.<\/p>\n

The game’s also not defined by a dominant post-player anymore. Look around. Teams are desperate for floor-spacing bigs and look at Kristaps Porzingis<\/a><\/strong> for example.\u00a0The Unicorn\u00a0<\/em>and players like him are a luxury. It’s no coincidence Porzingis seemingly arrived in Dallas to take over Nowitzki’s reigns.<\/p>\n

Other international superstars, like reigning Rookie of the Year Luka Doncic<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>look up to the Big German. They say he is a legend and that he continues to inspire them. Nowitzki’s legacy goes so much farther than the dimensions of a basketball court.<\/p>\n