Dirk Nowitzki

The German might be the most valuable player in the NBA

The Power Forward from the Dallas Mavericks has been labelled soft for years. Now with a championship ring, he's hoping to change that.

No NBA fan should ever underestimate Dirk Nowitzki and his signature fadeaway jumper. Nowitzki has been labelled soft and unable to perform at last minute plays. But Nowitzki is a serious matchup for any player in the league. His statistics are staggering and since he joined the NBA in 1998, he has accomplished achievements that even some of the legends could not have done. Nowitzki's a versatile player with his combination of quickness, ball handling and exceptional shooting. His unique shooting style gives him unfair advantage and makes him almost unstoppable. The famous Lebron James called his signature one-legged fadeaway the second most unstoppable move ever. "You have a seven-footer fading away off one leg. There is no one that can block that shot," said James. His unique type of play made him one of the best players in the NBA, and the player has been compared with the legendary Larry Bird.

Dirk Nowitzki has been unnoticed by fans as they claim Nowitzki's defense is a weakness. In the beginning of his career, Nowitzki had a rough start and struggled in playing defense because of his unique style of play. This weakness became a target to rivals and they often underestimate his defensive skills. Now Dirk is an efficient defensive player. He is ranked 8th in active players for defensive win shares, which is a higher status than Kobe Bryant who made it into the NBA All-Defensive team 11 times. This denies the claims of his lack of defense and fans should have no more reasons to ignore Nowitzki.

Nowitzki is a highly decorated player with many awards and achievements. He recently reached 25,000 career points, making him the 21st player in NBA history to score that high. Other career highlights include:

• NBA champion (2011)
• NBA finals MVP (2011)
• NBA most valuable player (2007)
• 11x NBA All-star
• 2 FIBA world championship (2002,2006)

Nowitzki has been under-appreciated for most of is career. He now has a championship ring and is one of the few players to score more than 25,000. People need to pay attention to him more, as he truly deserves it.

Bibliography:

Butlet, Nathaniel S. "Simply Mav-elous." Hoop Magazine June 2011: 34-35. Web.

Highkin, Sean. "Dirk Nowitzki Reaches 25,000 Career Points." USA Today. Gannett, 14 Apr. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2013. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2013/04/14/dirk-nowitzki-dallas-mavericks-scoring-points-milestone/2083063/>.

Kerby, Trey. "Even the Heat Love Dirk's One-legger." The Basketball Jones. The Score, 31 May 2011. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://blogs.thescore.com/tbj/2011/05/31/even-the-heat-love-dirks-one-legger/>.