InterBasket > Player Profiles > Dirk Nowitzki, Germany > talk

IBN Facts: Dirk Nowitzki is slowly moving up the list of the best interntional players ever to wear a basketball jersey. At 7-0 (2,13) Nowitzki possesses the unique ability to bring up the ball, spot up for the three, and most recently shown in the 2006 NBA Playoffs, an effective post game. Dirk has a deadly jumpshot from the three-point arc and in, a jumpshot that is virtually undefendale due to his shooting form and release point. It's arguable that it would be easier to block Kareem's jumphook.

Arvydas Sabonis, Sergei Belov, Drazen Petrovic, Oscar Schmidt, Vlade Divac... Nowitzki is carving his name alongside legends of the past. He continually posts huge numbers in the NBA, owning the two top spots in points by an international player in a NBA game (53 points vs. Houston 12/02/04 and51 points vs. Golden State 03/23/06). As of 2006, he has participated in 5 straight all-star games and has been part of an All-NBA Team every season including the first team both in 2005 and 2006 making Dirk the first player in NBA history not to attend a United States high school or college to be on the All-NBA first team (2004-05). And these were no easy feats because during this time, it seems as every team had all-star forwards putting up great numbers; Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Elton Brand, Pau Gasol, Shawn Marion, Amare Stoudemire, Rashard Lewis, Carmelo Anthony, and Andrei Kirilenko. AND thats just the Western Conference.



Further cementing his Intenational Superstar status; Dirk Nowitzki lead Germany to a surprising second-place finish in the 2005 Eurobasket held in Belgrade, Serbia and was named the MVP of those European Championships. And to top it off, Nowitzki was hen named the NBA's best international player by NBA general managers prior to the 2005-06 NBA Season.
He walked into the 2005-06 NBA playoffs as an uncertainty after underperfoming in last year's postseason, but this year, Dirk has quietly quieted his critics by leading Dallas to the second best record in the Western Conference. Keep in mind that Steve Nash was in Dallas and Michael Finley was coming off the bench for the Spurs. This was Dirk and his Nowitznesses; Josh Howard, Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, DeSagana Diop, and Devin Harris. Dirk tied Kobe Bryant for the most points in a game during these playoffs by scoring 50 points against the Phoenix Suns in game 5 of the Western Conference finals. Dirk has grown up before us by seamlessly added the ability to drive to the basket and post up regularly to his already league-respected efficient jumpshot.

We all are Nowitznesses.