I think most of us here on the board are not giving Dirk the credit he deserves for what he does on the court. If he scores over 30,000 points he has to be considered one of the greatest players of all time. That would put his scoring up in the range of Jordan, Malone and Kareem. The top three scorers of all time. Kobe keeps getting hurt so who knows if he can go too much longer. Lebron at some point has to slow down but he is still young. Dirk has been to two championships and is 1-1 in the nba finals. The Mavs should have two rings but the refs controlled the first series like Mark Cuban said. It was when Cuban was getting fined all year for speaking the truth about the refs. Dwayne Wade shot more free throws than anyone I've ever seen in a finals. The Mavs could not play defense. If they looked at someone it was a foul. This after the Mavs had a 2-0 lead and then lost the 3rd game in overtime. Not buying it. Dirk was the mvp that year and they should have won the title both times.
All I'm saying is to not say Dirk is even in Birds category is not true. Like him or not, Dirk is a legend and his numbers are incredible. Even if Bird played another 6 or 7 years, there is no guarantee he would have played at near the level. Birds career numbers are higher averages per game only because he retired younger. I love Larry Bird but I also love Nowitzki and now Love. All three are some of the greatest basketball players that I have ever watched in my life yet they get very little publicity.
White Lightning, I wasn't trying to take anything away from Nowitzki. I think he'll go down as one of the all-time great players/scorers, I just think that much of Larry Bird. Admittedly, I have watched a lot more of Bird than Nowitzki.
Bird, Pts/G: 24.3 Reb/G: 10.0 Ast./G: 6.3 Stl./G: 1.7 FG%: .496 3P% .376 FT% .886 2P%: .509
Bird: 3 NBA titles and 3 MVP's
Nowitzki, Pts./G: 22.6 Reb/G: 8.2 Ast./G: 2.6 Stl./G: .9 FG%: .475 3P% .382 FT% .878 2P%: .497
Nowitzki: 1 NBA title and 1 or 2 MVP's. I'm not sure.
Again, nothing taken away from Nowitzki. He's an all-time great. I just saw a lot more of Bird. Bird's career averages are all better than Nowitzki's, except 3P%. Bird's assist average is way better than Nowitzki's. Bird was not only a great scorer, he was a great rebounder and passer. He has a career double/double average!
Bird has more titles and more MVP's. To me, Bird was one of those guys who made average players look and play better. Bird was still averaging a 20/9 in his mid 30's until he hurt his back. Nowitzki came into the NBA at 20, Bird was a 23 year old rookie. Bird won a title the next season at 24, his second season.
I don't know how else to say it. Just a great, great basketball player.
If he isn't the best, which I think he is, he's in the top 2/3!
With Nowitzki, I haven't watched him as much and he still has a lot left. He should get 30,000 points and that will be awesome, especially if he can get in the top 4/5. He'll go down as one of the all-time great players.
I do think Kevin Love, if he can stay healthy, can be better than Nowitzki, but he's got a lot of work to do!
Remember, Dallas at Minnesota tonight!
