Last night was Dirk's final home game so they had a nice ceremony. Former stars Scottie Pippen, Shawn Kemp, Detlef Schrempf, Charles Barkley and even Larry Bird showed up on the court with him. Very respectful kiss off (Dallas plays final game on road tonight) for a player that had a long outstanding career. And one that was generally well liked throughout the league. I think Dirk is very sophisticated too. I think he likes opera?
It is a good thing he won a championship. That always helps a player's legacy. It was 2011 against the stacked Heat with LeBron, Wade and Bosh. Dirk won the MVP in that series and people were shocked Dallas won. And LeBron lost. Until the latter part of his career Dirk's Mavs team were always in contention.
Dirk had a mediocre rookie season (1998-99) and I remember the complaints about foreign players were getting louder back then. But he quickly quieted those folks down as he became a prolific scorer ( a big man who could also shoot from deep) and rebounder and his teams were always in the hunt. I rooted for the Mavs back then and especially when he was teamed up with Steve Nash.
Some players have an endurance gene and some fizzle out after a period. Dirk just kept on motoring. Was league MVP in 2007.
Now the torch has been passed to Luka Doncic. Luka had a triple double in the win last night and Dirk looked like his old self pouring in 30 points which is something considering how old he is.
As for Luka there are a couple of similarities to Dirk. Neither is what you call off the charts run/ jump testers but they have the feel, intuition and skill level to succeed at the highest levels. The NBA today is dotted with skilled not overly athletic types like Kyrie Irving and James Harden and Luka fits that mold. Heck Ty Jerome of Virginia just proved you don't have to be a stellar run/jump athlete to win. You need smarts and dexterity and quick thinking to go with fundamental basketball skills. Too often these run/ jump athletes turn out to be terrible basketball players who can't function within a team system.
Dirk because of his size and dexterity and shooting touch was a nightmare for opponents. And he got his hands dirty in the rebounding department.
Porzingis is not Dirk. He lacks the understanding of how to win games that came naturally to Dirk. One of the reasons the Knicks traded him. Porzingis is more like the raw black athletes that have entered the league, learning on the fly. He has great talent of course but can he process the game properly? It will be interesting though to see how he and Luka bring the Mavs back into contention. This team has a lot of holes to fill so their draft should be of great interest.
