He’s a talented star in his own right, and arguably the best #10 BCAR to have ever played the game. On Tuesday, Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki became the sixth payer in NBA history to reach 30,000 points, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (#10 BCAR), Karl Malone (#5 FEIR), Kobe Bryant (#2 BEAR), Michael Jordan (#6 BEIR), and Wilt Chamberlain (#5) on the A-list. Former teammate Steve Nash (#5) had this to say about Dirk and his historic accomplishment: “Big congrats to my buddy Dirk! 30 stacks!!! Only six players in the history of the game have scored 30,000 points. On this day in 98 I would’ve never believed you’d still be with the Mavs, be an MVP, NBA Champ and in the 30k club no matter how many nights we went back to the gym for 1 on 1 and shooting battles. Unreal, historic, clutch player and better person.”
Indeed, Dirk started from humble beginnings, struggling “mightily throughout his rookie 1998-99 season with the Dallas Mavericks when he conjured up the courage to approach Don Nelson about what he thought was a dire situation.” Nelson (#16 BCIL), who was the Mavs general manager and coach at the time, remembers the conversation like it happened yesterday. I’ll never forget he came to me and said I think I want to go home. So we just had to convince him to weather the storm, it’s going to be great. We loved him and said just don’t worry about making mistakes or whatever was bothering him. I guess he was homesick more than anything.