So after establishing himself as a consistent and dominant force, Dirk Nowitzki makes quite the convincing case as the best European player ever to play NBA basketball.
And yet. Two essential components are missing from Nowitzki’s true Hall of Fame career: Top-rate defensive ability and an NBA championship title.
Ball in Europe does a pretty complete rundown of Dirkalicious in pursuit of the validity of him being the greatest Euro player ever.
The defensive questions that hounded him earlier in his career have largely faded away as he’s become savvier. He’ll never be considered great because he’s tall and not ferocious defensively. If you’re big you’re supposed to foul people like it’s assault and battery. If you’re small, no worries, just don’t be Nash.
And certainly Dirk did have defensive issues, but the offense…it’s unreal. Even as it happened we were lost in Kobe’s theatrics, Nash’s run and gun, Iverson. The MVP discussion only caused resentment against him when honestly, he’s been a top player in the league for most of the decade.
Ball in Europe supposes Gasol might overtake him. It becomes harder to stave off talk of Gasol, and he certainly is terrific, but I still don’t feel you can compare the two. When Gasol was put as the primary scorer, the elite guy, the go-to man, his team floundered in first round exithood at their peak and then fell apart completely. Dallas has made the playoffs a bajillion times in the row and gotten to the semifinals at the very least more often than not.
I’m open to this changing as the years go by, but for now, I can’t think of anyone better than Nowitzki from the Continent. That’s what they call it, right?
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“When Gasol was put as the primary scorer, the elite guy, the go-to man, his team floundered in first round exithood at their peak and then fell apart completely. Dallas has made the playoffs a bajillion times in the row and gotten to the semifinals at the very least more often than not.”
who were the people that were surrounding both when they were the primary option?
I’m thinking Dirk always had pretty good pieces to work with. He had all stars, budding stars, and an owner willing to pay good money for everything (from stat guys to the players themselves)
While Pau Gasol got Shane Battier, Mike Miller, and the unsweetened Jason Williams
I agree Nowitzki’s better than Gasol but you can’t compare Gasol’s teammates in Memphis with Nash, Devin Harris, Michael Finley, Josh Howard and Jason Terry. That’s already five players better than anyone who played for Memphis at that time. And don’t give me Shane Battier, he’s not supposed to be the second best player on a contender.