he's better then malone, malone had a hall of fame PG and coach and failed over the over in crunch time
More like Kiki Vanderweghe. Dirk just struck gold cuz they juggled a good roster around him this year
SHAQ Garnett Kobe Oscar Dr J Lebron possibly: David Robinson Karl Malone Dirk can get a top 25 when its all said and done and his teams keep winning, especially with a championship. Then there's Dwayne Wade who can make his way up the ranks with another championship. This isnt even Dirk's best playoffs, just shows what team success can do to reputation.
I see some very overrated, ringless, and pointless-to-compare-because-of-vastly-different-time-period names in there.
Actually, by several defensive measures, Dirk's defense has improved since the Mavericks acquired Tyson Chandler, since he doesn't have to guard centers at all anymore.
For Power Forwards, maybe. NO Order Tim Duncan Karl Malone Bob Pettit Elvin Hayes Charles Barkley Kevin McHale Kevin Garnett Jerry Lucas Dave DeBusschere Bob McAdoo Chris Webber Rasheed Wallace Top 10, definitely not Wilt Chamberlain Michael Jordan Magic Johnson Bill Russell Kareem Abdul Jabbar Oscar Robertson Larry Bird Hakeem Olajuwon (That's already 8 right there) Jerry West Shaquille O'Neal Moses Malone Elgin Baylor Tim Duncan Kobe Bryant Bob Pettit Julius Erving (Dr. J) Rick Barry Karl Malone Charles Barkley Isiah Thomas LeBron James David Robinson George Gervin John Havilcek Dominique Wilkins Patrick Ewing John Stockton Gary Payton Elvin Hayes Clyde Drexler
His defense has steadily improved over his entire career. Under Nelson, he was a very poor defender Under Avery, he became a very average defender, somewhat decent at times Under Carlisle (but mainly with acquisition of Chandler and Haywood), he doesn't have to guard in the paint as much.
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LeBron is not close to top 10? The guy averages 27.7 ppg, 7.0 apg and 7.1 rpg in his career. More rebounds and assists than MJ, by the way. Oh, and did I forget his playoff averages? 28.9 ppg, 7.1 apg and 8.6 rpg. I know a lot of guys don't like LeBron, but saying he's not close to a top 10 player is simply ignorant. And look at Dirk's playoff career averages: 25.6 ppg and 10.6 rpg sound pretty damn good to me. I mean, I hate the Mavs as much as anybody here, but you can't deny Dirk's exceptional skills offensively.
I wouldn't even say Dirk is a good rebounder. Good rebounders get 10 boards a game, great rebounders go for more than that. Guys like Barkley, Duncan, Hakeem etc. Those guys are great rebounders. Good rebounders would be guys like Bogut, Randolph, Lee etc. Nowitzki is only an average rebounder, at best a little better than average
you can't be a top 10 player of all time when for a few years, freakin' pau gasol was widely considered to be the best PF in the game. that's just a disgrace.
And by the way, Dirk is one of only four players in NBA history to average 25 points and 10 rebounds per game in the playoffs. I'm not saying he's a top 10 all time player (yet), but easily top 20.
This isn't even worth debating. Carlisle obviously thinks very highly of Nowitzki and knows better than anyone how Nowitzki makes everything easier for his team. If he wants to heap praise on his player, while prefacing it with "In my opinion", who cares?
