2006 NBA Playoffs

Now that Dirk Nowitzky has the Dallas Mavericks on the brink of a championship in the 2006 NBA playoffs, I think it’s official: Dirk Diggler is no longer the most famous Dirk in the world and the Cowboys may be quickly fading as the most beloved Dallas sports team.

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In a game where experts and analysts live to compare current players to past stars, Dirk Nowitzky is in a league of his own. Most 7-footers play within 4-6 feet from the basket, but Dirk has the ability to play every spot on the floor because of his uncanny agility for a man of his size. He has caught some comparisons to Larry Bird and I can see several similarities, but Dirk is doing things that Larry did and he’s 4 inches taller.

There are a handful of guys around the league now who are 6’9’’ and can handle the ball, shoot, and pass-namely Tracy McGrady. But there has never been a 7-footer with Dirk Nowitzky’s ability to do it all. And unlike almost all 7-footers, it is his ability to play away from the basket which makes him special.

Smaller players don’t stand a chance blocking his mid-range fade away and you can’t guard him with bigs away from the basket because he’ll put the ball on the floor and drive. Dirk has proven over the course of the playoffs that he might be the toughest matchup in the NBA today. And how ironic that the best player in the NBA Finals is a German stealing thunder away from his country’s national team in a year when they are hosting the world cup.

If Dirk can close the door on the Heat, help us win a few more NBA picks, and capture his first NBA title, he will solidify himself as one of the all-time greats already in his young career. It has taken him a few years to gain the respect he’s deserved for quite sometime from fans because he is a fundamental player not concerned with flashiness.

Fans instantly fell in love with Vince Carter because of his high wire acts, but Dirk’s popularity is synonymous with winning just as it should be because winning is the ultimate mark of a great player. It’s no longer just the pro football Cowboys or Debbie doing it for Dallas. Dirk Nowitzky is now the lone star in the Lonestar State.