[Afseth] Dirk Nowitzki: … “I wasn’t a great rebounder, defender, none of that. I was a scorer at heart, and I always wanted to score for my team and get us going, and that was the best part of my game.”
I asked Dirk Nowitzki at his Hall of Fame press conference in Connecticut for his view on how his game may be viewed when observers reflect on his impact 20, 40+ years from now.
"Probably just the ability to shoot at the seven-foot frame. That was really my strength, of course,… pic.twitter.com/IntScvtvt3
— Grant Afseth (@GrantAfseth) August 11, 2023
by Kimber80
10 Comments
My man talking off the court too
First part of tweet for context:
I asked Dirk Nowitzki at his Hall of Fame press conference in Connecticut for his view on how his game may be viewed when observers reflect on his impact 20, 40+ years from now.
“Probably just the ability to shoot at the seven-foot frame. That was really my strength, of course, doing little other things, but people always remember me for my ability to stretch the floor and play in the mid-range a little bit — some of my fadeaway shots. So that’s really what I brought to the game”. ..
I love how humble Dirk is. That’s why it’s unfair to put down players like Dirk & Melo in comparison to this generation of players. At the Forward position growing up they weren’t being asked to be all around players who fill up the stat sheet, they simply always played to their strengths which were elite. Now you’ve got PF’s like Pascal Siakam averaging 6 APG while never being called a great “facilitator” because this is an era of position-less basketball where everybody is capable of playing any role within the offense.
That fadeaway he developed made him a HOFer, it’s crazy how one move can change an entire career
He averaged 9 rebounds for a 9 year stretch while playing PF that’s pretty good.
Well done mate.
Dirk is selling himself short lol.
He was no Dennis Rodman on the boards but he averaged 10 rebounds a game in the playoffs. He was no Duncan defensively but he holds his own and have played in some great defensive teams.
Dirk “I played in the midrange a little bit”
Yeah and Shaq occasionally ventured down into the low post.
Give that Dirk was essentially a small forward (I know he is listed as a PF, but he played out on the wing a lot), he was pretty much the best rebounder at the SF position in the league when he player.
He’s really underselling his rebounding. There was an 8-year span when he averaged over 9 boards a game in that time.
1 of 4 players to average 25 and 10 in the playoffs for their career. Dude is too humble, he’d have big rebounding games in the playoffs constantly