Dirk Nowitzki was born June 19, 1978. Dirk Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An alumnus of Röntgen Gymnasium and DJK Würzburg basketball club, Nowitzki was drafted ninth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1998 NBA Draft, and was immediately traded to the Mavericks, where he has played ever since. Standing at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), Nowitzki plays the power forward position but also has the mobility, size, and shooting ability to play the other frontcourt positions, center and small forward.
Dirk Nowitzki has led the Mavericks to ten consecutive NBA Playoffs (2000–01 to 2009–10), including a Conference Finals appearance in 2003 and an NBA Finals appearance in 2006. He is a nine-time NBA All-Star and ten-time member of the All-NBA Teams, and is the first European-born player in NBA history to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player award. He is the first Maverick ever to be voted into an All-NBA Team and also holds several all-time Mavericks franchise records.
Dirk Nowitzki led the German national basketball team to a bronze medal in the 2002 FIBA World Championship and the silver medal in EuroBasket 2005, and was leading scorer and elected Most Valuable Player in both tournaments. Regarded as one of the best European players in basketball history, Nowitzki was named the Euroscar European Basketball Player of the Year by the Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport for five years in a row, the Mister Europa European Player of the Year by the Italian sports magazine Superbasket in 2005, and the FIBA Europe Basketball Player of the Year the same year.
Dirk Nowitzki is a versatile frontcourt player who mostly plays the power forward position, but has also played center, small forward and point forward throughout his career. With career averages of over 20 points and nearly 9 rebounds, he is a constant double-double threat. Dirk Nowitzki is considered one of the best shooters in the game, hitting over 87% of his free throws, connecting on almost 50% of his field goal attempts and on almost 40% of his three-point shots, and is also winner of the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout competition. In 2006–07 Nowitzki became only the fifth member of the NBA's 50-40-90 Club for players who shot 50% or better from the field, 40% or better on three-pointers, and 90% or better on free-throws in a single season while achieving the NBA league minimum number of makes in each category. His shooting accuracy, combined with his tall seven-foot frame, makes him a tough defensive assignment, because he can shoot over most players. NBA.com lauds his versatility by stating: "The 7–0 forward who at times mans the pivot can strike fear in an opponent when he corrals a rebound and leads the break or prepares to launch a three-point bomb." One of the forward's main problems remains defense, where he averages just over one block per game and never made an All-Defense Team. However, in a 2005 ESPN article, Nowitzki was voted the tenth best power forward of all time and was lauded for his "revolutionary" outside-shooting skills.
Dirk Nowitzki is the 34th player in NBA history, and the first European to hit the 20,000 point milestone. Apart from being the Dallas Mavericks' all-time leader in points, rebounds, field goals, field goal attempts, 3-pointers, 3-point attempts, free throws, and free-throw attempts, Nowitzki has made the NBA All-Star games nine times, and the All-NBA Teams ten times. He was voted NBA MVP of the 2006–07 NBA season, becoming the first European player to receive the honor. Other achievements include winning the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout, being voted "European Basketballer of the Year" five times in a row by Gazzetta dello Sport, and being the leading scorer and MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and Eurobasket 2005 tournaments.
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