Mavericks legend, Dirk Nowitzki is one of the greatest fundamental players of all time. Dirk had an incredible career, playing for the Mavs his whole career. He won his first championship in 2011 in his 13th season against LeBron James’ Heat. But his championship run was not like any other.
The Mavs had played the Heat in the 2006 Finals but were taken under Miami’s control. While their rematch brought LeBron into the play, it didn’t exactly make a difference to Dirk. The 2011 championship run was unexpected for the Dallas team. But the teams they faced had even more star power than them.
Dirk went past all to go against LeBron James
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2011 Dirk wasn’t the best version of himself, but with his teammates around him, the overall team was full of veterans. A 37-year-old, Jason Kidd was the running point guard, and 33-year-old Jason Terry was the second-best scorer on the team. While this was Dirk’s only reliable support, his offensive arsenal was vast. Dirk still had the signature fadeaway in his bag.
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Though apart from completing pick and rolls and hitting his high arcing shots, Nowitzki wasn’t the best defensive player. Fans on Twitter had to respond to his defensive rating being low.
Humble 🐐 pic.twitter.com/You8YTVxsg
— LuKai (@mavsncowboys) June 10, 2022
Took down Kobe, KD,Russ, Lebron and Dwade
All in one Run
— Ezundercover (@Isidro1104Lopez) June 10, 2022
This is why we love you
— Jeff Skin Wade (@SkinWade) June 10, 2022
LOL
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) June 10, 2022
You don’t need defense when you’re the best offensive big man shooter ever 🤷🏽♀️😂
— Allison (@Allison_MFFL) June 10, 2022
That isn't you also because there's not enough bars on offence
— Rijjani Teijnders vuole l'esonero (@TommasoMandelli) June 11, 2022
The team was full of veterans and what they did have was IQ. Their offense was based around Dirk. He was a big threat on the offensive end, and it came to a point where he was a scorer as well as a facilitator. Dirk and the Mavs went past Kobe, Durant, and Russell in the playoffs. They matched up against the newly formed Heat team. It was LeBron’s second finals appearance. It wouldn’t take Dallas more than 6 games to get the job done.
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Nowitzki averaged 27 points in that postseason. At the age of 33, Dirk had finally won a championship. It seems quite unrealistic now that all the players Dirk went up against in his championship run have done extremely well. To beat KD and Kobe and ‘King James‘ in the Finals is definitely a great feat.
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Who do you think had the best championship run? Do let us know in the comments.
