Dirk Nowitzki put the Dallas Mavericks on the map.
He was a bit of a late bloomer, but one that became one of the most influential players of his generation once he took off.
He led the franchise to its only two appearances in the NBA Finals, both against the Miami Heat.
And, as most of you may remember from that epic series in 2011, he didn’t really get along with LeBron James, especially after he mocked him for being sick.
But after all these years, there’s nothing but respect between the two stars.
LeBron didn’t hesitate to give Dirk his flowers upon the unveiling of his statue outside of American Airlines Center, going as far as to call him the greatest international player ever:
“First of all, before the [unveiling] of what the statue will look like, I already knew what the statue was going to look like,” James said. “It had to be a fadeaway on one leg. It had to be. No question about it.”
“Dirk is a legend. He is an icon. I think he is the greatest international player ever,” LeBron added. “He’s right there with Manu [Ginobili]. What he brought here, what he brought to the city, that boy was cold, man. Dirk was cold. He revolutionized what a stretch-four big looked like.”
LBJ on DW pic.twitter.com/LgmG04WKWB
— James Burnes (@JamesBurnes8) December 25, 2022
James and Dirk sure had some epic battles, especially in that NBA Finals series.
But regardless of how they may feel about each other personally, no one can take anything away from what they accomplished on the court.
