page_title: Dirk Nowitzki
section_title: Player profile
hierarchical_section_title: Dirk Nowitzki / Player profile
caption_attribution_description: Freiwurf Dirk Nowitzki beim NBA Spiel der Dallas Mavericks gegen den Gastgeber Charlotte Bobcats.
context_page_description: Dirk Werner Nowitzki is a German retired professional basketball player. An alumnus of the DJK Würzburg basketball club, Nowitzki was chosen as the ninth pick in the 1998 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Bucks and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks, where he played his entire 21-year National Basketball Association career.
  Listed at 7 ft 0 in, Nowitzki is widely regarded as one of the greatest power forwards of all time and he is considered by many to be the greatest European player of all time. Nowitzki led the Mavericks to 15 NBA playoff appearances, including the franchise's first Finals appearance in 2006 and its only NBA championship in 2011. Known for his scoring ability, versatility, accurate outside shooting, and trademark fadeaway jump shot, Nowitzki won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2007 and the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in 2011.
  Nowitzki is the only player ever to play for a single NBA franchise for 21 seasons. He is a 14-time All-Star, a 12-time All-NBA Team member, the first European player to start in an All-Star Game, and the first European player to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player Award.
context_section_description: Nowitzki was a versatile frontcourt player who mostly played the power forward position, but also played center and small forward in his career. An exceptional shooter for his size, Nowitzki made 88% of his free throws, nearly 50% of his field goal attempts and nearly 40% of his 3-point shots, and won the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Contest. In the 2006–07 season, 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.
  Nowitzki's shooting accuracy, combined with his long seven-foot frame and unique shooting mechanics (such as having a release point above his head), made his jump shots difficult to contest. Before the start of the 2011 NBA Finals, LeBron James called Nowitzki's one-legged fadeaway the second most unstoppable move ever, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook.
  Additionally, Nowitzki could drive to the basket from the perimeter like few men his size were able to do. NBA.com lauded 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." Charles Barkley said the best way to guard Nowitzki was to "get a cigarette and a blindfold". Later on in his career, Nowitzki also developed an unorthodox post-up game, often backing down his opponents from the free throw line or near the middle of the key, opening up the floor for multiple passing angles should a double team come his way.
  Nowitzki was the sixth player in NBA history, and the first European, to hit the 30,000-point milestone. Apart from being the Mavericks' all-time leader in points, rebounds, field goals, field goal attempts, 3-pointers, 3-point attempts, blocks, free throws, and free-throw attempts, Nowitzki made the NBA All-Star games fourteen times and the All-NBA Teams twelve times. He was voted NBA MVP of the 2006–07 NBA season, becoming the first European player to receive the honor, as well as the MVP of the 2011 NBA Finals. Other achievements include winning the 2006 Three-Point Contest and the 2017 NBA Teammate of the Year award, being voted European Basketballer of the Year five times in a row by La Gazzetta dello Sport. He was the leading scorer and MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and EuroBasket 2005 tournaments.
  Nowitzki is the only player to record at least 31,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists, 1,000 steals, 1,000 blocks and 1,000 three-point field goals.
caption: Nowitzki shooting a free-throw against the Charlotte Bobcats on November 11, 2005
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 300D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2005:11:20 10:43:33", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "188", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2453", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9486", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/160", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:11:11 22:03:12", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:11:11 22:03:12", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "239925/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "162885/32768", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "162885/32768", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "517", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "3072", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "2048", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2288", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "768000/223", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "409600/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Landscape"}