Dirk Nowitskie

Dirk Werner Nowitzki (born June 19, 1978) is a German professional basketball player who plays for theDallas 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 otherfrontcourt positions, center and small forward.

Nowitzki has led the Mavericks to eleven consecutive NBA Playoffs (2000–01 to 2010–11), including NBA Finals appearances in 2006 and in 2011. He is a ten-time NBA All-Star and eleven-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.

Nowitzki and only three players in NBA history have averaged more than 25 points and 10 rebounds in the playoffs. Only Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have managed four consecutive 30 point 15 rebound games in the playoffs. Additionally, Nowitzki is the only player in NBA history to get over 100 blocks and 150 three pointers in a single season.

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 has been a seven time European Player of the Year, being 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.