Over Rated

I am probably coming late to the party, but since my blog is still in its first week of existence you’ll have to excuse the tardiness of this topic, and hopefully still find it interesting.  Rick Carlisle made a claim that Dirk Nowitzki is a top ten player of all time. When we heard that most of us, even the most ardent of Mavs homers, probably thought something along the lines of “tap the brakes their buddy.” I took special exception to his claim, because I am fervent in my belief that Dirk is one of the most overrated players in NBA history.

Quick (Or maybe not so quick) tangent. This post will probably upset some people for a few reasons. First, people will interpret overrated to mean bad. I do not believe Dirk is a bad player (I might repeat that a few times) more on this later. Second, people who know me will say “you just don’t like the Mavs”, which is half true. I don’t like the Mavs, but they do employ former Gator great and 2 time NCAA champion Corey Brewer so I don’t dislike the Mavs (and please, given the timing of the post do not make this a Mavs - Heat thing, because it is not). Third, and probably the most legitimate reason to write this off, I am not an NBA fan. Not in the current iteration anyways. I began to type out the reasons why, but perhaps in the spirit of brevity I will save that for another day.

Onwards, upwards, and back to the task at hand.  Dirk is not a top ten all time player, probably not a top 50 all time player and possibly not a top 100 all time player. To begin I will list my top ten, in no particular order. I will save that for another day too (I believe in the industry that is called a tease).  Keep in mind that any list like this can’t be perfect, there will be players whom I can only go off what I have read and heard about them, because I am way too young to have seen them play.  My top ten includes: Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Jerry West, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Duncan, and Kobe Bryant.  This list might be a little heavy on more contemporary players, but in general I lean towards athletes these days being bigger stronger and faster than those of yester years. Thus, it take a true one of a kind player from “the old days” to crack this list.

Here is my major complaint with Dirk. He is a one way player. He is a great shooter, and he has made huge leaps forward in his post play and overall toughness. However, to be one of the true elites you need to start great and get better. He started as a good shooter, and developed in to a more complete offensive threat.  He is still merely and adequate rebounder and a subpar defender, if not an outright defensive liability.  The all time greats get it done in all three phases. They play offense they rebound (relative to their position) and play good defense.

There is still a lot to be played out in the career of many active players in the NBA. Of the current players, I can think of at least 10 whom I’d project rather have career wise than Dirk Nowitzki. Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, Derrick Rose, Carmelo Anthony, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Pau Gasol. Some of those names may be debatable. There are some names who maybe should have been included (KG, LaMarcus Aldridge, Amare Stoudemire, Blake Griffin). The point is if he is debatable for not being in the top ten of his era, then there is a good chance he is not top 50 all time. Please feel free to tell me how I am wrong.