Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki finished his 20-year career with 31,560 points, good for sixth on the all-time scoring list. It goes without saying that he's one of the best scoring big men in the history of the NBA.

Nowitzki appeared on an episode of Ben and Skin and was asked about who he considered his best defender.

The NBA champion didn't give any names, but admitted that it wasn't the taller, heavier defenders, and neither were the much smaller, but quicker defenders. In fact, it was the “medium-sized” guys a la Shawn Marion that were the toughest match-ups for the 7-foot, sweet-shooting German.

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
Mavericks Clippers prediction

Dominik Zawartko ·

Dallas Maverick Kyrie Irving Team USA Olympics roster NBA Playoffs

Peter Sampson ·

Dereck Lively II (Mavericks) looking serious.

Joey Mistretta ·

“It's not always the tall, tall guys because I felt like I could drive [past] those. It wasn't also the little guys because I could just shoot over them. It was the medium guys, the Shawn Marion's. They're smaller and way quicker than me so my first step they're still there and when I turn around they're still long and athletic enough to jump and contest the shot. Those guys, the 6'7″ to 6'9″ guys were tough.”

Obviously, Nowitzki's height and length give him a huge advantage when little guards get switched onto him down the block. Likewise, when the taller guys try their luck at defending him, he's quick enough on his feet to beat them off the dribble, similar to what he did to Chris Bosh in his game-winning layup in Game 2 of the 2011 NBA Finals.

There weren't a lot of those quick 6-foot-7 to 6-foot-9 power forwards during Nowitzki's prime. But in today's NBA, that's pretty much the standard for the four position as the game has evolved into a much quicker pace.