The Dallas Mavericks moved to 16-17 on the season with their 122-119 win against the New Orleans Pelicans, and Dirk Nowitzki reached another milestone. Dirk became the sixth player in NBA history to win 900 games:
With the win tonight, @swish41 has become just the sixth player EVER with 900 career wins! Congrats Dirk! š #MFFL pic.twitter.com/9jiFP0Yexo
ā Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) December 27, 2018
An ankle injury has hampered Nowitzki in his 21st season. He has played in only six games this season and is averaging only 3.0 points in 8.6 minutes a game. In their win against New Orleans, he played 11 minutes, scored seven points and posted an uncharacteristic two steals and three blocks.
From 2001 to 2015, Nowitzki was named an All Star every season except an injury-plagued 2012-2013 season. Over that span, he led the Mavs to numerous playoff appearances, including their NBA title in 2011. Nowitzki and Dallas managed to upset the Miami Heat in LeBron James' first season after leaving Cleveland.
Nowitzki has played every season of his lengthy career in Dallas, and that longevity is the reason why he has joined this most recent club. He joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Parish, Tim Duncan, John Stockton and Karl Malone. Kareem, Parish and Duncan are the only three players to win more than 1,000 games.
During the offseason, Dirk Nowitzki signed a one-year, $5 million contract with Dallas. Many have speculated that he will retire at season's end. Dallas is currently in 12th place in the Western Conference but only sit two games out of the eighth seed. The Mavs traded the No. 5 pick and a future pick to Atlanta to move up to take Luka Doncic, so the team has every incentive to give Dirk one last playoff appearance.
The Mavs will complete the second half of a home-and-home back-to-back with the Pelicans Thursday night in New Orleans.
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