Dirk Nowitzki's one-legged fadeaway is one of the most iconic moves in NBA history. The Dallas Mavericks legend utilized all of his seven-foot frame and sweet-shooting ability into this single move. During Nowitzki's prime, this move was unstoppable. You just can't guard against this shot. You can't!
In a recent Twitter Spaces appearance, Dirk Nowitzki revealed the origin story of his iconic one-leg fadeaway. The Mavs icon, in a nutshell, said that his fadeaway was a result of him improvising moves on the fly. (via NBA)
“I was trying to create a shot that I could always shoot – that doesn’t take a lot of energy. I was comfortable shooting off one leg. Since I was 15, 16 years old, I always worked on runners and running hook shots.”
“So I was always comfortable shooting off one leg, and so I kinda just made it up on the fly. Honestly, I shot it once and it felt good. And it didn’t a lot of energy, then I shot it a little more and more as part of my repertoire.”
Nowitzki's fade-away was one-of-a-kind. Normal fadeaways are meant to be harder to block, but the Mavs superstar took it to another level by going off of one leg to release his shot. The high release point, along with his other leg protecting his body, made it one of the “unblockable” moves in the NBA, similar to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook.
The influence of Nowitzki can be seen up until today. Players like Kevin Durant and LeBron James feature the one-legged fadeaway heavily in their repertoire. Hell, even current Mavs prodigy Luka Doncic uses Dirk Nowitzki's move! It's a testament to Dirk's legacy that his moves are still being used by the game's best players today.
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