Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki is one of the best shooting bigs to ever step foot on the hardwood. However, the Mavs icon believes that today's big men have better skills compared to the time when he entered the NBA.
Nowitzki sat down with Alex Squadron of Slam Online in China while the FIBA World Cup is well underway. One of the topics they covered in the interview was the development of skilled big men ever since he entered the league in the 1998-99 season.
The 14-time NBA All-Star had nothing but praise for the modern day bigs who are capable of spacing the floor and providing solid defense down low.
“The NBA when I first got there, every 4 or 5 was big and strong. They were rebounders and screen-setters. Then the NBA changed some of the rules — they brought in the back-down rule and put in the zone and the game changed,” Nowitzki said.
“Now every big man has to be able to shoot—at least the 4s can all shoot threes now. The League has gotten smaller, faster, more skilled. Even some of the 5s now can pick-and-pop and stretch you to the three-point line. So, it’s been amazing to watch the skill level, especially from the bigs, get so much better from when I first got in the League.”
Players like Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid, Kristapz Porzingis, Brook Lopez and Nikola Jokic are some of the most talented big men the league has seen over the past couple of years. Dirk played against most of them in his finals years in the league, and he is happy that more players like them will be coming in the future.
However, these same bigs have Nowitzki to thank for paving the way as a Maverick. He redefined the power forward and center positions during his 21 years with the Mavs, thanks to his superb shooting. Moreover, he introduced the unguardable one-footed fadeaway.
It's nice to see the Dirk enjoying the fruits of his labor. And he can expect more bigs in his build to show up in the coming years.
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