LeBron James has raved about Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki. A statue honoring Nowitzki was unveiled in Dallas on Sunday, after which the King began to sing the praises of the achievements and successes of the Würzburger.
“Dirk is a legend, he’s an icon, he’s the best international player of all time. I put him ahead of Manu [Ginobili]. What he gave to this town… the boy was cold as ice. Dirk was freezing,” James said after the Lakers’ 115-124 loss in Dallas on Christmas Day.
About an hour before tip-off of the game, Nowitzki was honored in an emotional ceremony when his statue was unveiled in front of the American Airlines Center in Dallas. “Before the statue was unveiled, I already knew what it would look like. It just had to be his one-legged fadeaway. No question,” LeBron said, referring to the artwork’s design and Nowitzki’s legendary throw.
“He revolutionized an entire position. He showed what a stretch four can look like, he mastered his game,” LeBron continued in his praise. “You couldn’t put a small player against him because he was too big. You also couldn’t put a big against him because he was too quick with his first step. And you couldn’t block his shot either, that was a bit Larry Bird-esk.”
James experienced it first hand on the NBA’s biggest stage. In 2011, the German led his Mavs, for whom he played for a total of 21 years in the association, with a spectacular performance to victory in the NBA Finals against LeBron’s Miami Heat and thus to the championship. In this series, Nowitzki averaged 26 points and 9.7 rebounds in six games, after which he was named Finals MVP. He was also a 14-time All-Star during his playing career and also won the regular-season MVP award in 2006-07.
“He’s one of the best power forwards of all time alongside Charles Barkley, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Kevin McHale and these guys. Dirk was tough,” James said of the Mavs legend’s place in NBA history.
