Last night, in an overtime win over the Brooklyn Nets, Dirk Nowitzki passed Moses Malone to move into seventh place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, after passing Hakeem Olajuwon and Elvin Hayes earlier in the season. He overtook Malone on a shot that actually mattered, a three-point dagger that closed the door on the Nets.
To put Nowitzki’s achievement into perspective, here is Mavs broadcaster Mark Followill:
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69 seasons and 3,972 players in the NBA, and now Dirk stands 7th amongst them all. Think about that
— Mark Followill (@MFollowill) January 6, 2015
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I SEE YOU, BIG GERMAN. Dang. Also, here is an illustrative chart put together by Mavs Moneyball writer Tim Cato a few weeks ago that shows how many points Dirk (and Michael Jordan) would have if they had the same amount of shot attempts as Kobe Bryant.
Next on the list is Shaquille O’Neal, but if/when Dirk passes Shaq, aka The Big Aristotle, aka The Big Daddy, aka Shaq Fu, aka The Diesel, aka Manny Shaq-iaou, aka Wilt Chamberneezy, aka The Big Shamrock, aka The Big Shaqtus, aka MDE, aka The Big Baryshnikov, aka The Big Galactus, aka The Big Leprechaun, aka The Big Agave, aka The Real Deal, aka Hobo Master (?), it won’t be this season. He’d have to average almost 26 points a game over the remainder of the schedule, and since it’s not 2007, that is probably not going to happen.
As always, I’d like to remind everyone how amazing it is that we have been lucky enough to enjoy the entirety of Dirk’s career. And even better: it’s not over yet.
