Back in January, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd raised eyebrows by claiming Dallas guard Luka Doncic was the best player in franchise history over Dirk Nowitzki, and that he belonged in the same pantheon as Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.
Nowitzki has long been synonymous with Mavericks basketball. He played in over 1,500 games for Dallas across his 21-year career, making 13 All-Star teams and delivering the franchise its only NBA championship in 2011. The German 7-footer was was also inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last year in 2023.
At 25 years old, Doncic was actually born during Dirk's rookie season with Dallas — on Feb. 28, 1999. While the Slovenian still has a long way to go to match some of Nowitzki's professional accomplishments, his first six years in the NBA so far do match up pretty favorably when compared to his former teammate.
Here's a closer look at how the two compare ahead of Game 1 of the 2024 Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night between the Mavericks and Timberwolves.
Regular season
Truth be told, Doncic and Nowitzki's rookie years in the league couldn't have gone differently. While Doncic was named Rookie of the Year in 2018-19 after averaging 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, Nowitzki's league debut was delayed by the 1998-99 NBA lockout. The season eventually started in February, but the 7-footer struggled so bad during his first year that he even contemplated going back to Germany for the rest of his professional career.
Nowitzki stuck it out, finished second in Most Improved Player voting in 1999-2000 and made his first All-NBA team in his third year in 2000-01. Dirk went on to earn All-NBA honors in each of the next three seasons, and he finished his first six years in the league averaging 20.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 444 total games while shooting 46.4% from the field and 37.2% from 3-point range.
Doncic, meanwhile, was named to the All-NBA First Team in his second year in 2019-20. That season, he ended up finishing fourth in MVP voting and made his first All-Star appearance. In the four years since, he has finished inside the top-5 of MVP voting two more times and made first-team All-NBA all four seasons.
In exactly 400 career regular season games, Doncic has averaged 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists while shooting 47.0% from the field and 34.7% from 3-point range.
When comparing the two, it is important to note that Doncic has been the Mavericks' No. 1 offensive option his entire career. While he has had capable teammates over the years like Kyrie Irving, Jalen Brunson and Harrison Barnes, the Slovenian has had a usage rate of 35.7% over his first six seasons.
By comparison, Nowitzki had a usage rate of 24.4% during his first six years in the NBA. Dallas had a few more options offensively back then, including Michael Finley (20.6 ppg from 1998-99 to 2003-04) and Steve Nash (14.6 ppg).
Dirk finished his first six seasons with an average Player Efficiency Rating of 21.9. Doncic has a career PER of 25.7.
Playoffs
While Nowitzki is lauded for leading Dallas to its only two conference titles and only NBA championship in franchise history, he actually didn't experience much postseason success during the opening stretch of his career.
Nowitzki didn't make his playoff debut until his third season in 2001, when the Mavericks made it to the Western Conference semis before losing in five games to the Spurs. Dallas made the semis again in 2002 and earned a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2003, but it ultimately lost to San Antonio again after Dirk sprained his knee in Game 3 and didn't return to the series.
The following year in 2004, the Mavericks fell to Sacramento, 4-1, in the first round. In his first six seasons, Nowitzki played in 40 playoff games, averaging 25.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game.
Doncic will make his second career appearance in the Western Conference Finals this year against the Timberwolves. Back in 2022, Luka led the Mavericks to the WCF before falling to the eventual-champion Golden State Warriors. Dallas didn't make the postseason in 2023.
The Slovenian's first two playoff appearances in 2020 and 2021 each lasted one series. The Mavericks lost to the Clippers on both occasions — in six games in the Bubble in 2020 and in seven games in 2021.
In a fun coincidence, Doncic has also played 40 career playoff games so far. He is averaging 31.0 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game in the postseason. The only player in NBA history with a better scoring average in the playoffs is Michael Jordan at 33.4 points per game.
The future
The first stretch of Nowitzki's career featured moderate success, but it was the later years where he truly blossomed into a franchise legend.
Nowitzki's seventh season in 2004-05 saw him finish third in MVP voting, but the Mavericks didn't make it out of the Western Conference semis after losing to Nash and the Suns in six games. It would be the eighth that saw he and Dallas emerge as conference champions.
After winning the MVP award while averaging 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists during the 2005-06 regular season, Nowitzki led the Mavericks past the Grizzlies, Spurs and Suns in the Western Conference before meeting the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Led by Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neale, Miami won the 2006 Finals in six games.
Dallas won the first two games of the series before losing the next four to the Heat. Dirk shot just 39% from the field in the Finals after shooting 49.4% across the previous three playoff series.
The Mavericks made the playoffs in each of the next four seasons, but they didn't make it back to the Western Finals again until 2011, when they took down the Thunder in five games. And in the 2011 NBA Finals against the LeBron-Wade-Bosh Miami Heat, Nowitzki averaged 26.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game to lead Dallas to its first title in franchise history.
Nowitzki was 32 years old when he won his only NBA championship. His numbers gradually declined over the next seven seasons before his final year in 2018-19, which happened to be Doncic's rookie season. From 2012-19, Dallas made four playoff appearances but never made it out of the first round.
If Doncic is able to lift the Mavericks to a series win over Minnesota, he will reach his first NBA Finals two years before Nowitzki, who was 27 during the team's run to the 2006 Finals. And if he can somehow will Dallas to a title, he'll cement himself alongside some of the game's all-time greats.
Only eight players have won an NBA Finals MVP at age 25 or younger — Magic Johnson (2x), Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tony Parker, Dwyane Wade, Bill Walton and Dennis Johnson.
But if Doncic and the Mavericks crash out of the Western Finals, there will need to be some serious conversations about whether Dallas' roster, as currently constructed, can lift the team to a higher level in the future.
If Dallas can find the right pieces to fit with Doncic, he could not only cement himself as the best player in franchise history, but also one of the game's all-time greats.
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