Dirk Nowitzki Gets His Ring

Charles Barkley. Karl Malone. John Stockton. Dirk Nowi...oh, wait. For quite a while, with age creeping up on him, it was looking like Dirk Nowitzki was going to be joining the ranks of the great players who didn't win the big one. Dallas had put together a team in 2006 that looked capable of winning it all. They went up 2-0 in the Finals and then ended up losing four in a row to Miami. In 2007, when the Mavs had the best record in the league, they were unceremoniously ushered out of the playoffs in the first round by the eighth seeded Golden State Warriors. Following that debacle, they still continued their struggles, not going deep into the playoffs. To many it seemed as if the window was closing (or had already closed) for Dirk Nowitzki. While still productive and putting up good numbers, age was becoming a factor.

This year's team was believed to have a similar fate as those other Mavs teams of the past few seasons. Then, Dallas stunned the Lakers and ousted them from the playoffs in a four game sweep. Dirk was playing big and making big shots. Dallas was beginning to look like a team capable of winning a title. However, even while the Mavs were doing things impressively out west, Miami moved through the Eastern Conference bracket, making light work of heavyweights Boston and Chicago. There seemed to be a sense of inevitability about the Heat.

When Miami won game one, it seemed once again like they were on the way. Yet, Dirk and the Mavs never gave up, and, after going down 2-1 on Miami, won 3 in a row and got their revenge for the 2006 loss. As a result of this improbable Finals victory, Dirk Nowitzki has moved himself into the winners circle of NBA superstars. Others went on fruitless searches for their illusive title. In desperate attempts at a ring Barkley and Malone moved on to other teams. Barkley first went to Phoenix, a justifiable move in which he was still the face of the franchise, but then moved on to Houston to team up with two other aging superstars in Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler. The title never came. Karl Malone tried to get some of the Kobe-Shaq magic to rub off on him and lowered himself to a supporting cast role on the 2004 Lakers, which went to the finals and lost to an upstart Detroit team, devoid of a superstar. Supposedly behind the scenes Karl Malone was the peacemaker on this Lakers team, as this was a tumultuous season in L.A. with Kobe going back and forth to Colorado for his court appearances.

Dirk Nowitki now moves himself out of the "almost" category of NBA greats. He did it in glorious fashion as well. He didn't have to accept a sidekick role. He didn't have to leave Dallas. He stayed on the same team. He was still the franchise player. He had the clutch performances. He was the Finals MVP. He defeated the team that beat him in 2006. He defeated the most talked about and hyped team since Jordan's Bulls; a Miami team that had been anointed as champions prior to the beginning of the season. Dirk did it in story book fashion. Dirk did it on his own terms.