Is Dirk Nowitzki an Underachiever?

[BigKAT]

One of the most talented players in history, an all time great, 6th all the all time scoring list.

He revolutionized what being a big guy meant, his stroke turned defenses upside down and his teams were consistently superb and quite often Elite.

He has more 13 20+ PPG seasons in his career, and had been a decent rebounder for most, if not all of it.

I never got to watch the guy in his prime.
I've seen some games from the 2006 Finals, and 2011 and on. But that's it.

Does it feel to you guys like he had more then two final appearences in him?
Like one championship and one MVP is a not enough? Should he have garnered one of Nash's MVP's? Or perhaps won a title in the vacuum years between the Shaq/Kobe Lakers and the Boston-Lakers title fights?

I'd like to know what people who got to watch him consistently think.
Is 1 MVP + 1 Title a fair achivement or do you think he should've achieved more?

My feeling is that he never really had a Superstar next to him the way Kobe, Lebron and Duncan had (Well, duncan had Tony/Ginobili/Pop, rather then one superstar player like Wade, Shaq or Gasol.)

So what are your thoughts?

Underachiever or not?

[FreezingTsmoove]

Mark Cuban is an underacheiver

[bobopenguin]

d-whistle and referees owned dirk.

[Dragonyeuw]

An MVP, ring w/FMVP, and a career that will end with over 30K points? I would say no.

[Sarcastic]

Hell no. He's got an MVP and a ring, which is way more than anyone would've predicted before his career started. If anything he's an overachiever, and lucky he played in a soft era that allowed jump shooting 7 footers.

[tpols]

not really .. he's played in a conference featuring Shaq, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Durant, Westbrook etc most of whom had stacked rosters themselves.. If you look at his help in hindsight it really was pretty poor compared to what he was facing.

[aj1987]

not really .. he's played in a conference featuring Shaq, Kobe, Garnett, Duncan, Durant, Westbrook etc most of whom had stacked rosters themselves.. If you look at his help in hindsight it really was pretty poor compared to what he was facing.

He lost to the Suns, Warriors, Hornets, and Nuggets.

Underachiever? Nope. Dude has a shit ton of accolades and is a top 20-25 GOAT.

[Sarcastic]

An underachiever is a guy like Derrick Coleman, who had as much talent as Barkley and Malone, but never realized it.

[BigKAT]

i didnt even make mention of the suns, but they were a great team as well, one of the best in the mid 00s, featuring Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. The Hornets of course had a prime Chris Paul.. and i didnt mention him either.. also leaving out HOFers like manu, parker, pau etc. It is unreal how many all time greats he has had to contend against while not really ever having a dominant second option himself for any decent stretch of time.

Yeah was wondering about that.

Who is considered Dirk's best teammate? The best he's ever played with?

Kobe - Shaq
Lebron - Wade (first 2 years)
MJ - Pippen
Duncan - Prime Ginobili perhaps? Or late career David Robinson.

You got my point. Whose the best 'Support' or 'Co-star' Dirk had?

[tpols]

He lost to the Suns, Warriors, Hornets, and Nuggets.

Underachiever? Nope. Dude has a shit ton of accolades and is a top 20-25 GOAT.

i didnt even make mention of the suns, but they were a great team as well, one of the best in the mid 00s, featuring Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. The Hornets of course had a prime Chris Paul and david West.. and i didnt mention him either.. also leaving out HOFers like manu, parker, pau etc. It is unreal how many all time greats he has had to contend against while not really ever having a dominant second option himself for any decent stretch of time. and then in his only title win he takes down Dwayne Wade and Lebron James?? i dont know how you could even ask for more.

[tpols]

Yeah was wondering about that.

Who is considered Dirk's best teammate? The best he's ever played with?

Kobe - Shaq
Lebron - Wade (first 2 years)
MJ - Pippen
Duncan - Prime Ginobili perhaps? Or late career David Robinson.

You got my point. Whose the best 'Support' or 'Co-star' Dirk had?

steve Nash but it was at a time of Lakers and Spurs who were better relatively (kings also).. cant really blame him much for not winning there especially since himself and nash took turns getting knocked out with injury.


besides that ? Josh Howard? Jason Terry? idk.. the list is poor compared to what most have had.

[tamaraw08]

An underachiever is a guy like Derrick Coleman, who had as much talent as Barkley and Malone, but never realized it.

Great point about Coleman. What about Kemp, or Sheed Wallace or CWebb?

Does a great coach make a star look better? I am asking cuz Dirk benefitted from Carlisle but then again he looked good under other coaches too, unlike a guy like Joe Smith...

[qrich]

No, an underachiever would be someone like an Elton Brand.

Dirk was able to lead his teams to the playoffs, consistently, and even gritted his way to a ring.

[ArbitraryWater]

fcking retarded question...

from your OP it looks like you think he wasnt supplied with enough help yet he is the one underachieving?

Dude, stfu

[aj1987]

i didnt even make mention of the suns, but they were a great team as well, one of the best in the mid 00s, featuring Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire. The Hornets of course had a prime Chris Paul and david West.. and i didnt mention him either.. also leaving out HOFers like manu, parker, pau etc. It is unreal how many all time greats he has had to contend against while not really ever having a dominant second option himself for any decent stretch of time. and then in his only title win he takes down Dwayne Wade and Lebron James?? i dont know how you could even ask for more.

You're literally just throwing names out there now. Dirk never had to contend with a prime Shaq, KG, KD, WB, etc.. The Suns were actually good for ~2-3 years. The only time Dirk ever faced Shaq in the PO's was in the '06 Finals, IIRC. Lets also not forget that Dirk won his only ring because of a massive LeBron meltdown. Dude would be ringless if it wasn't for that.