Basketball real fans

Pau Gasol

2011-09-03T23:33:00.000-07:00

Early career

FC Barcelona (1998–2001)

Pau Gasol was born in Barcelona. He began playing basketball with his school team called Alvirne, and he eventually signed with Cornellà. When he was sixteen, he began playing for Barcelona's junior team. He also won both the 1998 Albert Schweitzer Tournament and the 1998 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship. After moving to the senior team of Barcelona, Gasol played just 25 total minutes in the Spanish ACB League 1998–99 season, and averaged 13.7 minutes per game in the ACB the next year.However, in his final season in the ACB, Gasol averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24.7 minutes per game. Barcelona was victorious in the Spanish National Cupchampionship game in 2001, and Gasol was named Most Valuable Player. After entering the NBA Draft, Gasol was selected third overall in the first round in the 2001 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks, who traded his draft rights to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

NBA career

Memphis Grizzlies (2001–2008)

In Gasol's first season with the Grizzlies, he won the Rookie of the Year Award, and was named to the All-Rookie first team. He averaged 17.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game, and was also the only team member to play in all 82 games that season. Gasol led the team in scoring (19.0 points per game) in his second year with the team, and for the second year in a row, played in all 82 gam Gasol missed the first game of his career, during his third year, with a foot injury on April 5, 2004, which snapped his string of 240 consecutive games played. He grabbed the 1,500th rebound of his career on November 12, 2003, against the Orlando Magic and scored his 3,000th career point on October 31, 2003, against the Boston Celtics. Despite having 22 points in Game 4 against the San Antonio Spurs, the highest by a Memphis players in the playoffs, his team was eliminated in the first round, not winning a single game against San Antonio. This was both the Grizzlies and Gasol's first trip to the NBA Playoffs. He scored 31 points and blocked four shots on January 11, 2005, against the Indiana Pacers to earn 5,000 points and 500 blocks in his career, becoming the 10th fastest player to reach 5,000 points/500 blocks since 1973–74. He also helped his team make it to the playoffs for the second time in his career, but they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a single game against the Phoenix Suns.

Gasol was with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2001–2008 until he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2007–08 season.

In his fifth year with the team, he became the franchise’s all-time leading rebounder on March 24 against the New York Knicks when he grabbed his 3,072nd rebound in a Grizzlies uniform. He made 29 consecutive free throw attempts from January 24 to January 28, tying the second best mark in Grizzlies history, including two straight games going 12–12 from the line, tying the best single-game mark in franchise history. Gasol and the Grizzlies returned to the playoffs for the third time in his and his team's history. Once again, they were eliminated in the first round and did not win a single game against theDallas Mavericks.

On February 9, 2006, making his first appearance, Gasol was selected to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game in Houston, Texas as a reserve center for the Western Conference. At the time, he was one of four players ranked among Western Conference forwards in the top ten in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots. He was the first Spanish basketball player as well as the first Grizzlies player to ever make it to the All-Star Game.

Gasol missed the first 23 games of the 2006-07 NBA season due to a broken foot suffered near the end of Spain's semifinal win over Argentina in the 2006 FIBA World Championship. He would go on to be named Most Valuable Player of the tournament, which Spain won. He had a season-high 34 points (most by a Grizzly that season), and eight rebounds and tied a career-high and franchise record with eight blocks on January 29 against the Sacramento Kings, and surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim as the franchise's all-time leader in free throw attempts on January 31 against the Dallas Mavericks. He became the all-time franchise leader in field goals made on February 6 against the Houston Rockets, and became the all-time franchise leader in minutes played on February 7 at Dallas. He surpassed Shareef Abdur-Rahim (7,801 points) as the Grizzlies' all-time leading scorer on March 7, 2007, against the Toronto Raptors (7,809 points at the time). On January 24, 2007, Gasol recorded his second career triple-double against the hosting Utah Jazz, garnering 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists. He also registered 2 blocks and one steal.

Los Angeles Lakers (2008–present

Pau Gasol

On February 1, 2008, Gasol was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with a 2010 second round draft pick for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, Aaron McKie, the rights to Marc Gasol (Pau's younger brother), and 2008 and 2010 first round draft picks. Albeit, there has been a bit of controversy surrounding the trade.Chris Wallace denied in an ESPN article that he had been ordered by owner Michael Heisley to make the Grizzlies more attractive to a potential buyer. Heisley has been trying to sell the franchise for two years. Wallace said, "No one put pressure on me to do this, and Michael Heisley has actually been reluctant to move Pau." He also said that they had been "trolling" the waters for a while and dealt with a number of teams. He selected the Lakers deal because "it didn't get any better than this." When Gasol departed the Grizzlies, he held twelve franchise records, including games played, minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, offensive, defensive, and total rebounds, blocked shots, turnovers, and points. Per game statistics, he leads Memphis in defensive and total rebounds along with blocked shots. On February 5, he made his first Lakers appearance in a game against the New Jersey Nets, during which he scored 24 points and had 12 rebounds in a 105–90 win over the Nets. On March 14, Gasol sprained his ankle in a game against the New Orleans Hornets, stepping on the foot of teammateVladimir Radmanović in the first quarter. Gasol was expected to miss the remaining three games of the Lakers' road trip after x-rays came up negative. Gasol returned to the starting lineup on April 2 against the Portland Trail Blazers and played nearly thirty-two minutes, registering 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists.He admitted to feeling limited with the swelling in his ankle still present. Gasol helped the Lakers finish the regular season with the best record in the Western Conference (57–25), with him in the starting lineup the Lakers went 22–5. Kobe Bryant has also stated that playing with Gasol clicked from the start.

Dunk by Gasol in Game 2 of the 2008 NBA Finals

In the Lakers' opening game of the playoffs, he contributed 36 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocked shots. When the Lakers swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round, it was Gasol's first trip to the second round in four tries. His previous team, the Grizzlies, did not make it to the playoffs for the second year in a row. He contributed 17 points and 13 rebounds in Game 6 against the Utah Jazz to help the Lakers advance to the conference finals. On May 31, he recorded a career high 19 rebounds in a series-clinching win against the San Antonio Spurs, and he became the first Spaniard to reach the NBA Finals. Gasol scored 14.7 points per game on .532 shooting in the 2008 NBA Finals against theBoston Celtics, which was below his scoring average of 18.9 during the regular season, However, he led the Lakers in rebounding with 10.2 per game throughout the championship series, up from his regular-season average of 8.4. Los Angeles lost in six games against Boston in the Finals, including a 131–92 loss in Game 6. During the 2008 NBA Playoffs, Gasol was the second leading Laker in points (16.9), rebounds (9.3) and assists per game (4.0). He was the leader in blocks per game (1.90) and was tied with Lamar Odom with the most postseason double-doubles (10).

Gasol earned his second All-Star appearance as a reserve for the Western Conference squad during the2008-2009 NBA season, his first as a Laker. He was also named Western Conference Player of the Month after helping the Lakers to an 11–2 record for the month of February that included road wins over Boston and Cleveland. He finished the regular season with averages of 18.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1 block per game. Gasol then won his first NBA championship ring when the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals.

On December 24, 2009 Gasol signed a 3-year extension with the Lakers worth $64.7 million.

Gasol earned his third All-Star appearance as a reserve for the Western Conference and finished the regular season with averages of 18.3 points, 11.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.7 blocks. In Game 6 of the first round, Gasol grabbed 18 rebounds and his last-second putback eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the conference semifinals against the Utah Jazz, he averaged 23.5 points and 14.5 rebounds. In Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Gasol scored 19 points, (6–16 FGM-A, 7–13 FTM-A) grabbed 18 rebounds and recorded two blocks as the Lakers repeated as champions.

Challenged by Lakers' coach Phil Jackson to be more assertive while Bryant recovered from offseason knee surgery, Gasol started the season's first week averaging 25.3 points on 52.5 percent shooting, 10.3 rebounds, and five assists per game as the Lakers started 3–0. He was named Western Conference Player of the Week. Unfortunately,the 40 minutes per night he averaged over the first month of the season seemed to take a toll on Pau. By early December, Pau was complaining about fatigue and his numbers were beginning to falter. However, once Andrew Bynum came back into the fold, taking up a few of Pau's minutes, Gasol seemed settle in to a more comfortable position. He earned his third straight All-Star selection and his season averages of 19 points and 10 rebounds are nearly identical to what he's put up as a Laker the previous three seasons. Pau's play also merited him All-NBA second team honors for the first time in his career. In the playoffs Gasol's average of 13 points on 42% shooting over 10 games and lack of aggression had the Lakers team suffering all the more for it, getting swept out of the playoffs by the Mavs in the second round. Gasol had the worst post season performance of his career. Lakers Hall of Famer and ESPN analyst Magic Johnson cited Gasol as a possible trade option for the Lakers to acquire Magiccenter Dwight Howard. Gasol ignored the false reports about his relationship status with his girlfriend as the cause of his poor performance and has accepted the criticism of his play as valid.

Player profile

Gasol is very athletic and quick for a 7-footer (213 cm), and primarily plays the power forward and center positions. He has often been compared to fellow European players Toni Kukoč and Dirk Nowitzki, holding career averages of 18.8 points and 9.0 rebounds. He is a refined scorer in the post and midrange; his overall game is near-ambidextrous and makes it difficult for opposing teams to defend. Gasol uses a variety of midrange jumpers, hook shots, up-and-under moves, and shot fakes to score very efficiently. Gasol's normal jumpshot range extends to 20 feet. In addition, his foot speed relative to his size allows him to run the fast break and finish effectively. He is also a skilled passer for a big man, earning 3.2 assists per game over his career. Defensively, he is an above-average shot blocker with a career average of 1.7 blocks per game. Before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2007–08 season, he had played exclusively with theMemphis Grizzlies from 2001–2008. When he was traded to the Lakers, he maintained the same number on his jersey, still playing with the number 16. In his career, Gasol has never been ejected.Gasol scored his 10,000th point in a game against the Jazz on the 2nd of January 2009. He finished with 21 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the win.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001–02	Memphis	82	79	36.7	.518	.200	.709	8.9	2.7	.5	2.1	17.6
2002–03	Memphis	82	82	36.0	.510	.100	.736	8.8	2.8	.4	1.8	19.0
2003–04	Memphis	78	78	31.5	.482	.267	.714	7.7	2.5	.6	1.7	17.7
2004–05	Memphis	56	53	32.0	.514	.167	.768	7.3	2.4	.7	1.7	17.8
2005–06	Memphis	80	80	39.2	.503	.250	.689	8.9	4.6	.6	1.9	20.4
2006–07	Memphis	59	59	36.2	.538	.273	.748	9.8	3.4	.5	2.1	20.8
2007–08	Memphis	39	39	36.7	.501	.267	.819	8.8	3.0	.4	1.4	18.9
2007–08	L.A. Lakers	27	27	34.0	.589	.000	.789	7.8	3.5	.5	1.6	18.8
2008–09	L.A. Lakers	81	81	37.0	.567	.500	.781	9.6	3.5	.6	1.0	18.9
2009–10	L.A. Lakers	65	65	37.0	.536	.000	.790	11.3	3.4	.6	1.7	18.3
2010–11	L.A. Lakers	82	82	37.0	.529	.333	.823	10.2	3.3	.6	1.6	18.8
Career		731	725	35.9	.522	.224	.751	9.1	3.2	.5	1.7	18.8
All-Star		4	0	19.0	.563	.000	.889	8.25	1	.3	.75	11.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004	Memphis	4	4	33.5	.571	.000	.900	5.0	2.5	1.0	1.5	18.3
2005	Memphis	4	4	33.3	.488	1.000	.500	7.5	2.5	.5	1.8	21.3
2006	Memphis	4	4	39.5	.433	.000	.767	6.8	3.0	.5	1.2	20.3
2008	L.A. Lakers	21	21	39.8	.530	.000	.692	9.3	4.0	.5	1.9	16.9
2009	L.A. Lakers	23	23	40.5	.580	.000	.714	10.8	2.5	.8	2.0	18.3
2010	L.A. Lakers	23	23	39.7	.539	.000	.759	11.1	3.5	.4	2.1	19.6
2011	L.A. Lakers	10	10	35.8	.420	.500	.800	7.8	3.8	.4	1.7	13.1
Career		89	89	38.9	.527	.286	.737	9.6	3.3	.6	1.9	17.9

Steve Francis

2011-09-01T09:31:00.001-07:00

University of Maryland

Francis transferred to the University of Maryland in 1998 for his junior season. The addition of Francis helped propel the Terrapins to a #5 preseason ranking. Francis made an instant impact as Maryland's starting shooting guard, scoring 17 points in the season opener against Western Carolina. Francis and the Terps gained national attention with impressive showings in the Puerto Rico Shootout and a 62–60 win over #5 Stanford in the BB&T Classic. The Terps climbed to a #2 national ranking by early December.

The Terrapins finished second in the ACC and Francis was named to the All-ACC first team and the All ACC Tournament team. The Terrapins were a number 2 seed in the NCAA tournament but were defeated by St. John's in the Sweet 16. Under Francis' leadership, Maryland finished with a school record-setting 28 wins and only 6 losses and were ranked #5 in the final Associated Press poll.

Francis finished the season averaging 17 points per game, 4.5 assists per game, and 2.8 steals per game. He was a consensus second-team All-American and was named a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year Awards. Although he stated he was "99% sure" he would return to Maryland for his senior season, he opted to enter the NBA draft.

NBA career

Houston Rockets (1999–2004)

Francis was selected second in the 1999 NBA Draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies. He publicly announced that he did not want to play for the Grizzlies, citing the distance from his Maryland home, taxes, endorsements, and God's will. Heavily criticized for his antics, especially in Vancouver, he relented and briefly considered joining the Grizzlies before contentious negotiations and an incident at the Vancouver airport convinced both the franchise and Francis they needed to go separate ways.

Francis got his wish, being traded before the 1999–2000 season began to the Houston Rockets in a three-team, 11-player deal that brought Michael Dickerson, Othella Harrington, Antoine Carr and Brent Price, plus first- and second-round picks to the Grizzlies. It was the largest trade in NBA history at that time.

Despite sharing Rookie of the Year honors with Elton Brand and finishing as runner-up to Vince Carter in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, the Francis-led Rockets finished with a 34–48 record.

The next season the Rockets improved to 45–37 but still missed the playoffs. In his 3rd year, Francis upped his game and was chosen by fans to start the 2002 NBA All-Star contest, but ended up playing only 55 games due to a foot injury and recurring Ménière's-induced migraines. As a result the Rockets posted a dismal 28–54 record, propelling them into the lottery, where they selected 7'6" Chinese center Yao Ming with the first pick in the 2002 NBA Draft. Francis and Yao gelled their first season together, being selected as 2003 All-Star Game starters. Francis scored a career-high 44 points in a nationally televised home win against the Lakers on January 17, 2003.The team, though, fell to 43–39 and failed to make the playoffs.

Rockets head coach Rudy Tomjanovich stepped down in 2003, the team selecting ex-Knick coach Jeff Van Gundy as his successor. Unfortunately for Francis, Van Gundy's coaching style did not fit the speedy shooting guard's style of play. Even though Francis made the All Star game for a third straight year his stats declined in 2003–04, dropping from 21.0 PPG 6.2 APG 6.2 RPG to 16.6 PPG 5.5 RPG 6.2 APG. The team, however, made the playoffs for the first time since 1999, which would prove Francis's only post-season experience. Despite his averaging 19.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 7.6 apg, the Rockets lost to the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers, in five games.

As Francis' relationship with Van Gundy deteriorated it was apparent that the Rockets wanted to go in a different direction. While the coach sought to focus the Rockets offense on Yao, the team ended up trading Francis, along with his best friend on the team Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato, for then scoring champ Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, and Reece Gaines.

During Francis' first tenure in Houston, he averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 assists, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.63 steals in 374 games (372 starts).

Orlando Magic (2004–2006)

At first, Francis was unhappy with the trade to Orlando, but adapted to his new environment. Francis flourished in the "run n' gun" offense of interim head coach Chris Jent. After posting a career-low 16.6 points per game the previous year with the Rockets, Francis averaged 21.3 PPG, 7.0 APG and 5.8 RPG in his first season with the Magic. The Magic started out the year fast in the 2004–05 season, with Francis hitting several game-winning shots early in the season. In the middle of the season, Mobley was traded to the Sacramento Kings, which upset Francis. The Magic slumped late and missed the playoffs.

The following season, a disgruntled Francis was suspended for conduct detrimental to the team. On February 5, 2006, there were rumors that he could be traded to the Denver Nuggets for Earl Watson but they were later dismissed and GM Otis Smith publicly announced that he would not trade Francis. However, rumors persisted that Francis would be traded to the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets.

New York Knicks (2006–2007)

On February 22, 2006, one day before the NBA's trade deadline, Steve Francis was traded to the New York Knicks for small forward Trevor Ariza and the expiring contract of shooting guard Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway. Prior to the trade, the Denver Nuggets reportedly offered both Watson and Kenyon Martin for Francis, but the deal never took place. He made his Madison Square Gardendebut on Friday, February 24 when the New York Knicks faced the New Jersey Nets, and scored 16 points in a 94–90 loss for the Knicks. He wore jersey #1 with the Knicks as his usual #3 was already assigned to Stephon Marbury. Francis has endured a recurring injury, tendinitis in his right knee, and as a result began the 2006–07 season averaging only 11.3 ppg, as opposed to his career 18.4 ppg. He returned on February 10, 2007 vs the Utah Jazz. On March 10, Francis hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer against the Washington Wizards, ending one of his best games as a Knick in front of his hometown. On 2007 draft night, June 28, the Knicks traded Francis and Channing Frye to the Portland Trail Blazers for Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau, and Fred Jones, which then bought out the remaining two years of Francis's contract for a reported $30 million, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Return to Houston (2007–2008)

The Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and the L.A. Clippers pursued Francis. On July 20, Francis chose the Rockets; signing a two-year $6 million contract with them, although the Heat offered the most money. However, he failed to make Rick Adelman's rotation coming out of the preseason. He averaged 5.5 points and 3 assists in ten games before undergoing season-ending surgery stemming from an earlier left quadriceps tendon injury.

Francis used his contract option to come back to the Houston Rockets for the 2008–09 NBA season. He lost 15 pounds for training camp, but he was not able to play in the beginning of the season due to the recovery period of his injury.

On December 24, 2008, The Houston Rockets traded Francis back to the team that had originally drafted him, the Memphis Grizzlies, for a 2011 conditional draft pick. The move allowed the Rockets to drop under the luxury tax threshold. However, on January 27, 2009, it was reported that Francis was waived by the Grizzlies, without ever appearing in a game for them.

Chinese Basketball Association

In November 2010, Francis signed with the Beijing Ducks. He averaged 0.5 points and 0.7 rebounds over four games, playing 14 minutes before leaving the team in late December to return to the U.S.

Personal

In September 2001, a tornado struck the University of Maryland campus and killed two students and displaced 700 more from their dormitory. Francis, who was on the campus at the time, arranged to sponsor a dinner for the displaced students before he flew back to Houston for his third season with the Rockets. He said, "I remember all of the people here supporting me while I was a Maryland student, and this is just a small way that I can give back to those who have helped me."

On February 17, 2002, Francis' #23 jersey was honored (but not retired) by Maryland in a ceremony preceding the game against the #1 ranked Duke Blue Devils. Francis sat on the team's bench during the game and cheered as the Terrapins upset the Blue Devils 87–73. On election day 2008, Francis supported presidential candidate Barack Obama by wearing a red velvet sports jacket with "Barack Obama" spelled on the back in sequins. Francis said he's followed the presidential race closely. "It's important that there is an African-American candidate running," Francis said. "I never thought I'd see the day that would happen. Right now, we're at a pivotal point. It's a great feeling for me." .

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1999–00	Houston	77	77	36.1	.445	.345	.786	5.3	6.6	1.5	.4	18.0
2000–01	Houston	80	79	39.9	.451	.396	.817	6.9	6.5	1.8	.4	19.9
2001–02	Houston	57	56	41.1	.417	.324	.773	7.0	6.4	1.2	.4	21.6
2002–03	Houston	81	81	41.0	.435	.354	.800	6.2	6.2	1.7	.5	21.0
2003–04	Houston	79	79	40.4	.403	.292	.775	5.5	6.2	1.8	.4	16.6
2004–05	Orlando	78	78	38.2	.423	.299	.823	5.8	7.0	1.4	.4	21.3
2005–06	Orlando	46	45	37.7	.433	.257	.797	4.8	5.7	1.1	.2	16.2
2005–06	New York	24	15	27.5	.442	.538	.761	3.0	3.5	1.0	.2	10.8
2006–07	New York	44	30	28.1	.408	.378	.829	3.6	3.9	.9	.3	11.3
2007–08	Houston	10	3	19.9	.333	.235	.565	2.3	3.0	.9	.5	5.5
Career		576	543	37.6	.429	.341	.797	5.6	6.0	1.5	.3	18.1
All-Star		3	3	24.3	.552	.500	.500	2.7	5.3	.7	.0	12.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	Houston	5	5	44.4	.429	.412	.725	8.4	7.6	1.4	.2	19.2
Career		5	5	44.4	.429	.412	.725	8.4	7.6	1.4	.2	19.2

Dirk Nowitzki

2011-08-31T09:08:00.000-07:00

Early years

Born in Würzburg, Germany, Dirk Nowitzki comes from a sports family: his mother Helga Nowitzki was a professional basketball player and his father Jörg-Werner was a handball player who represented Germany at the highest international level. His older sister Silke Nowitzki, a local champion in track and field, also became a basketball player and now works for the NBA in International TV. Dirk Nowitzki was a very tall child; most of the time he stood above his peers by a foot or more. He initially played handball and tennis, but soon grew tired of being called a "freak" for his height and eventually turned to basketball. After joining the local DJK Würzburg, the 15-year-old attracted the attention of former German international basketball player Holger Geschwindner, who spotted his talent immediately and offered to coach him individually two to three times per week. After getting both the approval of Nowitzki and his parents, Geschwindner put his pupil through an unorthodox training scheme: he emphasized shooting and passing exercises, and shunned weight training and tactical drills, because he felt it was "unnecessary friction." Furthermore, Geschwindner encouraged Nowitzki to play a musical instrument and read literature to make him a more complete personality.

After a year, the coach was so impressed that he said to his pupil: "You must now decide whether you want to play against the best in the world or just stay a local hero in Germany. If you choose latter, we will stop training immediately, because nobody can prevent that anymore. But if you want to play against the best, we have to train on a daily basis." After pondering for two days, Nowitzki decided on the former. Geschwindner let him train seven days a week with DJK Würzburg players and future German internationals Robert Garrett, Marvin Willoughby and Demond Greene, and in the summer of 1994, the 16-year-old Nowitzki made the DJK squad.

DJK Würzburg (1994–98)

When Nowitzki joined the team, DJK played in the Second Bundesliga, South Division. His first trainer was Pit Stahl, who played the tall teenager as an outside-scoring forward rather than an inside-scoring center to utilise his shooting skills. In the 1994–95 Second Bundesliga season, ambitious DJK finished as a disappointing sixth of 12 teams; the rookie Nowitzki was often benched and struggled with bad school grades, which forced him to study rather than work on his game. In the next 1995–96 Second Bundesliga season, Nowitzki established himself as a starter next to Finnish star forward Martti Kuisma and soon became a regular double-digit scorer: after German national basketball coach Dirk Bauermann saw him score 24points in a DJK game, he stated that "Dirk Nowitzki is the greatest German basketball talent of the last 10, maybe 15 years." DJK finished second in the South Division, but could not earn promotion after losing 86–62 in the deciding match versus BG Ludwigsburg: in that game, Nowitzki scored only eight points.

In the 1996–97 Second Bundesliga season, the team's top scorer Kuisma left the team, and Holger Geschwindner replaced Pit Stahl as head coach. Filling Kuisma's void, Nowitzki averaged 19.4 points per game and led DJK again to second place after the regular season, but could not help his team gain promotion. In the following 1997–98 Second Bundesliga season, Nowitzki finished his "Abitur" (German A-levels), but had to do his compulsory military service in the Bundeswehr (German Military) which lasted from September 1, 1997 to June 30, 1998; Nowitzki described this period as "a tough time at first; we had no privileges and had to participate in all the drills...later [after finishing the tough "Grundausbildung," the most intensive initial part of the service] it was much more relaxed." Concerning basketball, the 18-year old, who had grown to 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) tall, made progress, leading DJK to a 36:4 point total (in Germany, a victory gives 2:0 points and a loss 0:2) and ending as leading scorer with 28.2 points per game. In the promotion playoffs, DJK finally broke its hex, finishing at first place with 14:2 points and earning promotion; Nowitzki scored 26 points in the deciding 95–88 win against Freiburg and was voted "German Basketballer of the Year" by the German BASKET magazine.

Abroad, Nowitzki's progress was noticed. In 1996, FC Barcelona Bàsquet wanted to sign him, but Nowitzki refused to move before finishing his German A-levels. A year later, the teenager participated in the Nike "Hoop Heroes Tour," where he played against NBA stars like Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen. In a 30-minute show match, Nowitzki outplayed Barkley and even dunked on him, causing the latter to exclaim: "The boy is a genius. If he wants to enter the NBA, he can call me." On March 29, 1998, Nowitzki was chosen to play in the Nike Hoop Summit, one of the premier talent watches in U.S. men's basketball. In a match between the U.S. talents and the international talents, Nowitzki scored 33 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 14 rebounds and 3 steals for the internationals and outplayed future US NBA stars Rashard Lewis and Al Harrington. He impressed with a combination of quickness, ball handling, and shooting range, and from that moment a multitude of European and NBA clubs wanted to recruit him.

Dallas Mavericks (1998–present)

Difficult start (1998–99)

After leading DJK Würzburg to promotion and with his Abitur and military service behind him, Nowitzki looked to the NBA for his future. Projected to be seventh pick in the 1998 NBA Draft, he passed up many college offers and leapt directly into the NBA as a then-still rare prep-to-pro player. In particular, Rick Pitino and Don Nelson, head coaches of the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericksrespectively, were highly interested in acquiring him. After a 45-minute private workout with Pitino, where Nowitzki showcased his versatile shooting, rebounding and passing skills, the Boston coach immediately compared him to Celtics legend Larry Bird; Pitino assured Nowitzki that he would draft him with the Celtics' first-round draft pick at number ten.

However, Pitino's plan was foiled by Nelson, whose team had the sixth pick. Nelson worked out draft day deals with the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns: the Mavericks wanted Nowitzki and Suns reserve point guard Steve Nash; the Bucks desired muscular forward Robert Traylor, who was projected to be drafted before Nowitzki; and the Suns had set their sights on forward Pat Garrity, who was projected as a low first round pick. In the draft, the Mavericks drafted Traylor with their sixth pick, and the Bucks selected Nowitzki with their ninth and Garrity with their nineteenth pick. The Mavericks then traded Traylor to the Bucks for Nowitzki and Garrity, and they in return traded the latter to Phoenix for Nash.

In retrospect, Don Nelson, who had once coached the Bucks, had an outstanding trade instinct, essentially trading future career underachievers Traylor and Garrity for two future NBA MVPs in Nowitzki and Nash; in addition, the new recruits quickly became close friends. Nowitzki became only the fourth German player in NBA history, following pivots Uwe Blab and Christian Welp and All-Starswingman Detlef Schrempf, who was a 35-year old veteran player of the Portland Trail Blazers when his young compatriot arrived. Nowitzki finished his DJK career as the only Würzburg player to have ever made the jump into the NBA.

In Dallas, Nowitzki joined a franchise which had last made the playoffs in 1990. Shooting guard Michael Finley captained the squad, supported by 7-foot-6-inch (2.29 m) center Shawn Bradley, once a number two draft pick, and team scoring leader Cedric Ceballos, an ex-Laker forward. Nowitzki experienced a rocky start: prior to the 1998–99 NBA season, NBA commissioner David Stern wanted to introduce a salary cap, causing the NBA players' union to declare a strike, the combination putting the entire season in jeopardy. In limbo, Nowitzki returned to DJK Würzburg and played thirteen games before both sides worked out a late compromise that resulted in a shortened 1998–1999 schedule of only 50 instead of 82 regular season games.

When the season finally started, Nowitzki struggled. Played as a power forward by coach Don Nelson, the lanky 20-year old felt overpowered by the more athletic NBA forwards, was intimidated by the expectations as a number nine pick, and played bad defense, causing hecklers to taunt him as "Irk Nowitzki," omitting the "D" which stands for "defense" in basketball slang. He only averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.4 minutes of playing time. Looking back, Nowitzki said: "I was so frustrated I even contemplated going back to Germany... [the jump from Second Bundesliga to the NBA] was like jumping out of an airplane hoping the parachute would somehow open." The Mavericks only won 19 of their 50 games and missed the playoffs, although Nowitzki completed the season with eight double-digit scoring games out of the last twelve.

Mark Cuban and the "Big Three" (1999–2004)

1999–2000 season

In the 1999–2000 NBA season, Don Nelson wanted to use Nowitzki as a point forward to make use of his passing skills. However, one of the most important moves was made off the hardwood: until then, the owner of the Mavericks was Ross Perot, Jr., who had bought the franchise for $125 million, but had no plans of investing in players and admitted he knew little of basketball. On January 4, 2000, he sold the Mavericks to Internet billionaire Mark Cuban for $280 million. Cuban quickly invested into the Mavericks and restructured the franchise, attending every game at the sidelines, buying the team a $46 million six-star Boeing 757 for traveling, and increasing franchise revenues to over $100 million. Nowitzki lauded Cuban: "He created the perfect environment... we only have to go out and win." As a result of Nelson's tutelage, Cuban's improvements and his own progress, Nowitzki significantly improved his averages. The second-year pro now averaged 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game in 35.8 minutes, had nine double-double games, and scored a career-high 32 points twice. He was voted runner-up in the NBA Most Improved Player Award behind Jalen Rose, and made it into the NBA All-Star Sophomore squad along with peers Paul Pierce and Vince Carter. In the traditional Rookie-Sophomore match, he scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out four assists in an overtime loss against the rookie team led by Steve Francis and Lamar Odom. The 7-foot-0-inch (2.13 m) Nowitzki also was chosen for the NBA All-Star Three Point Shootout, becoming the tallest player ever to participate. After draining 15 three point shots in a row in the first shootout, he entered the final round, where he finished as runner-up to Jeff Hornacek.While he improved on an individual level, the Mavericks missed the playoffs after a mediocre 40–42 season.

2000–01 season

In the following 2000–01 NBA season, Nowitzki further improved his averages, recording 21.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Now playing the power forward position, he became the second player in NBA history after Robert Horry to score 100 three-pointers and 100 blocks in the regular season by registering 151 and 101, respectively. As a sign of his growing importance, he joined team captain Finley as only one of two Mavericks to play and start in all 82 games and had 10 games in which he scored at least 30 points. Nowitzki became the first Maverick ever to be voted into the All-NBA squads, making the Third Team. In addition, his best friend Nash became a valuable point guard, and with Finley scoring more than ever, pundits were calling this trio the "Big Three" of the Mavericks.

Posting a 53–29 record in the regular season, the Mavericks reached the playoffs for the first time since 1990. As the fifth seed, they were paired against the Utah Jazz of all-time assist leader John Stockton and second all-time leading scorer Karl Malone. After losing the first two games, Nowitzki scored 33 points in both games 3 and 4 and helped to tie the series. In Game 5, the Mavericks trailed the entire game until Calvin Booth drained a jump shot which put them ahead 84–83 with 9.8 seconds to go. Jazz players Bryon Russell and Malone missed last-second shots and the Mavericks won, setting up a meeting with Texas rivals San Antonio Spurs of All-Star power forward Tim Duncan. The Mavericks lost their first three games, and Nowitzki fell ill with flu and later lost a tooth after a collision with Spurs guard Terry Porter. After a Game 4 win, Nowitzki scored 42 points and 18 rebounds in Game 5, but could not prevent a deciding 105–87 loss. While Sports Illustrated pointed out that the Mavericks shot badly during Game 5, Nowitzki was lauded for scoring his playoff career-high 42 points. The German said: "It's a disappointment to end the season on a blowout."

2001–02 season

Prior to the 2001–02 NBA season, Nowitzki signed a six-year, $90 million contract extension, which made him the second highest-paid German athlete after Formula One champion Michael Schumacher. He continued to improve, now averaging 23.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, was voted into the All-NBA Second Team and into his first All-Star Game. He also had 13 games with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, third behind Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan. Powered by new recruit Nick Van Exel, who became a high-scoring sixth man, the Mavericks "Big Three" convincingly made the playoffs with a 57–25 record.

The Mavericks swept Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2002 NBA Playoffs 3–0: Nowitzki outscored Garnett with 33.3 points per game versus 24.0. In the second round, the Mavericks met the Sacramento Kings with rival power forward Chris Webber. After splitting the first two games, Kings coach Rick Adelman changed his defensive scheme: before, Webber had defended Nowitzki one-on-one, but now, the Kings coach ordered his smaller but quicker player Hedo Turkoglu to cover the German. Turkoglu should use his agility to play Nowitzki tightly, and if the taller Maverick tried to post up Turkoglu, Webber would double team Nowitzki. In Game 3 in Dallas, the Mavericks lost 125–119; Nowitzki scored only 19 points and said: "I simply could not pass Turkoglu, and if I did, I ran into a double team and committed too many turnovers." In Game 4, more frustration awaited the German: the Mavericks gave away a 14-point lead, although the entire Kings starting frontcourt of center Vlade Divac and power forward Chris Webber (both fouled out) and small forward Peja Stojakovic (injury) were eliminated in the closing stages of the game. Nowitzki missed two potentially game deciding jump shots, and the Mavericks lost 115–113 at home. In Game 5, the demoralised Texans were no match for the spirited Kings, lost 114–101 and were eliminated again. Among others, nba.com remarked that the Kings defended better than the Mavericks: in those five games, the statisticians counted 115 Sacramento layups against the Mavericks, meaning the Kings averaged 23 uncontested baskets (i.e. 46 easy points) per game. However, Nowitzki received a consolation award: the Gazzetta dello Sport voted him as "European Basketballer of the Year," his 104 votes lifting him over second-placed Dejan Bodiroga (54) and Stojakovic (50).

2002–03 season

Before the 2002–03 NBA season, Don Nelson and Mark Cuban put more emphasis on defense in the training drills, specialising in a zone defense anchored by prolific shotblockers Raef LaFrentz and Shawn Bradley. The Mavericks won their first 11 games, and Finley, Nash and Nowitzki were voted "Western Conference Players of the Month" in November 2002. In that season, Nowitzki lifted his averages again, now scoring 25.1 points, 9.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. In addition, the German had 41 double-double games, the seventh highest figure that season. By averaging 25.1, he became the first European to score 2,000 points in a season. As a reward, he was voted into the All-Star game and the All-NBA Second Team again, and was also runner-up in the "German Athlete of the Year" election, only losing to ski jumper Sven Hannawald. He led the Mavericks to a franchise-high 60–22 record, which earned them the third seed: as a result, the Mavericks had to play sixth seed Portland Trail Blazers in the 2003 NBA Playoffs. Now playing in a best-of-seven series instead of the former best-of-five, Dallas quickly won the first three games, but then the Mavericks completely lost their rhythm and lost the next three matches. In Game 7, Portland held the game close, but 90 seconds before the end, Nowitzki hit a clutch three point shot, and the game ended 107–95 for the Mavericks. "This was the most important basket of my career," he later said, "I was not prepared to go on vacation that early." He later added in an ESPN interview: "We had to be more physical in the paint and rebound the ball. We worked hard all season to get the home-court advantage and we used that advantage today."

In the next round, the Mavericks met the Kings again. After losing the first game at home by a score of 113–124, Nowitzki (25 points) and veteran sixth man Van Exel (36) led Dallas to a spectacular 132–110 Game 2 win in which the Mavericks scored 83 points in the first half. Helped by the fact that Kings star forward Chris Webber injured his meniscus, Nowitzki and Van Exel led the Mavericks to a 141–137 overtime win in Game 3, before dropping Game 4 99–83, where Nowitzki only scored 11 points and was ejected after angrily kicking over a load of towels. After splitting the next two games, Nowitzki delivered a clutch performance in Game 7, scoring 30 points, grabbing 19 rebounds and playing strong defense, and led the Mavericks to a series-deciding 112–99 win.ESPN lauded Nowitzki as "Big D," and after again winning a Game 7, the German added: "We've really learned how to close games out."

In the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks met the San Antonio Spurs of Tim Duncan again. In Game 1 in San Antonio, Nowitzki scored 38 points on Duncan and led his team to a 113–110 win. In Game 2, Duncan quickly put Nowitzki in foul trouble, and the Spurs equalised the series with a 132–110 win. In Game 3, fate struck as Nowitzki went up for a rebound and Spurs guard Manu Ginóbili collided with his knee, forcing him out of the series: without their top scorer, the Mavericks still fought valiantly and trailed 3–2, before Spurs guard Steve Kerr got hot from three-point range late in Game 6 to help San Antonio clinch the series with a 90–78 victory. Don Nelson later commented: "We were playing so well for so long and the bottom just dropped out...We went cold at the wrong time." Nowitzki took very little consolation in the fact that he again was voted "European Basketballer of the Year" and was named "Best European Basketballer" in a general survey of the NBA general managers.

2003–04 season

In the 2003–04 NBA season, Mark Cuban and Don Nelson decided to add more offensive wing players to their squad. As a result, the Mavericks acquired two All-Star forwards, namely Golden State Warriors All-Star forward Antawn Jamison (along with Danny Fortson, Jiri Welsch and Chris Mills, for Van Exel and role players) and Antoine Walker (Boston Celtics) who came for center Raef LaFrentz. Basketball experts were wary about latter trade, because it sent away the Mavericks starting center; they argued it left a hole in the middle that the aging, injury-prone backup pivot Shawn Bradley could not fill anymore. Unable to trade for a new center, Don Nelson decided to start the prolific rebounder Nowitzki at pivot, put Walker on Nowitzki's usual power forward spot and played Jamison as a high-scoring sixth man. To cope with his more physical role, Nowitzki put on 20 lb (9.1 kg) of muscle mass over summer, sacrificed part of his agility, and put more emphasis on defense rather than scoring: as a result, his averages fell for the first time in his career, dropping to 21.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, but he still led the Mavericks in scoring, rebounding, steals (1.2 spg) and blocks (1.35 bpg). These figures earned him nominations for the All-Star game and the All-NBA Third Team. Compiling a 52–30 record, the Mavericks met their familiar rivals Sacramento Kings again, but were eliminated in just five games.

Franchise player (2004–present)

Nowitzki (no. 41) has been the face of the Mavericks franchise.

2004–05 season

Before the 2004–05 NBA season, the Mavericks were re-tooled again. Defensive center Erick Dampier was acquired from the Golden State Warriors, but Nowitzki's close friend Steve Nash left Dallas and returned to the Phoenix Suns as a free agent. During the season, long-time head coach Don Nelson resigned, and his assistant Avery Johnson took on coaching duties. In the midst of these changes, Nowitzki stepped up his game and averaged 26.1 points a game (a career-high) 9.7 rebounds, and his 1.5 blocks and 3.1 assists were also career numbers. In addition, Nowitzki scored at least 10 points in every game and was only one of four players who registered at least 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. This was also his second 2,000 point season, his 26.1 points scoring average set a new record by a European player. On December 2, 2004, Nowitzki scored 53 points in an overtime win against the Houston Rockets, a career best. As a reward, Nowitzki was voted to the All-NBA First Team for the first time. He also placed third in the league's MVP voting, behind Nash and Shaquille O'Neal. By being elected to the All-NBA First Team, Nowitzki became the first player who did not attend a United States high school or college to be on the All-NBA First Team.

However, the Mavericks had a subpar 2005 NBA Playoffs campaign. In the first round, Dallas met the Houston Rockets of scoring champion Tracy McGrady and 7–6 center Yao Ming, and Nowitzki was expected to average high figures against unheralded forward Ryan Bowen: nba.com described Bowen as "overmatched" versus the German. Instead, Bowen limited Nowitzki to just 21 points in Game 1 and 26 points in Game 2, where the latter only hit 8 of 26 shots from the field. The Rockets took a 2–0 lead before the Mavericks won three games in a row. After losing Game 6, Dallas won Game 7 convincingly and won the series even though Nowitzki struggled with his shooting. In the Western Conference Semifinals, the Mavericks met the Phoenix Suns, the new club of Nash. They split the first four games, before the Suns won the last two games. In Game 6, which the Mavericks lost in overtime, Nowitzki was again not at his best: he scored 28 points, but also sank only 9 of his 25 field goal attempts; in addition, he was visibly irritated, repeatedly shouting at his team mates and missing all his five shots in overtime.

2005–06 season

Prior to the 2005–06 NBA season, veteran Mavericks captain Michael Finley was waived over the summer, and now Nowitzki was the last player remaining from the Mavericks' "Big Three" of Nash, Finley, and himself. Nowitzki blossomed as the sole franchise player, averaging 26.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. Not only was this his third 2,000 point season, but his scoring average of 26.6 points was highest ever by a European. He improved his shooting percentage, setting personal season records in field goals (48.0%), three-point shots (40.6%) and free throws (90.1%).During the 2006 All-Star Weekend in Houston, Nowitzki scored 18 points to defeat Seattle SuperSonics guard Ray Allen and Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas in the Three-Point Shootout contest.

Nowitzki paced the Mavericks to a 60-win season. The team finished with the third-best record in the league, behind the defending champion San Antonio Spurs and defending Eastern Conference champion Detroit Pistons. As in the 2004–05 season, he finished third in the league's MVP voting, this time behind Nash and LeBron James. He was again elected to the first team All-NBA squad. Nowitzki confirmed his superstar status during the playoffs as he averaged 27.0 points, 11.7 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. The Mavericks swept the Memphis Grizzlies with 4–0, with Nowitzki's most spectacular play being a clutch three-point shot in the closing seconds of Game 3 which tied the game and forced overtime. In the Western Conference Semifinals, the Mavericks played against the San Antonio Spurs again. After splitting the first six games, the Mavericks took a 20-point lead in Game 7 before Spur Manu Ginóbili broke a tie at 101 by hitting a clutch 3 with 30 seconds left. On the next play, Nowitzki completed a three-point play, which tied the game at 104. In the end, the Mavericks won 119–111, and Nowitzki ended the game with 37 points and 15 rebounds. Nowitzki commented: "I don't know how the ball went in. Manu hit my hand. It was a lucky bounce."

The Mavericks advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where they would again meet Nash and the Phoenix Suns. Nowitzki scored 50 points to lead the Mavericks to a victory in the crucial Game 5 with the series tied 2–2; the Mavericks would go on to win in six games and face the Miami Heat in the 2006 NBA Finals. A content Nowitzki commented: "We've been a good road team all season long, we believed in each other. We went through some ups and downs this season, but the playoffs is all about showing heart and playing together." Of Nowitzki's performance, ESPN columnist Bill Simmons would remark, "Dirk is playing at a higher level than any forward since Bird." The Mavericks took an early 2–0 lead, but then gave away a late 15-point lead in a Game 3 loss and finally fell to a scoring onslaught by Heat Finals MVP Dwyane Wade: Wade scored at least 36 points in the next four games, which the Heat all won. Nowitzki only made 20 of his last 55 shots in the final 3 games as the Mavericks lost the Finals series 4–2 to the Heat. The German was criticised by ESPN as "clearly... not as his best this series" and remarked: "That was a tough loss (in Game 3) and that really changed the whole momentum of the series... After that, they got confidence. They played a lot better afterwards."

2006–07 season

The 2006–07 season was the year Nowitzki was named the league's Most Valuable Player. He shot a career-best 50.2% from the field, and recorded averages of 24.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 3.4 assists and led the Mavericks to a franchise-high 67 wins, which meant Dallas earned the first seed of the 2007 NBA Playoffs. Nowitzki was touted as the overwhelming favorite for the Most Valuable Player award, and was expected to lead the Mavericks to an easy win against the eighth seed Golden State Warriors, despite the Warriors having won all three regular season meetings against Dallas. However, the Mavericks ended up losing to the Warriors in six games, marking the first time a #8 seed has beaten the #1 in a best of seven series in NBA history. In the clinching Game 6, Nowitzki shot just 2–13 from the field for only eight points. Defended by Stephen Jackson, Nowitzki averaged nearly five points less than his regular season average in that series and shot only 38.3% from the field as compared to 50.2% during the regular season. He described this loss as a low point in his career: "This series, I couldn't put my stamp on it the way I wanted to. That's why I'm very disappointed." In spite of this historic playoffs loss, Nowitzki was named the NBA's regular season Most Valuable Player and beat his friend and back-to-back NBA MVP Nash with more than 100 votes. He also became the first European-born player in NBA history to receive the honor.

2007–08 season

The 2007–08 campaign saw another first-round playoffs exit for Nowitzki and his Mavericks. Despite a mid-season blockbuster trade that sent veteran NBA All-Star Jason Kidd to Dallas, the Mavericks could only finish seventh in a highly competitive Western Conference. Nowitzki averaged 23.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and a career-high 3.5 assists for the season. In the playoffs, they faced rising star Chris Paul's New Orleans Hornets, and were eliminated in five games. The few positive highlights that season for the German were his first career triple-double against the Milwaukee Bucks on February 6, 2008, with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and a career-high 12 assists, and on March 8, 2008 (34 points against the New Jersey Nets), when he surpassed Rolando Blackman with his 16,644th point to become the Mavericks' all-time career points leader.

2008–09 season

The 2008–09 NBA season saw Nowitzki finish with averages of 25.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists. He was fourth in the league in scoring, and garnered his fourth All-NBA First Team selection. He also made the 2009 All-Star game, his eighth appearance. Nowitzki led Dallas to a tight finish towards the playoffs, finishing 50–32 for the season (6th in the West), after a slow 2–7 start. In the playoffs, the German led Dallas to an upset win over long-time rival San Antonio (3rd seed), winning the first round series 4–1. The Mavericks, however, fell short against the Denver Nuggets 4–1 in the second round, with Nowitzki averaging 34.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, and 4 assists in the series.

2009–10 season

The Mavericks finished the 2009–10 NBA season as the second seed for the playoffs—it was their 10th consecutive season with at least 50 regular season wins. Notable additions to the squad were multiple All-Stars Shawn Marion and Caron Butler, with the latter coming in the latter half of the season. On January 13, 2010, Nowitzki became the 34th player in NBA history—and the first European—to hit the 20,000 point milestone, while ending the regular season with averages of 25 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1 block. He was selected to the 2010 All-Star game, his ninth appearance. The Mavericks faced off against San Antonio once more in the first round of the playoffs, but for the third time in four seasons, they failed to progress to the next round. Nowitzki was the only consistent player throughout the series for the Mavericks, averaging 26.7 points per outing, while the likes of Jason Terry, second leading scorer for the Mavericks averaged only 12.7 points per game compared to his 16.6 regular season. Despite being a free agent, on July 5, 2010 Nowitzki agreed to remain with Dallas by re-signing to a four-year, $80 million deal.

2010–11 season

The most significant changes to the 2010–11 team roster was the arrival of Tyson Chandler via a trade. Nowitzki was injured in the middle of the season, during which the Mavericks would record their worst losing streak in over a decade. Nowitzki finished the regular season with averages of 23 points, 7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. Despite missing 9 games, Nowitzki was selected to the 2011 All-Star game, his tenth appearance. The Mavericks concluded the regular season with 57 wins, seeding third behind the Spurs and the Lakers for the 2011 NBA Playoffs. During the playoffs, despite their seeding, many predicted that Dallas would lose in the first round to Portland, and after blowing a 23-point third-quarter lead in game four to even the series at 2–2, the Mavericks appeared ready for another postseason collapse. However, Dallas won the final two games to advance, and then swept Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and the two-time defending champion Lakers in the semi-finals in Phil Jackson's final year as an NBA coach. In the Conference Finals, they faced the Oklahoma City Thunder and their All-NBA duo of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. In Game 1 of that series, Nowitzki scored 48 points while taking only 15 shots en route to setting an NBA playoff record of 24 consecutive free throws made in a game as well as most free throws in a game without a miss. In the pivotal Game 4, with the series 2–1 in favor of Dallas, Nowitzki scored 40 points to rally his team from a double-digit fourth quarter deficit and secure an overtime win for his team. Dallas overcame another fourth-quarter deficit in Game 5 to win the series and the Western Conference Championship. In the Finals, Dallas once again faced Dwyane Wade's Miami Heat, which had acquired All-Stars LeBron James and Chris Bosh before the season began. During the Game 1 loss in Miami, Nowitzki tore a tendon in his left middle finger; however, MRIs were negative, and Nowitzki vowed that the injury would not be a factor. In Game 2, Nowitzki led a Dallas rally from 15 points down in the 4th quarter, capped by a driving left-handed layup over Bosh to tie the series at 1–1. After Nowitzki missed a potential game tying shot at the end of Game 3, Miami took a 2–1 series lead. Despite carrying a 101 degree fever in Game 4, Nowitzki scored the winning basket to level the series 2–2, evoking comparisons of Michael Jordan's flu-ridden performance against Utah in the 1997 NBA Finals. Dallas went on to win the next two games, with Nowitzki scoring 10 fourth-quarter points in the series-clinching game in Miami, bringing the first championship to the franchise. In the series, Nowitzki scored 62 points total in the six fourth quarters, equaling the combined fourth quarter output of James and Wade. He was named Finals MVP, joining a distinguished list of 10 other players to have been an NBA champion, NBA Finals MVP, NBA regular season MVP, and a 10-time All-Star. For the whole 2011 playoffs, Nowitzki averaged 27.7 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists in 21 games.

[edit]International career

Men's Basketball
Medal record
Nowitzki has been playing for the German national basketball team since 1999
Competitor for Germany
FIBA World Championship
Bronze	2002 USA	Germany
FIBA European Championship
Silver	2005 Serbia & Montenegro	Germany

Nowitzki has been playing for the German national basketball team since the 1999 FIBA European championships. In his debut tournament, the 21-year old rookie emerged as the main German scorer, but Germany finished seventh and failed to qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games. In the 2001 FIBA European Championships, Nowitzki was top scorer with 28.7 points per game, and narrowly lost the MVP vote to Serbian player Peja Stojaković. Germany reached the semi-finals and were close to beating host nation Turkey, but down by three, Hedo Turkoglu hit a three-point buzzer beater, and the Turks eventually won in overtime. Germany then lost 99–90 against Spain, and did not win a medal. However, with averages of 28.7 points and 9.1 rebounds, Nowitzki led the tournament in both statistics, and was voted to the All-Star team. Back home, the German basketball team attracted up to 3.7 million television viewers, a German basketball record at the time.

Nowitzki finally earned his first medal when he led Germany to a bronze medal in the 2002 World Championships. In the quarter-finals against the Pau Gasol-led Spain, Spain led 52–46 after three quarters, but then Nowitzki scored 10 points in the last quarter and led Germany to a 70–62 win. In the semi-finals, his team played against the Argentinian squad led by Manu Ginóbili, but despite leading 74–69 four minutes from the end and despite Argentina losing Ginobili to a foot injury, the South Americans won 86–80. However, the Germans won 117–94 against New Zealand in the consolation finals and won bronze, and tournament top scorer Nowitzki (24.0 ppg) was elected MVP. Back in Germany, over 4 million television viewers followed the games, an all-time record in German basketball history.

The 2003 FIBA European Championships proved to be a major disappointment for Nowitzki and his German squad. In a preparation game, he suffered a foot injury after a collision with French player Florent Pietrus; as a result, Nowitzki played inconsistently and was also often target of hard fouls.In the decisive second round match against Italy (only the winner was allowed to play the medal round), Germany lost 86–84, finished ninth and did not qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games. Nowitzki scored 22.5 points per game (third overall), but in general seemed to lack focus and dominance due to his injury.

In the 2005 FIBA European Championships, Nowitzki came back strong. He surprisingly led a depleted German squad into the Finals, beating title favorites Slovenia in the quarter-finals and Spain in the semi-finals on the way. Eurobasket pundits praised Nowitzki in both matches: against Slovenia (76–62), the forward scored a game high 22 points and commented: "The Slovenians underestimated us. They said we were the team they wanted and that was wrong, you shouldn't do that in the quarter-finals. Against Spain (74–73), Nowitzki scored a game-high 27 points and scored the decisive basket: down by one and with only a few seconds to go, he drove on Spanish forward Jorge Garbajosa, and hit a baseline jump shot over Garbajosa's outstretched arms with 3.9 seconds to go. The German later commented: "It was indescribable. Garbajosa kind of pushed me towards the baseline so I just went with it." Despite losing the Finals 78–62 to the Greeks, Nowitzki was the tournament's leading scorer (26.7 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (10.8 rpg) and shot blocker (1.8 bpg), and was voted Most Valuable Player of the tournament. When he was subbed out towards the end of the final, Nowitzki received standing ovation from the crowd, which he later recalled as "one of the best moments of [his] career". In the 2006 FIBA World Championships, Nowitzki led the German team to an eighth place and commented: "It's tough luck. But overall, finishing eighth in the world is not bad."

In the 2007 FIBA European Championships, in which the top three teams automatically qualified for the 2008 Olympics, Nowitzki led Germany to a fifth place. He was the leading scorer with 24.0 points per game. The fifth place meant that Germany fell short of direct qualification, but was allowed to participate in the 2008 Olympic Qualifying Tournament. Nowitzki led Germany into a decisive match against Puerto Rico for the last remaining slot. In that crucial match, he scored a game-high 32 points and was vital for the 96–82 win which sent the German basketball team to their first Olympics since the 1992 Summer Olympics. Nowitzki was chosen to be the flag bearer for the German Olympic Team at the Opening Ceremony for the 2008 Olympics. Nowitzki led the German team to a tenth place finish, and averaged 17.0 points, and 7.6 rebounds for the tournament. In 2009, Nowitzki skipped the 2009 FIBA European Championships. In July 2010 he said that he would skip the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

In July 2011, Nowitzki confirmed that he will play in the EuroBasket 2011 to help his team to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Player profile

Nowitzki (far right) is an outstanding free throw shooter, connecting on nearly 88% of his attempts.

Nowitzki is a versatile frontcourt player who mostly plays the power forward position, but has also played center, small forward and point forward throughout his career. Nowitzki hits almost 88% of his free throws, connects on almost 50% of his field goal attempts and on almost 40% of his three-point shots, and won the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout competition. In 2006–07 Nowitzki became only the fifth member of the NBA's 50–40–90 Club for players who shot 50% or better from the field, 40% or better on three-pointers, and 90% or better on free-throws in a single season while achieving the NBA league minimum number of makes in each category.

Throughout Nowitzki's career, he has responded to the increased pressure of the playoffs by increasing his productivity. In the regular season he averages 23 points, 8.4 rebounds. In the playoffs he averages 25.9 points and 10.4 rebounds, which only Hakeem Olajuwon, Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor have managed to do. In the most pressure packed games, such as playoff elimination games he averages 28.4 points, 12.2 rebounds. He has had 13 elimination games where he scored 30 or more points, with only Jerry West having more at 14. Of the top 100 elimination game performances in the last 20 years, Nowitzki has had the best performances in 8 of them, more than any other player in the NBA in that same time frame.

His shooting accuracy combined with his long seven-foot frame and unique shooting mechanics, such as having a release point above his head, makes contesting his jump shots incredibly difficult. Additionally, he can put the ball down and drive with it from the perimeter, like few have been able to do with his size. NBA.com lauds his versatility by stating: "The 7–0 forward who at times mans the pivot can strike fear in an opponent when he corrals a rebound and leads the break or prepares to launch a three-point bomb." Charles Barkley describes the best way to guard Nowitzki is to "get a cigarette and a blindfold". When defenses guard Nowitzki with one of their biggest men, who is then pulled out to the perimeter, the net effect is that while Nowitzki's own statistics are actually compromised by being out of position to offensively rebound or make an easy close-range basket, the rest of the team becomes more offensively potent with the defense having to be spread across the floor. Often, this creates player mismatches that Nowitzki's teammates can exploit.

Some critics have alleged Nowitzki's defense is a weakness, as he averages just over one block per game and never made an All-Defense Team. However, playing more around the perimeter takes him out of position where a typical power forward would be detracts from his overall defensive stats. Despite the claims of lack of defense, he is ranked 8th in active players for defensive win shares, placing him higher than Kobe Bryant, who has made the All-Defensive team 11 times.

Nowitzki is the 34th player in NBA history, and the first European, to hit the 20,000-point milestone. Apart from being the Dallas Mavericks' all-time leader in points, rebounds, field goals, field goal attempts, 3-pointers, 3-point attempts, free throws, and free-throw attempts, Nowitzki has made the NBA All-Star games ten times, and the All-NBA Teams eleven times. He was voted NBA MVP of the 2006–07 NBA season, becoming the first European player to receive the honor, as well as the MVP of the 2011 NBA Finals. Other achievements include winning the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout, being voted European Basketballer of the Year five times in a row by La Gazzetta dello Sport, and being the leading scorer and MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship, and Eurobasket 2005 tournaments.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

(Correct as of June 12, 2011)

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1998–99	Dallas	47	24	20.4	.405	.206	.773	3.4	1.0	.6	.6	8.2
1999–00	Dallas	82	81	35.8	.461	.379	.830	6.5	2.5	.8	.8	17.5
2000–01	Dallas	82	82	38.1	.474	.387	.838	9.2	2.1	1.0	1.2	21.8
2001–02	Dallas	76	76	38.0	.477	.397	.853	9.9	2.4	1.1	1.0	23.4
2002–03	Dallas	80	80	39.0	.463	.379	.881	9.9	3.0	1.4	1.0	25.1
2003–04	Dallas	77	77	37.9	.462	.341	.877	8.7	2.7	1.2	1.4	21.8
2004–05	Dallas	78	78	38.7	.459	.399	.869	9.7	3.1	1.2	1.5	26.1
2005–06	Dallas	81	81	38.1	.480	.406	.901	9.0	2.8	.7	1.0	26.6
2006–07	Dallas	78	78	36.2	.502	.416	.904	8.9	3.4	.7	.8	24.6
2007–08	Dallas	77	77	36.0	.479	.359	.879	8.6	3.5	.7	.9	23.6
2008–09	Dallas	81	81	37.7	.479	.359	.890	8.4	2.4	.8	.8	25.9
2009–10	Dallas	81	80	37.5	.481	.421	.915	7.7	2.7	.9	1.0	25.0
2010–11	Dallas	73	73	34.3	.517	.393	.892	7.0	2.6	.5	.6	23.0
Career		993	968	36.5	.476	.381	.877	8.4	2.7	.9	1.0	23.0
All-Star		9	2	17.0	.458	.227	.875	4.1	1.6	.8	.4	10.6

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2001	Dallas	10	10	39.9	.423	.283	.883	8.1	1.4	1.1	.8	23.4
2002	Dallas	8	8	44.6	.445	.571	.878	13.1	2.3	2.0	.8	28.4
2003	Dallas	17	17	42.5	.479	.443	.912	11.5	2.2	1.2	.9	25.3
2004	Dallas	5	5	42.4	.450	.467	.857	11.8	1.4	1.4	2.6	26.6
2005	Dallas	13	13	42.4	.402	.333	.829	10.1	3.3	1.4	1.6	23.7
2006	Dallas	23	23	42.7	.468	.343	.895	11.7	2.9	1.1	.6	27.0
2007	Dallas	6	6	39.8	.383	.211	.840	11.3	2.3	1.8	1.3	19.7
2008	Dallas	5	5	42.2	.473	.333	.808	12.0	4.0	.2	1.4	26.8
2009	Dallas	10	10	39.5	.518	.286	.925	10.1	3.1	.9	.8	26.8
2010	Dallas	6	6	38.8	.547	.571	.952	8.2	3.0	.8	.7	26.7
2011	Dallas	21	21	39.3	.485	.460	.941	8.1	2.5	.6	.6	27.7
Career		124	124	41.3	.463	.384	.892	10.4	2.6	1.1	1.0	25.9

Dikembe Mutombo

2011-08-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

College

Mutombo originally intended to become a doctor; he attended Georgetown University on a USAID scholarship. Georgetown Hoyas basketball coach John Thompson recruited him to play basketball. He spoke almost no English when he arrived at Georgetown and studied in the ESL program. He became an excellent college center, continuing Georgetown's tradition of producing great big men. He was a celebrated shot blocker at Georgetown, setting a team record of twelve blocked shots in a single game. Building on the shot-blocking power of Mutombo and teammate Alonzo Mourning, Georgetown fans created a "Rejection Row" section under the basket, adding a big silhouette of an outstretched hand to a banner for each shot blocked during the game.

While at Georgetown, Mutombo's international background and interests stood out. Like many other Washington-area college students, he served as a summer intern, once for the Congress of the United States and once for the World Bank. In 1991 he graduated with bachelor's degrees in linguisticsand diplomacy.

NBA career

Denver Nuggets

Selected fourth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 1991 NBA Draft, Mutombo's impact was immediate. As a rookie, he was selected for the All-Star team and averaged 16.6 points, 12.3 rebounds, and nearly three blocks per game. A cornerstone in the Nuggets' frontcourt, Mutombo became one of the league's best defensive players, regularly putting up big rebound and block numbers for five years with the club while averaging about 11 points a game. The team lacked a quality supporting cast, however, and at its best won only 42 games. In Mutombo's third season, however, Denver pulled off a major playoff upset by stunning the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the first round, becoming the first eighth seed to win an NBA playoff series. At the end of Game 5, Mutombo fell to the ground, holding the ball over his head in a moment of joy. Mutombo's defensive presence was the key to the upset victory; his total of 31 blocks remains a record for a five-game series. The following season, he received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award.

Atlanta Hawks

After the 1995–96 NBA season, Mutombo's contract with the Nuggets expired, and he signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Hawks. Mutombo continued to put up excellent defensive numbers with his new team. Joining the Hawks made him more noticeable, helping him win two more Defensive Player of the Year awards and earn several All-Defensive Team selections. He also became fairly well known for his signature finger waggle, which he would point in a player's direction after he had blocked that player's shot. During the lockout-shortened 1999 season, he was the NBA's IBM Awardwinner, a player of the year award determined by a computerized formula.

Philadelphia 76ers

The Hawks traded Mutombo to the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers in February 2001 for their injured center Theo Ratliff, as the Sixers needed a replacement stellar big man to compete with Western Conference powers Tim Duncan or Shaquille O'Neal, should they reach the finals. He earned his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award that season and also earned a trip to the NBA Finals, where the 76ers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers four games to one. A free-agent, he re-signed with the Sixers after the season. While his statistics were comparable in the 2001–02 season, the Sixers dealt him to the New Jersey Nets, fearing that his game had deteriorated.

New Jersey Nets

The Nets were looking for a more physical big man to compete with Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan, two of the best big men in the league who also led championship-caliber teams in the West. But Mutombo spent most of that season with a nagging injury that limited him to just 24 games. He was generally unable to play in the playoffs, typically serving as a sixth man during the Nets' second consecutive Finals run.

New York Knicks

In October 2003, the Nets bought out the remainder of his contract and subsequently waived him. He signed a two-year deal with the New York Knicks a few days later. The Knicks later traded him to the Chicago Bulls in a package for Jamal Crawford. He never played a game for the Bulls, and they dealt him to the Houston Rockets in the 2004 offseason.

Houston Rockets

Mutombo most recently played as a reserve behind Yao Ming, forming one of the NBA's most productive center combos. In his first season with the Rockets (2004–05), Mutombo averaged 15.2 MPG, 5.3 RPG, and 4.0 PPG. The Rockets lost in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks. In the 2007–08 season, Mutombo yet again received extensive playing time when Yao went down with a broken bone and averaged double digits in rebounding as a starter. The additional playing time gave Mutombo the opportunity to continue accruing blocked shots at a record-setting pace. On January 10, 2008, in a 102–77 rout of the Los Angeles Lakers, Mutombo recorded 5 blocked shots and surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in total career blocked shots. Mutombo is currently second only to Hakeem Olajuwon. Also, on March 2, 2007, in a win over the Denver Nuggets, at the age of 41, Mutombo became the oldest player in NBA history to record more than 20 rebounds in a game with 22. After contemplating retirement and spending the first part of 2008 as an unsigned unrestricted free agent, on December 31, 2008, Mutombo signed with the Houston Rockets for the remainder of the 2008–2009 season. He said that the 2009 season would be his "farewell tour" and his last.

In Game 1 of Houston's first round playoff series against Portland, Mutombo played for 18 minutes and had nine rebounds, two blocks, and a steal.

In the 2nd quarter of Game 2, Mutombo landed awkwardly and had to be carried from the floor. After the game, he said, "it’s over for me for my career" and that surgery would be needed. It was later confirmed that the quadriceps tendon of his left knee was ruptured in Game 2. Mutumbo announced retirement on April 23, 2009, after 18 seasons in the NBA.

Personal life

Mutombo was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mutombo and his wife Rose have six children, four adopted.

Multilingual by both upbringing and education, Mutombo is able to speak English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and five African languages.

He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the State University of New York College at Cortland for his humanitarian work in Africa.

More recently, Mutumbo was awarded an honorary doctorate by Georgetown University in 2010. There he delivered the commencement address for Georgetown College of Arts and Sciences, of which he is an alumnus. He also received an honorary doctorate degree from Haverford College in May 2011.

Mutombo's nephew Harouna Mutombo plays college basketball for the Western Carolina Catamounts. Harouna was the team's leading scorer for the 2009 season and was named Southern Conference Freshman of the Year.

Humanitarian work

A well-known humanitarian, Mutombo started the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation to improve living conditions in his native Democratic Republic of Congo in 1997. His efforts earned him the NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award in 2001 and 2009. For his feats, The Sporting News named him as one of the "Good Guys in Sports" in 1999 and 2000, and in 1999, he was elected as one of 20 winners of the President's Service Awards, the nation's highest honor for volunteer service. In 2004, he also participated in the Basketball Without Borders NBA program, where NBA stars like Shawn Bradley, Malik Rose and DeSagana Diop toured Africa to spread the word about basketball and to improve the infrastructure. He also paid for uniforms and expenses for the Zaire women's basketball team during the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. Mutombo is a spokesman for the international relief agency, CARE and is the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program.

In honor of his humanitarianism, Mutombo was invited to President George W. Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address and was referred to as a "son of the Congo" by the President in his speech. Mutombo later said, "My heart was full of joy. I didn't know the President was going to say such great remarks."

On April 13, 2011, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health awarded Dikembe Mutombo the Goodermote Humanitarian Award "for his efforts to reduce polio globally as well as his work improving the health of neglected and underserved populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo." Michael J. Klag, dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health said “Mr. Mutombo is a winner in many ways—on the court and as a humanitarian. His work has improved the health of the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center is a model for the region. Likewise, Mr. Mutombo has been instrumental in the fight against polio by bolstering vaccination efforts and bringing treatment to victims of the disease.”

[edit]

[edit]Career summary and highlights

4-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001
8-time NBA All-Star: 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002
3-time All-NBA:

Second Team: 2001
Third Team: 1998, 2002

6-time All-Defensive:

First Team: 1997, 1998, 2001
Second Team: 1995, 1999, 2002

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 1992
2nd on All-Time NBA recorded Blocks, 3,256.
2-time NBA regular-season leader, rebounding average: 2000 (14.1), 2001 (13.5)
4-time NBA regular-season leader, total rebounds: 1995 (1029), 1997 (929), 1999 (610), 2000 (1157)
NBA regular-season leader, offensive rebounds: 2001 (307)
2-time NBA regular-season leader, defensive rebounds: 1999 (418), 2000 (853)
3-time NBA regular-season leader, blocked shots average: 1994 (4.1), 1995 (3.9), 1996 (4.5)
5-time NBA regular-season leader, total blocks: 1994 (336), 1995 (321), 1996 (332), 1997 (264), 1998 (277)
Career averages (as of March 2008): 9.9 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 2.7 BPG
Invited to be a special guest at President George W. Bush's State of the Union address, commended for his humanitarian aid to his homeland.
Oldest player in NBA history to collect over 20 rebounds in a game (March 2, 2007 vs. Denver Nuggets)

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1991–92	Denver	71	71	38.3	.493	.000	.642	12.3	2.2	.6	3.0	16.6
1992–93	Denver	82	82	36.9	.510	.000	.681	13.0	1.8	.5	3.5	13.8
1993–94	Denver	82	82	34.8	.569	.000	.583	11.8	1.5	.7	4.1	12.0
1994–95	Denver	82	82	37.8	.556	.000	.654	12.5	1.4	.5	3.9	11.5
1995–96	Denver	74	74	36.7	.499	.000	.695	11.8	1.5	.5	4.5	11.0
1996–97	Atlanta	80	80	37.2	.527	.000	.705	11.6	1.4	.6	3.3	13.3
1997–98	Atlanta	82	82	35.6	.537	.000	.670	11.4	1.0	.4	3.4	13.4
1998–99	Atlanta	50	50	36.6	.512	.000	.684	12.2	1.1	.3	2.9	10.8
1999–00	Atlanta	82	82	36.4	.562	.000	.708	14.1	1.3	.3	3.3	11.5
2000–01	Atlanta	49	49	35.0	.477	.000	.695	14.1	1.1	.4	2.8	9.1
2000–01	Philadelphia	26	26	33.7	.495	.000	.759	12.4	.8	.3	2.5	11.7
2001–02	Philadelphia	80	80	36.3	.501	.000	.764	10.8	1.0	.4	2.4	11.5
2002–03	New Jersey	24	16	21.4	.374	.000	.727	6.4	.8	.2	1.5	5.8
2003–04	New York	65	56	23.0	.478	.000	.681	6.7	.4	.3	1.9	5.6
2004–05	Houston	80	2	15.2	.498	.000	.741	5.3	.1	.2	1.3	4.0
2005–06	Houston	64	23	14.9	.526	.000	.758	4.8	.1	.3	.9	2.6
2006–07	Houston	75	33	17.2	.556	.000	.690	6.5	.2	.3	1.0	3.1
2007–08	Houston	39	25	15.9	.538	.000	.711	5.1	.1	.3	1.2	3.0
2008–09	Houston	9	2	10.7	.385	.000	.667	3.7	.0	.0	1.2	1.8
Career		1196	997	30.8	.518	.000	.684	10.3	1.0	.4	2.8	9.8
All-Star		8	3	17.5	.595	.000	.750	9.3	.3	.4	1.2	6.3

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1993–94	Denver	12	12	42.6	.463	.000	.602	12.0	1.8	.7	5.8	13.3
1994–95	Denver	3	3	28.0	.600	.000	.667	6.3	.3	.0	2.3	6.0
1996–97	Atlanta	10	10	41.5	.628	.000	.719	12.3	1.3	.1	2.6	15.4
1997–98	Atlanta	4	4	34.0	.458	.000	.625	12.8	.3	.2	2.2	8.0
1998–99	Atlanta	9	9	42.2	.563	.000	.702	13.9	1.2	.6	2.6	12.6
2000–01	Philadelphia	23	23	42.7	.490	.000	.777	13.7	.7	.6	3.1	13.9
2001–02	Philadelphia	5	5	34.6	.452	.000	.615	10.6	.6	.4	1.8	8.8
2002–03	New Jersey	10	0	11.5	.467	.000	1.000	2.7	.6	.3	.9	1.8
2003–04	New York	3	0	12.7	.333	.000	1.000	3.3	.0	.3	1.3	2.3
2004–05	Houston	7	0	14.4	.545	.000	.769	5.0	.3	.3	1.0	3.1
2006–07	Houston	7	0	5.7	1.000	.000	1.000	1.6	.1	.0	.4	1.3
2007–08	Houston	6	6	20.5	.615	.000	.636	6.5	.3	.2	1.8	3.8
2008–09	Houston	2	0	10.0	.000	.000	.000	4.5	.0	.5	1.0	.0
Career		101	72	30.9	.517	.000	.703	9.5	.8	.4	2.5	9.1

2011-08-27T16:43:00.001-07:00

Unofficial

Between 1935–36 and 1946–47, there were no "official" NCAA scoring champions. The statistics during that era were compiled from the National Basketball Committee Official Basketball Guide, which was not regulated by NCAA authorities. Therefore, the following players are included in the annual NCAA men's basketball media guide, but are listed as "unofficial" season scoring leaders.
George Mikan (#99) was the first center to lead the nation in scoring, albeit unofficially.

Season	Player	Pos.	Cl.	Team	Games played	Field goals made	3-point field goals made	Free throws made	Total points	PPG
1935–36	Hank Luisetti*	G	So	Stanford	29	?	—	?	416	14.3
1936–37	Hank Luisetti* (2)	G	Jr	Stanford	24	?	—	?	410	17.1
1937–38	Chet Jaworski	F	Jr	Rhode Island State	21	177	—	87	441	21.0
1938–39	Chet Jaworski(2)	F	Sr	Rhode Island State	21	201	—	73	475	22.6
1939–40	Stan Modzelewski	G/F	So	Rhode Island State	22	210	—	89	509	23.1
1940–41	Stan Modzelewski(2)	G/F	Jr	Rhode Island State	25	178	—	107	463	18.5
1941–42	Stan Modzelewski(3)	G/F	Sr	Rhode Island State	22	182	—	106	470	21.4
1942–43	George Senesky	G	Sr	Saint Joseph's	22	211	—	93	515	23.4
1943–44	Ernie Calverley	G	So	Rhode Island State	20	226	—	82	534	26.7
1944–45	George Mikan*	C	Jr	DePaul	24	222	—	114	558	23.3
1945–46	George Mikan* (2)	C	Sr	DePaul	24	206	—	143	555	23.1
1946–47	Jim Lacy	F	So	Loyola (MD)	32	242	—	183	667	20.8

Official

Season	Player	Pos.	Cl.	Team	Games played	Field goals made	3-point field goals made	Free throws made	Total points	PPG	Re f.
1947–48	Murray Wier	G	Sr	Iowa	19	152	—	95	399	21.0	^[17]^[18]
1948–49	Tony Lavelli	F	Sr	Yale	30	228	—	215	671	22.4	^[3]^[19]
1949–50	Paul Arizin*	F	Sr	Villanova	29	260	—	215	735	25.3	^[20]^[21]
1950–51	Bill Mlkvy	F	Sr	Temple	25	303	—	125	731	29.2	^[22]^[23]
1951–52	Clyde Lovellette*	C	Sr	Kansas	28	352	—	182	795	28.4	^[24]^[25]
1952–53	Frank Selvy	G	Jr	Furman	25	272	—	194	738	29.5	^[8]^[9]
1953–54	Frank Selvy(2)	G	Sr	Furman	29	427	—	355	1,209	41.7	^[8]^[9]
1954–55	Darrell Floyd	G	Jr	Furman	25	344	—	209	897	35.9	^[10]^[11]
1955–56	Darrell Floyd(2)	G	Sr	Furman	28	339	—	268	946	33.8	^[10]^[11]
1956–57	Grady Wallace	F	Sr	South Carolina	29	336	—	234	906	31.2	^[3]^[26]
1957–58	Oscar Robertson*	G	So	Cincinnati	28	352	—	280	984	35.1	^[27]^[28]
1958–59	Oscar Robertson* (2)	G	Jr	Cincinnati	30	331	—	316	978	32.6	^[27]^[28]
1959–60	Oscar Robertson* (3)	G	Sr	Cincinnati	30	369	—	273	1,011	33.7	^[27]^[28]
1960–61	Frank Burgess	G	Sr	Gonzaga	26	304	—	234	842	32.4	^[29]^[30]
1961–62	Billy McGill	C/F	Sr	Utah	26	394	—	221	1,009	38.8	^[31]^[32]
1962–63	Nick Werkman	F	Jr	Seton Hall	22	221	—	208	650	29.5	^[33]^[34]
1963–64	Howie Komives	G	Sr	Bowling Green	23	292	—	260	844	36.7	^[35]^[36]
1964–65	Rick Barry*	F	Sr	Miami (FL)	26	340	—	293	973	37.4	^[37]^[38]
1965–66	Dave Schellhase	G	Sr	Purdue	24	284	—	213	781	32.5	^[39]^[40]
1966–67	Jimmy Walker	G	Sr	Providence	28	323	—	205	851	30.4	^[41]^[42]
1967–68	Pete Maravich*	G	So	LSU	26	432	—	274	1,138	43.8	^[4]^[5]
1968–69	Pete Maravich* (2)	G	Jr	LSU	26	433	—	282	1,148	44.2	^[4]^[5]
1969–70	Pete Maravich* (3)	G	Sr	LSU	31	522	—	337	1,381	44.5	^[4]^[5]
1970–71	Johnny Neumann	F/G	So	Ole Miss	23	366	—	191	923	40.1	^[43]^[44]
1971–72	Bo Lamar	G	Jr	Southwest Louisiana	29	429	—	196	1,054	36.3	^[45]^[46]
1972–73	Bird Averitt	G	Sr	Pepperdine	25	352	—	144	848	33.9	^[47]^[48]
1973–74	Larry Fogle	G	So	Canisius	25	326	—	183	835	33.4	^[49]^[50]
1974–75	Bob McCurdy	G	Sr	Richmond	26	321	—	213	855	32.9	^[51]^[52]
1975–76	Marshall Rogers	G	Sr	Texas–Pan American	25	361	—	197	919	36.8	^[53]^[54]
1976–77	Freeman Williams	F/G	Jr	Portland State	26	417	—	176	1,010	38.8	^[55]^[56]
1977–78	Freeman Williams (2)	F/G	Sr	Portland State	27	410	—	149	969	35.9	^[55]^[56]
1978–79	Lawrence Butler	G	Sr	Idaho State	27	310	—	192	812	30.1	^[57]^[58]
1979–80	Tony Murphy	G	Sr	Southern U.	29	377	—	178	932	32.1	^[3]^[59]
1980–81	Zam Fredrick	G	Sr	South Carolina	27	300	—	181	781	28.9	^[60]^[61]
1981–82	Harry Kelly	F	Jr	Texas Southern	29	336	—	190	862	29.7	^[59]^[62]
1982–83	Harry Kelly(2)	F	Sr	Texas Southern	29	333	—	169	835	28.8	^[59]^[62]
1983–84	Joe Jakubick	G	Sr	Akron	27	304	—	206	814	30.1	^[3]^[59]
1984–85	Xavier McDaniel	F/C	Sr	Wichita State	31	351	—	142	844	27.2	^[63]^[64]
1985–86	Terrance Bailey	G	Jr	Wagner	29	321	—	212	854	29.4	^[65]^[66]
1986–87	Kevin Houston	G	Sr	Army	29	311	—	268	953	32.9	^[67]^[68]
1987–88	Hersey Hawkins	G	Sr	Bradley	31	377	87	284	1,125	36.3	^[69]^[70]
1988–89	Hank Gathers	F/C	Jr	Loyola Marymount	31	419	0	177	1,015	32.7	^[12]^[71]
1989–90	Bo Kimble	G	Sr	Loyola Marymount	32	404	92	231	1,131	35.3	^[13]^[71]
1990–91	Kevin Bradshaw	G	Sr	U.S. International	28	358	60	278	1,054	37.6	^[72]^[73]
1991–92	Brett Roberts	F	Sr	Morehead State	29	278	66	193	815	28.1	^[74]^[75]
1992–93	Greg Guy	G	Jr	Texas–Pan American	19	189	67	111	556	29.3	^[59]^[76]
1993–94	Glenn Robinson	F	Jr	Purdue	34	368	79	215	1,030	30.3	^[77]^[78]
1994–95	Kurt Thomas	C	Sr	TCU	27	288	3	202	781	28.9	^[79]^[80]
1995–96	Kevin Granger	G	Sr	Texas Southern	24	194	30	230	648	27.0	^[59]^[76]
1996–97	Charles Jones	G	Jr	LIU–Brooklyn	30	338	109	118	903	30.1	^[81]^[82]
1997–98	Charles Jones (2)	G	Sr	LIU–Brooklyn	30	326	116	101	869	29.0	^[81]^[82]
1998–99	Alvin Young	G	Sr	Niagara	29	253	65	157	728	25.1	^[59]^[83]
1999–00	Courtney Alexander	G	Sr	Fresno State	27	252	58	107	669	24.8	^[84]^[85]
2000–01	Ronnie McCollum	G	Sr	Centenary	27	244	85	214	787	29.1	^[86]^[87]
2001–02	Jason Conley	G	Fr	VMI	28	285	79	171	820	29.3	^[88]^[89]
2002–03	Ruben Douglas	G	Sr	New Mexico	28	218	94	253	783	28.0	^[90]^[91]
2003–04	Keydren Clark	G	So	Saint Peter's	29	233	112	197	775	26.7	^[92]^[93]
2004–05	Keydren Clark (2)	G	Jr	Saint Peter's	28	230	109	152	721	25.8	^[92]^[93]
2005–06	Adam Morrison	F	Jr	Gonzaga	33	306	74	240	926	28.1	^[29]^[94]
2006–07	Reggie Williams	G	Jr	VMI	33	338	76	176	928	28.1	^[6]^[7]
2007–08	Reggie Williams (2)	G	Sr	VMI	25	269	43	114	695	27.8	^[6]^[7]
2008–09	Stephen Curry	G	Jr	Davidson	34	312	130	220	974	28.6	^[95]^[96]
2009–10	Aubrey Coleman	G	Sr	Houston	35	305	51	235	896	25.6	^[97]^[98]
2010–11	Jimmer Fredette	G	Sr	BYU	37	346	124	252	1,068	28.8	^[99]^[100]

2011-08-27T16:35:00.001-07:00

Coaches

Statistics correct as of the end of the 2010–11 college basketball season.^[2]

Rank	Name	Years	Wins	Losses	Pct.	Teams
1	Don Meyer	38	923	324	.740	Hamline (1972–1975), Lipscomb (1975–1999),Northern State (1999–2010)
2^*	Herb Magee	42	922	365	.716	Philadelphia (1967–present)
3	Bob Knight	42	902	371	.709	Army (1965–1971), Indiana (1971–2000), Texas Tech(2001–2008)
4*	Mike Krzyzewski	36	900	284	.760	Army (1975–1980), Duke (1980–present)
5	Dean Smith	36	879	254	.776	North Carolina (1961–1997)
6	Adolph Rupp	41	876	190	.822	Kentucky (1930–1952, 1953–1972)
7^*	Jim Boeheim	35	856	301	.740	Syracuse (1976–present)
8^*	Jim Calhoun	39	855	358	.705	Northeastern (1972–1986), Connecticut (1986–present)
9	Jim Phelan	49	830	524	.613	Mount St. Mary's (1954–2003)
10	Clarence Gaines	47	828	447	.649	Winston-Salem State (1946–1993)
11	Jerry Johnson	47	821	447	.647	LeMoyne-Owen (1958–2005)
12^*	Glenn Robinson	40	805	302	.727	Franklin & Marshall (1971–present)
13	Eddie Sutton	37	804	328	.710	Creighton (1969–1974), Arkansas (1974–1985),Kentucky (1985–1989), Oklahoma State (1990–2006),San Francisco (2007–2008)
14	Lefty Driesell	41	786	394	.666	Davidson (1960–1969), Maryland (1969–1986), James Madison (1988–1997), Georgia State (1997–2003)
15	Lute Olson	34	780	280	.736	Long Beach State (1973–1974), Iowa (1974–1983),Arizona (1983–2007)
16	Lou Henson	41	779	412	.654	Hardin–Simmons (1962–1966), New Mexico State(1966–1975, 1998–2005), Illinois (1975–1996)
17	Henry Iba	41	764	339	.693	Northwest Missouri State (1929–1933), Colorado(1933–1934), Oklahoma State (1934–1970)
18	Edgar Diddle	42	759	302	.715	Western Kentucky (1922–1964)
19	Phog Allen	48	746	264	.739	Baker (1905–1908), Kansas (1907–1909, 1919–1956),Haskell (1908–1909), Central Missouri State (1912–1919)
20	John Chaney	34	741	312	.704	Cheyney (1972–1982), Temple (1982–2006)
21	Jerry Tarkanian^[3]	31	729	201	.784	Long Beach State (1968–1973), UNLV (1973–1992),Fresno State (1995–2002)
22	Norm Stewart	38	728	374	.661	Northern Iowa (1961–1967), Missouri (1967–1999)
23^*	Jim Smith	47	727	510	.588	Saint John's (MN) (1964–present)
24	Ray Meyer	42	724	354	.672	DePaul (1942–1984)
25	Don Haskins	38	719	353	.671	UTEP (1961–1999)
26	Dave Robbins	30	713	194	.786	Virginia Union (1978–2008)
27	Dick Sauers	41	702	330	.680	Albany (1955–1987, 1988–1997)
28^*	Bob Chipman	32	696	288	.707	Washburn (1979–present)
29^*	Bob Huggins	29	691	253	.732	Walsh (1980–1983), Akron (1984–1989), Cincinnati(1989–2005), Kansas State (2006–2007), West Virginia (2007–present)
30	Denny Crum	30	675	295	.696	Louisville (1971–2001)
31	Dennis Bridges	36	666	320	.675	Illinois Wesleyan (1965–2001)
32	Gary Williams	33	668	380	.637	American (1978–1982), Boston College (1982–1986),Ohio State (1986–1989), Maryland (1989–2011)
33	John Wooden	29	664	162	.804	Indiana State (1946–1948), UCLA (1948–1975)
34	Glenn Van Wieren	33	660	219	.751	Hope (1977–2010)
35	Ralph Miller	38	657	382	.632	Wichita State (1951–1964), Iowa (1964–1970), Oregon State (1970–1989)
36^*	Steve Moore	30	656	194	.772	Muhlenberg (1981–1987), Wooster (1987–present)
37	Tom Penders	36	648	438	.597	Tufts (1971–1974), Columbia (1974–1978), Fordham(1978–1986), Rhode Island (1986–1988), Texas (1988–1998), George Washington (1998–2001), Houston(2004–2010)
38	Gene Bartow	34	647	353	.647	Central Missouri State (1961–1964), Valparaiso(1964–1970), Memphis State (1970–1974), Illinois(1974–1975), UCLA (1975–1977), UAB (1978–1996)
39^*	Roy Williams	23	643	163	.798	Kansas (1988–2003), North Carolina (2003–present)
40	Billy Tubbs	31	641	340	.653	Southwestern (TX) (1971–1973), Lamar (1976–1980, 2003–2006), Oklahoma (1980–1994), TCU (1994–2002),
41	Homer Drew	34	640	427	.600	Bethel (IN) (1976–1987), Indiana-South Bend (1987–1988), Valparaiso (1988–2002, 2004–2011)
42^*	Jerry Slocum	36	638	446	.589	Nyack (1975–1987), Geneva (1987–1996), Gannon(1996–2005), Youngstown State (2005–present)
43	Marv Harshman	40	637	443	.590	Pacific Lutheran (1944–1958), Washington State(1958–1971), Washington (1971–1985)
43^*	David Hixon	34	637	248	.720	Amherst (1977–present)
43	Dick Whitmore	40	637	341	.656	Colby (1970–2011)
46	Hugh Durham	37	633	429	.596	Florida State (1966–1978), Georgia (1978–1995),Jacksonville (1997–2005)
47	John Lance	44	632	340	.650	Southwestern Oklahoma (1918–1922), Pittsburg State(1922–1934, 1935–1963)
48^*	Dick Reynolds	39	644	409	.612	Otterbein (1972–present)
49	Ken Anderson	27	631	152	.806	Wisconsin–Eau Claire (1968–1995)
49	Cam Henderson	36	631	242	.723	Muskingum (1919–1923), Davis & Elkins (1923–1935),Marshall (1935–1955)
51	Ed Messbarger	41	630	518	.549	Benedictine Heights (1957–1960), Dallas (1960–1963),St. Mary's (TX) (1963–1978), Angelo State (1978–1998)
52^*	Bo Ryan	27	625	194	.763	Wisconsin-Platteville (1984–1999), Milwaukee (1999–2001), Wisconsin (2001–present)
53	Norm Sloan	37	624	393	.614	Presbyterian (1951–1955), Citadel (1956–1960),Florida (1960–1966, 1980–1989), NC State (1966–1980)
54	Dean Nicholson	26	620	199	.757	Central Washington (1964–1990)
55	Tom Murphy	35	618	274	.693	Hamilton (1970–2004), SUNYIT (2005–2006)
56^*	Cliff Ellis	33	614	385	.614	South Alabama (1975–1984), Clemson (1984–1994),Auburn (1994–2004), Coastal Carolina (2007–present)
57^*	Rick Byrd	30	610	333	.647	Maryville (TN) (1978–1980), Lincoln Memorial (1983–1986), Belmont (1986–present)
58^*	Mike Montgomery	29	611	281	.695	Montana (1978–1986), Stanford (1986–2004),California (2008–present)
59	Jerry Steele	39	609	486	.556	Guilford (1962–1970), High Point (1972–2003)

2011-08-27T16:33:00.001-07:00

This is a list of NCAA men's basketball coaches who have won multiple championships. This list includes only championships since 1939 when the NCAA began the formal national championship tournament.

Coach	# of Championships	College	Championship Years
John Wooden	10	UCLA	1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975
Adolph Rupp	4	Kentucky	1948, 1949, 1951, 1958
Mike Krzyzewski	4	Duke	1991, 1992, 2001, 2010
Bob Knight	3	Indiana	1976, 1981, 1987
Jim Calhoun	3	UConn	1999, 2004, 2011
Branch McCracken	2	Indiana	1940, 1953
Henry Iba	2	Oklahoma State	1945, 1946
Phil Woolpert	2	San Francisco	1955, 1956
Ed Jucker	2	Cincinnati	1961, 1962
Denny Crum	2	Louisville	1980, 1986
Dean Smith	2	North Carolina	1982, 1993
Roy Williams	2	North Carolina	2005, 2009
Billy Donovan	2	Florida	2006, 2007

NCAA Basketball

2011-08-27T16:22:00.000-07:00

Championship History

YEAR	CHAMPION	RECORD
2011	Connecticut	(32-9)
2010	Duke	(35-5)
2009	North Carolina	(34-4)
2008	Kansas	(37-3)
2007	Florida	(35-5)
2006	Florida	(33-6)
2005	North Carolina	(33-4)
2004	Connecticut	(33-6)
2003	Syracuse	(30-5)
2002	Maryland	(32-4)
2001	Duke	(35-4)
2000	Michigan St.	(32-7)
1999	Connecticut	(34-2)
1998	Kentucky	(35-4)
1997	Arizona	(25-9)
1996	Kentucky	(34-2)
1995	UCLA	(31-2)
1994	Arkansas	(31-3)
1993	North Carolina	(34-4)
1992	Duke	(34-2)
1991	Duke	(32-7)
1990	UNLV	(35-5)
1989	Michigan	(30-7)
1988	Kansas	(27-11)
1987	Indiana	(30-4)
1986	Louisville	(32-7)
1985	Villanova	(25-10)
1984	Georgetown	(34-3)
1983	North Carolina St.	(26-10)
1982	North Carolina	(32-2)
1981	Indiana	(26-9)
1980	Louisville	(33-3)
1979	Michigan St.	(26-6)
1978	Kentucky	(30-2)
1977	Marquette	(25-7)
1976	Indiana	(32-0)
1975	UCLA	(28-3)
1974	North Carolina St.	(30-1)
1973	UCLA	(30-0)
1972	UCLA	(30-0)
1971	UCLA	(29-1)
1970	UCLA	(28-2)
1969	UCLA	(29-1)
1968	UCLA	(29-1)
1967	UCLA	(30-0)
1966	UTEP	(28-1)
1965	UCLA	(28-2)
1964	UCLA	(30-0)
1963	Loyola (Ill.)	(29-2)
1962	Cincinnati	(29-2)
1961	Cincinnati	(27-3)
1960	Ohio St.	(25-3)
1959	California	(25-4)
1958	Kentucky	(23-6)
1957	North Carolina	(32-0)
1956	San Francisco	(29-0)
1955	San Francisco	(28-1)
1954	La Salle	(26-4)
1953	Indiana	(23-3)
1952	Kansas	(28-3)
1951	Kentucky	(32-2)
1950	CCNY	(24-5)
1949	Kentucky	(32-2)
1948	Kentucky	(36-3)
1947	Holy Cross	(27-3)
1946	Oklahoma St.	(31-2)
1945	Oklahoma St.	(27-4)
1944	Utah	(21-4)
1943	Wyoming	(31-2)
1942	Stanford	(28-4)
1941	Wisconsin	(20-3)
1940	Indiana	(20-3)
1939	Oregon	(29-5)

NBA All Star Weekend 2011

2011-03-09T22:34:00.000-08:00

The 2011 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game that was played on February 20, 2011 at Staples Center in Los Angeles,California, home of the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers. This game was the 60th edition of the National Basketball Association(NBA) All-Star Game and was played during the 2010–11 NBA season. The Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers served as the hosts. The Clippers and Lakers were both awarded the All-Star Game in an announcement by commissioner David Stern on June 9, 2009. This was the second time that the Staples Center had hosted the All-Star Game; the arena had previously hosted the event in 2004. This will be the fifth time that Los Angeles had hosted the All-Star Game; before Staples Center opened in 1999, the city had previously hosted the event in 1963, 1972, and 1983.^[2] Rihanna, Kanye West and Drake were the halftime performers, while Keri Hilson, Lenny Kravitz and Bruno Mars were the entertainment for pre-show festivities.^[1]

Coaches


Doc Rivers (left) and Gregg Popovich (right) were selected as the East and West head coaches, respectively.

The coaches for the All-Star Game are the head coaches of the teams with the best winning percentage in each conference through the games of February 6, two weeks before the All-Star Game. However, an NBA rule also prohibits a coach from being selected for consecutive All-Star Games, even if his team again holds the conference's best record. Because George Karl and Stan Van Gundy coached in the 2010 All-Star Game, they were not eligible for selection.^[3]

The coach for the Western Conference team was San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich. This was the second time Popovich was selected to be an All-Star coach, after previous selection in 2005.^[4] The coach for the Eastern Conference team was Boston Celtics head coachDoc Rivers. This was the second time Rivers was selected to be an All-Star coach, after previously being selected in 2008.^[5]

Players

Kobe Bryant received the most votes with more than 2.3 million.

The rosters for the All-Star Game are chosen in two ways. The starters were chosen via a fan ballot. Two guards, two forwards and one center who receive the highest vote were named the All-Star starters.^[3] The reserves were chosen by votes among the NBA head coaches in their respective conferences. The coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. The reserves consists of two guards, two forwards, one center and two players regardless of position. If a player is unable to participate due to injury, the commissioner will select a replacement.^[6]

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers topped the All-Star Ballots with 2,380,016 votes, which earned him a starting position in the Western Conference team. Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Yao Ming completed the Western Conference starting position.^[3] Anthony and Bryant are both starters for the previous year's Western Conference team. The Western Conference reserves feature 3 first-time selections, rookie Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, and Russell Westbrook.^[6] Griffin is the first rookie since Yao Ming to play in the All-Star game.^[7]

The Eastern Conference leading vote-getter is Dwight Howard with 2,099,204 votes. LeBron James, Derrick Rose, Amar'e Stoudemire and Dwyane Wade completed the Eastern Conference starting position.^[3] Howard, Miami Heat teammates James and Wade all started for the East in last year's game. The Eastern Conference reserves includes 4 Celtics: Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo. Al Horford, Rondo and Rose were selected to the All-Star game for the second times.^[6]

Yao missed the game due to injury; he was replaced by NBA commissioner David Stern with Love.^[8] Western Conference coach Gregg Popovich selected Tim Duncan to replace Yao in the starting lineup.

Kobe Bryant, selected to his 13th straight All-Star game after becoming the leading vote-getter, had 37 points, 14 rebounds, and three steals and won his fourth All-Star Game Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, tying Hall of Famer Bob Pettit for the most All-Star MVP awards.^[11]^[12]

All-Star Weekend

T-Mobile Rookie Challenge

Main article: NBA All-Star Weekend Rookie Challenge


MVP John Wall (left) recorded a game-high 22 assists for the Rookies while James Harden (right) scored 30 points for the Sophomores.

The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge featured a team of standout first-year players ('Rookies') against a team of standout second-year players ('Sophomores'). The game was divided into two twenty-minute halves, similar to college basketball. The participating players were chosen by voting among the league's assistant coaches. The Rookie team included five of the top ten picks from the 2010 NBA Draft: DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson, Greg Monroe and John Wall. 2009 first overall pick Blake Griffin, who missed the 2009–10 season due to injury, was also selected to the rookie team. The Sophomores team featured six players from the previous Rookie Challenge game: DeJuan Blair, Stephen Curry,Tyreke Evans, Taj Gibson, James Harden and Brandon Jennings.^[13] However, Evans was later replaced by Harden due to injury.^[14]

The head coaches for the Rookies and Sophomores teams were the lead assistants from the All-Star Game coaching staffs, Mike Budenholzer from the San Antonio Spurs and Lawrence Frank from the Boston Celtics. They were assisted by two All-Stars and two veterans who served as assistant coaches: Carmelo Anthony, Amar'e Stoudemire, Steve Kerr and Kevin McHale. Budenholzer, McHale and Stoudemire coached the Rookie team while Frank, Anthony and Kerr coached the Sophomore team.^[13]

February 18 9:00 p.m. ET	Boxscore	Rookies 148, Sophomores 140		Staples Center, Los Angeles, California Attendance: 17,163 Referees: #53 Mark Lindsay #74 Curtis Blair #45 Brian Forte	TNT
		Scoring by half: 71–69, 77–71
		Pts: DeMarcus Cousins 33 Rebs: DeMarcus Cousins 14 Asts: John Wall 22	Pts: James Harden 30 Rebs: DeJuan Blair 15 Asts: Stephen Curry 8

The Rookies defeated the Sophomores 148–140, extending their winning streak to two games. Rookie's John Wall, who scored 12 points and notched a record 22 assists, was named MVP. He is joined by his former Kentucky teammate DeMarcus Cousins, who scored a game-high 33 points and had 14 rebounds. James Harden, who was born in LA, led the Sophomores with 30 points andDeJuan Blair had 28 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Rookie's Blake Griffin, who also participated in the Slam Dunk contest and the All-Star game, only played 13 minutes and had 14 points. Both teams started the first half strong; the Rookies only had a 2-point advantage at halftime. The game remained close in the second half and the Rookies eventually came out with a victory.

Sprite Slam Dunk Contest

Main article: NBA All-Star Weekend Slam Dunk Contest

On January 5, 2011, the four contestants for the dunk contest were announced. Blake Griffin, JaVale McGee, Serge Ibaka, and Brandon Jennings were all chosen to participate.^[15] On January 20, it was announced that DeMar DeRozan would replace Jennings due to his foot injury.^[16] For this edition, the contestants were also provided with a 'dunk coach': Griffin was mentored by Kenny Smith, McGee was paired with Chris Webber, Ibaka was mentored by teammate Kevin Durant, and DeRozan paired up with Darryl Dawkins as his mentor.

During the first round, McGee made two perfect score dunks, including a dunk that had him dunk three basketballs at once, sending him to the finals. Griffin, who scored a total of 95 points in the first round, also entered the finals. In the second round, McGee and Griffin each made their two dunks, but Griffin won with 68% of the fans votes after he dunked over the hood of a car, with an assist byBaron Davis.

Foot Locker Three-Point Contest

Main article: NBA All-Star Weekend Three-Point Shootout

The Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout featured six players: defending champion Paul Pierce returned to defend his title, competing against Celtics teammate Ray Allen, Kevin Durant, Daniel Gibson,James Jones, and Dorell Wright.^[17]
Jones won the contest with a score of 20 points in the final round, ahead of Pierce with 18 and Allen who scored 15.

Taco Bell Skills Challenge

Main article: NBA All-Star Weekend Skills Challenge

The Taco Bell Skills Challenge was contested by five players. Chris Paul, a three-time contestant, have been automatically selected to participate. He went against Stephen Curry, Derrick Rose, John Wall, and Russell Westbrook, who were voted in by the fans from a pool of 8 candidates.^[18] In this contest, the contestants had to complete an "obstacle course" consisting of dribbling, passing and shooting stations. The contestant who finished the course with the fastest time wins the contest. All contestants had to comply with basic NBA ball-handling rules while completing the course. Curry won the event with 28.2 seconds in the final round against Westbrook who finished with 44.2 seconds.

BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game

Main article: NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game

The BBVA Celebrity All-Star Game featured two teams composed of retired NBA and WNBA players, actors, comedians, singers, celebrities, and others. The game was divided into four eight-minute quarters. The head coaches were NBA Hall of Famers Bill Walton and Magic Johnson. Their assistants were comedians Ty Burrell and Jason Alexander. Each team featured fake "general managers" who simulated to have chosen the team.

The game's MVP was chosen by voting of the audience through text messaging. At the end of the game, Justin Bieber was announced the MVP. Bieber scored eight points (3-11 FG), and had two rebounds and four assists. NBA legend Chris Mullin said of Bieber, "He's got a nice little game... but more importantly, he's got great passion. It looked like he loves the game."^[19]

[edit]

Reggie Miller

2011-03-08T00:12:00.001-08:00

Early life

Miller was born in Riverside, California. He was born with hip deformities, which caused an inability to walk correctly. After a few years of continuously wearing braces on both legs, his leg strength grew enough to compensate. One of five siblings, he comes from an athletic family. His brother Darrell is a former Major League Baseball catcher; his sister Tammy played volleyball at California State University, Fullerton; and his older sister Cheryl is a Hall-of-Fame women's basketball player. Cheryl was a member of the 1984 U.S. gold-medal winning Olympic basketball team and is currently an analyst for Turner Sports. One of the family anecdotes Reggie liked to recall was when Cheryl used to beat him in games of 1-on-1 prior to his professional career. According to Reggie, they quit playing when he was finally able to block Cheryl's shot. Miller claims that his unorthodox shooting style was developed to arc his shot over his sister's constant shot blocking. ^[5]

[edit]College

Miller attended Riverside Polytechnic High School, California. He then attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he received a degree in history.^[4] In the 1984-1985 NCAA season he helped the UCLA Bruins to an NIT championship. In his senior season, 1986-1987, he led the Bruins to a Pacific-10 regular season championship and the first Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament championship. The Three-point field goal was instituted for the 1986-1987 season; 69 of his 247 field goals were from three point range that year. One of his most memorable performances was in the January 24, 1987 game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, where he hit a clutch 24-foot (7.3 m) shot to put the Bruins ahead 61-59 with 10 seconds left to play.^[6] Another notable game was a win against the defending national champions Louisville Cardinals and "Never nervous" Pervis Ellison on February 28, 1987. Miller scored 33 points in the second half, which is still a school record.^[7]

His final game was a loss in the second round of the 1987 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament to the Wyoming Cowboys. He finished second in all-time scoring at UCLA behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. As of 2009, he still holds the UCLA single-season records for most league points, highest league scoring average, and most free throws. He also holds several individual game records.^[7]

[edit]NBA career

Miller was selected by the Pacers with the 11th pick in the 1st round of the 1987 NBA Draft. Fans were initially upset that the Pacers chose Miller over Indiana University product and New Castle, Indiana native Steve Alford; fans watching the 1987 NBA Draft booed Pacers President Donnie Walsh for the selection. Miller wore jersey number 31 while playing on the Pacers, backing up shooting guard John Long before he became a starter. Miller gained a respectable reputation following early in his career as he helped turn the Pacers into a perennial playoff team.

After Chuck Person was traded from the Pacers during the 1992 offseason, Miller established himself as the primary scoring threat for the Pacers. On November 28, 1992, he scored 57 points against the Charlotte Hornets at Charlotte Coliseum in a 134-122 win. In this game, Miller was 16 for 29 from the field, including 4 for 11 from 3-point range, and 21 for 23 from the free throw line. His 57 points was the highest single-game total for a player in the 1992-93 season, and still stands today as the Pacers single-game record.

Miller became a household name during the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks, due to his phenomenal shooting performance in Game 5 of the series on June 1, 1994, in which he scored 39 points total and 25 in the 4th quarter of the Pacers' 93-86 victory at Madison Square Garden. Miller made several very long three-pointers during the quarter and engaged in an animated discussion of his ongoing performance with noted Knicks fan Spike Lee, who was, as always, seated courtside. The win gave the Pacers a 3-2 series lead over the heavily favored Knicks, but the Pacers lost the next two games and thus the series.

On May 7, 1995, Miller scored eight points in 8.9 seconds in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Knicks, leading the Pacers to a stunning 107-105 victory. With 18.7 seconds remaining and the Pacers trailing by six points, Miller made a three-point shot, stole the inbounds pass from Greg Anthony, dribbled back to the three-point arc and tied the game with a second three-pointer, stunning the Knicks bench and their fans. On the ensuing possession, Knicks guard John Starks was fouled by Pacer Sam Mitchell. Starks missed both free throws, and although Patrick Ewing managed to rebound the second miss, his shot rattled out. Miller rebounded the ball, was fouled, and made both free throws. Trailing by two points, the New York Knicks had one last chance to tie or win the game, but failed to get a shot off, giving the Pacers a shocking 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Pacers outlasted the Knicks in seven games before losing to the Orlando Magic in the conference finals in seven games, also four games to three, just like the previous year. Near the end of the 1996 season, Miller fell to the floor and suffered an eye injury, leaving him unable to play in the playoffs until before Game 5 of the first round against the Atlanta Hawks by wearing goggles. The Pacers lost to the Hawks and were eliminated.^[8]

The Pacers made their next appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals three years later. On May 25, 1998, the Pacers trailed the Chicago Bulls two games to one in the series and were behind 94-93 in Game 4 at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis with less than three seconds remaining. Miller got free from Michael Jordan, caught the inbounds pass from Derrick McKey, turned and made a game-winning three-point shot. The Pacers eventually pushed the series to a decisive seventh game in Chicago, a game in which the Pacers led in the fourth quarter before fading in the final two minutes. The Bulls took the series and went on to win their sixth and final championship with Jordan, Pippen, and company.

Following Jordan's retirement, Miller and the Pacers were considered one of the favorites in the East heading into the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. After earning the #2 seed in the East, the Pacers once again met the rival Knicks in the Conference Finals. That series came to a disappointing end for Indiana, as the eighth-seeded Knicks upset the Pacers in six games. In the decisive Game 6, Miller had one of the worst performances of his career, scoring just 8 points on 3-of-18 shooting from the field. He also missed seven of his eight three-point attempts.

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers on May 6, 2000, Miller and teammate Jalen Rose each scored 40 points—becoming the highest-scoring pair of teammates in playoff history; in the Pacers' 108-91 victory. The Pacers won that series 4-2 and returned to the Eastern Conference Finals for the fifth time in seven years. This time they finally crashed through the gates, defeating the rival Knicks four games to two. The deciding Game 6 at the world-famous Madison Square Garden on June 2, 2000 was sealed by Miller's 34 points, half (17) of which came in the fourth quarter.

The Pacers thus advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, facing the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. The Pacers lost the series and the championship four games to two, but Miller put on a shooting clinic in the Pacers' resounding Game 5 win that staved off elimination, scoring 25 points in the game. Miller averaged 24.3 points per game for the series.

In 2002, Miller almost single-handedly eliminated the top seed and eventual Eastern Conference Champion New Jersey Nets in the fifth and final game of the first round of the playoffs. First, following two missed free throws from New Jersey's Richard Jefferson, Miller sent the game into overtime by banking in a 39-foot (12 m) three-point shot at the buzzer. Next, with the Pacers down by 2 points in the final seconds of the first overtime, Miller drove into the lane and dunked over three Nets defenders to send the game into a second overtime period. While the Pacers would eventually fall to the Nets 120-109, that game had added another chapter to Miller's legacy as a clutch performer.

In the twilight of his career, Miller deferred his leadership role to All-Star teammate Jermaine O'Neal. Miller was an important locker-room leader for his team and served as an inspiration to his teammates who wanted to "win one [a championship] for 'Uncle Reg'". While Miller was no longer the team's leading scorer, he remained a go-to player in clutch time to the very end of his career. O'Neal's respect for Miller was most evident on January 4, 2005, when after scoring 55 points against the Milwaukee Bucks, O'Neal agreed to be taken out of the game with 1:43 remaining to preserve Miller's team record of 57 points in a game.^[9]

In 2005, following the lengthy suspensions of star teammates O'Neal, Stephen Jackson, and Ron Artest for a brawl with fans in Detroit, Miller showed he could still score points in bunches, averaging nearly 20 points per game for stretches of the season. He even scored 39 points against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 18 at the age of 39. In January, Miller angrily shot down rumors that he would retire at the end of the season, saying that if he did decide to retire, he would announce it through his sister Cheryl Miller. On February 10, Cheryl, now a sideline reporter for TNT, reported that her brother had told her the previous day that he would indeed retire. On April 11, in a game against the Toronto Raptors, Miller passed Jerry West to move into 12th on the NBA's all-time scoring list.

Miller's last game was on May 19, 2005, at Conseco Fieldhouse, when the Pacers lost 88-79 to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, ending the series four games to two. In the game, Miller led the Pacers with 27 points, making 11 out of 16 field goals including four of eight 3-pointers. When he was taken out with 15.7 seconds to play, the Indianapolis crowd gave him a last standing ovation, where there were many teary eyes. Pistons coach (and former Pacers coach) Larry Brown then called an additional timeout during which the Pistons players joined in the ovation, providing closure not only to Miller's career but also to a season that had been largely overshadowed by the early-season brawl between the two teams. This won the 2005 Best Moment ESPY Award.

Over his 18-year NBA career, Miller made over $105,000,000 in salary, playing in 1,389 games for the Pacers. He made 2,560 career three pointers.^[10]

He took a very troubled franchise and ended up in the Eastern Conference finals six times. That’s pretty impressive for a guy who weighs about 185 pounds, and in the years that he did it, he was a marked guy and he relished it. I feel very thankful to Reggie to what he did for the Pacers and I just feel he deserves [to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame], whether it comes now, later or whatever.
—Donnie Walsh, former Indiana Pacers President^[3]

[edit]NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

[edit]Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1987–88	Indiana	82	1	22.4	.488	.355	.801	2.3	1.6	.6	.2	10.0
1988–89	Indiana	74	70	34.3	.479	.402	.844	3.9	3.1	1.3	.4	16.0
1989–90	Indiana	82	82	38.9	.514	.414	.868	3.6	3.8	1.3	.2	24.6
1990–91	Indiana	82	82	36.2	.512	.348	.918	3.4	4.0	1.3	.2	22.6
1991–92	Indiana	82	82	38.0	.501	.378	.858	3.9	3.8	1.3	.3	20.7
1992–93	Indiana	82	82	36.0	.479	.399	.880	3.1	3.2	1.5	.3	21.2
1993–94	Indiana	79	79	33.4	.503	.421	.908	2.7	3.1	1.5	.3	19.9
1994–95	Indiana	81	81	32.9	.462	.415	.897	2.6	3.0	1.2	.2	19.6
1995–96	Indiana	76	76	34.5	.473	.410	.863	2.8	3.3	1.0	.2	21.1
1996–97	Indiana	81	81	36.6	.444	.427	.880	3.5	3.4	.9	.3	21.6
1997–98	Indiana	81	81	34.5	.477	.429	.868	2.9	2.1	1.0	.1	19.5
1998–99	Indiana	50	50	35.7	.438	.385	.915	2.7	2.2	.7	.2	18.4
1999–00	Indiana	81	81	36.9	.448	.408	.919	3.0	2.3	1.0	.3	18.1
2000–01	Indiana	81	81	39.3	.440	.366	.928	3.5	3.2	1.0	.2	18.9
2001–02	Indiana	79	79	36.6	.453	.406	.911	2.8	3.2	1.1	.1	16.5
2002–03	Indiana	70	70	30.2	.441	.355	.900	2.5	2.4	.9	.1	12.6
2003–04	Indiana	80	80	28.2	.438	.401	.885	2.4	3.1	.8	.1	10.0
2004–05	Indiana	66	66	31.9	.437	.322	.933	2.4	2.2	.8	.1	14.8
Career		1389	1304	34.3	.471	.395	.888	3.0	3.0	1.1	.2	18.2
All-Star		5	1	19.2	.457	.263	.750	1.0	2.0	1.0	.2	8.0

[edit]Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1989–90	Indiana	3	3	41.7	.571	.429	.905	4.0	2.0	1.0	.0	20.7
1990–91	Indiana	5	5	38.6	.486	.421	.865	3.2	2.8	1.6	.4	21.6
1991–92	Indiana	3	3	43.3	.581	.636	.800	2.3	4.7	1.3	.0	27.0
1992–93	Indiana	4	4	43.8	.533	.526	.947	3.0	2.8	.8	.0	31.5
1993–94	Indiana	16	16	36.0	.448	.422	.839	3.0	2.9	1.3	.2	23.2
1994–95	Indiana	17	17	37.7	.476	.422	.860	3.6	2.1	.9	.2	25.5
1995–96	Indiana	1	1	31.0	.412	.333	.867	1.0	1.0	1.0	.0	29.0
1997–98	Indiana	16	16	39.3	.426	.400	.904	1.8	2.0	1.2	.2	19.9
1998–99	Indiana	13	13	37.0	.397	.333	.895	3.9	2.6	.7	.2	20.2
1999–00	Indiana	22	22	40.5	.452	.395	.938	2.4	2.7	1.0	.4	24.0
2000–01	Indiana	4	4	44.3	.456	.429	.933	5.0	2.5	.8	.5	31.3
2001–02	Indiana	5	5	39.6	.506	.419	.875	3.2	2.8	1.6	.2	23.6
2002–03	Indiana	6	6	29.3	.283	.160	.913	2.3	2.3	.2	.2	9.2
2003–04	Indiana	16	16	28.4	.402	.375	.922	2.3	2.8	1.1	.2	10.1
2004–05	Indiana	13	13	33.1	.434	.318	.941	3.1	1.5	.8	.1	14.8
Career		144	144	36.9	.449	.390	.893	2.9	2.5	1.0	.2	20.6