Dallas Mavericks: Happy Birthday Dirk Nowitzki

17. All-star Alley-Oop

We kick off the list with a pretty insignificant event that took the social media world by storm. In the 2015 NBA All-Star game, Dirk made a short 12 minute appearance that included only 5 points in a Western Conference 163-158 victory.

However, two of these points became the highlight of all highlights from the big game. A long rebound from a mixed Carmelo Anthony jumper lead to a 2-on-1 fast break with Steph Curry and Dirk. Steph put on some handles and then tossed a nice, low alley-oop for Dirk to throw down.

If nothing else, this highlight should be in his top 17 as a reminder that Nowitzki played in 13 NBA All-Star games.

16. Dirk’s First Triple-Double

In the 2007-08 season, Dirk Nowitzki recorded his very first triple-double of his career. With only one other triple-double up to this point, the first one was pretty significant. Dirk was a double-double matching most of his career recording nearly 400 so far in his career including more than 30 in 7 consecutive seasons.

This is not necessarily a huge highlight for the career of Dirk but it does show that, no matter how great of a scorer he is, he has also been a versatile player his whole career.

15. 2006 All-Star Weekend

Another small milestone on Dirk’s impressive resume came in the 2006 All-Star game when Dirk competed in both the big game as well as the 3-point contest. Dirk only landed 14 minutes of game time and 10 points on 8 shots but the real magi happened the day before.

In the 3-point contest, Dirk was faced up against great shooters like Ray Allen, Gilbert Arenas, Chauncey Billups, Quentin Richardson, and Jason Terry. In the end, it may not have been the most pretty victory, but Dirk Nowitzki walked away with the trophy.

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