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Dallas Mavericks Star Dirk Nowitzki Reaches Rare NBA Accomplishment: 30,000 Points

Danny Bollinger
/
FLICKR Creative Commons

UPDATED at 8:30 p.m.

It didn't take Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki long to join an exclusive club of NBA players who have scored at least 30,000 points. 

The German reached the mark early in the second half of as the Mavs took on the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Center in Dallas Tuesday night. Nowitzki’s done a lot since getting drafted and then traded to the Mavs nearly 20 years ago.

He’s won an NBA championship, the league’s Most Valuable Player award, and now the forward is 20 points away from joining the likes of basketball greats: Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Wilt Chamberlin and Michael Jordan.

Nowitzki will become only the sixth player in NBA history to score 30,000 or more points.

Mark Followill is the local TV play-by-play announcer for the Mavs. And he says it’s a credit to Nowitzki’s ability to play into his late 30s.

“It says that Dirk is obviously a great player. It says something about his longevity that he’s in his 1966 year and getting ready to approach this very rare milestone.”

Followill says joining the 30,000 club shows Nowitzki’s availability and durability.

“Those are the two most important abilities when it comes to sports, and in Dirk’s case, he’s been a warrior.”

Nowitzki’s says that he’s on board to play next season – his 20th. While he’ll get more than 30,000 points – it’ll be hard to top Wilt Chamberlin – he’s in fifth place with more than 31,000 points.

Gus Contreras is a digital producer and reporter at KERA News. Gus produces the local All Things Considered segment and reports on a variety of topics from, sports to immigration. He was an intern and production assistant for All Things Considered in Washington D.C.