The elegant and eloquent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar usually picks on better targets. But asked if Dirk Nowitzki‘s killer jumper was possibly as devastating as his own sky hook had been, Abdul-Jabbar took umbrage saying Nowitzki wasn’t a “dominant player.” Abdul-Jabbar claimed that, despite Nowitzki being the 6th all-time NBA scorer, he wasn’t a good enough rebounder or defender to qualify as truly elite. In Abdul-Jabbar’s opinion Nowitzki was a “one-trick pony.”
Dirk Nowitzki is courteous in the extreme and didn’t rise to anger after being dissed by the NBA’s leading all-time scorer. Nowitzki even said he didn’t want to start comparing stats because Abdul-Jabbar’s are “way better” than his. But he did defend his record, which includes a Finals MVP, a regular season MVP, a championship and 11 50-win seasons in a row: “I don’t think you can average 25 and 10 over your playoff career and not be dominant.” Nowitzki said. “I don’t think you can get to sixth in scoring in this league over 18 years and not be at some point at least somewhat dominant.”
