When you are talking about two stars from the same league, there are going to be some similarities. In the case of LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, you are talking about two future Hall of Fame players with NBA championship rings. You are also talking about two players who never played in the NCAA, going right from high school to the pro ranks as early as the league allowed. However, the career trajectories, the play and the personalities of these two stars show that they are quite different players.
Both LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki entered the game young and joined teams that are not normally considered NBA powers, their trajectories have taken radically different paths. Dirk joined the Dallas Mavericks after then-coach and general manager Don Nelson found him in Europe, touting him as the next Larry Bird, saying that he would transform the game, thanks to his ability to handle the ball and shoot from the outside – despite the fact that he was seven feet tall. Back then, seven-foot players did not wander much outside the lane and definitely did not handle the ball. The lone exception was centers like Bill Laimbeer, who had developed an outside shot and would spot up to knock down threes. For the most part, though, players that tall would stick around the paint, rather than forming a dynamic part of the offense. Dirk joined the team close to the time when Mark Cuban purchased the Mavericks, vowing to transform a team that had been in the basement of the standings for almost a decade. Cuban took the time to build a relationship with Dirk and made it a priority to keep him on the team, and now that Nowitzki is in the twilight of a lengthy turn in the NBA, he remains a Maverick – and even has taken a discount at contract renewal to allow the team to add other stars to the roster. It was this sacrifice that made it possible for Cuban to assemble the rosters that made it to the NBA Finals in 2006 and won the championship in 2011. In the case of LeBron James, he did lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals all by himself, but when he became a free agent, he set up an ESPN special program to announce his destination, a show called “The Decision.” In that, he let the world know that he would be joining Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. While there, he found some success, winning two NBA titles, but then when free agency came again, he got Kyrie Irving and Andrew Wiggins to join him in Cleveland. His contract is set up so that he becomes a free agent every year effectively (having the right to opt out) so that he can maximize his earnings every season, rather than giving his home team a discount to see whom else they can sign. James still has a long career ahead of him (barring injury), and it is likely that he will keep maximizing his revenue each season.
LeBron James has expressed admiration for Dirk Nowitzki on multiple occasions. He describes Nowitzki as “a true professionalwho continued to get better every year” (Vardon, web). Dirk has indicated that he feels much the same way about LeBron’s intense talent. During the NBA Finals last year, Dirk told CBS reporter Earl Sneed, “LeBron is playing from another planet, and he’s singlehandedly keeping the series close” (Moore, web). Despite their mutual respect, the two styles of these players are vastly different. Dirk and LeBron can both spot up for shots, and both can attack the rim, but Dirk is more skilled on moves when he has the ball with his back to the basket. On the other hand, LeBron can bring the ball up the floor and run the point when necessary. When he gets a full head of steam going, he can be just about impossible to stop. Dirk, on the other hand, has as his signature the fade-away jumper that, thanks to his height, is just about impossible to block. Because Dirk spends a little more time inside, he has a higher rebounding average (7.9 vs 7.2), but since he spends more time handling the ball on the perimeter, LeBron has a lot more assists (6.9 vs 2.6). Dirk has more total points (29,408 vs 26,766), but he has played five more seasons. LeBron averages more points per game (27.2 vs 22.0) (“LeBron James vs Dirk Nowitzki Comparison”).
Another key difference between these two NBA greats is their personalities. Dirk keeps to himself, and his private life has remained largely out of the public eye. So the press basically had not done any research on one Crista Taylor, Dirk’s first fiancée – until she started getting picked up for fraud warrants from her past (Stein, web). While Dirk is happily married to someone else now, at the time, this was a crazy story, simply because it seemed so unlike what one would expect from a gym rat who just showed up every day, trying to get better. Taylor had apparently stolen a ton of money from Nowitzki (as well as dozens of other people) and ended up in prison as a result, but the shock around Dirk fans was simply the fact that no one had any idea what had been going on the whole time. The only time you read about Dirk in the news is because of what he does on the floor. He does not crave the limelight and does not bask in the adoration of the media. LeBron, on the other hand, seems to live off the interplay of drama and attention that surround him. As was mentioned earlier, LeBron is the only player who has had a television special surrounding his destination as a free agent. He has had a few other instances here and there showing a personality that can be difficult to deal with, such as the time he ripped open the sleeves on his jersey because he thought they were keeping him from shooting well; the time he simply stopped and watched the rest of his team going up and down the floor when it was clear that the Boston Celtics were going to eliminate his Cavaliers from the playoffs. This dramatic side to his personality has aggravated others, as when Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert wrote (in response to “The Decision”) that James used a “narcissistic, self-promotional build-up” to announce that he was leaving Cleveland for Miami (Gilbert, web). That animus did not, of course, keep Gilbert from signing LeBron back when he came up for free agency again.
LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki are two very different NBA superstars. They have both taken their teams to new heights in the league, and they are players whom their respective fan bases will sorely miss when they have gone.
Works Cited
Gilbert, Dan. “Letter from Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert.” ESPN.com 13 December
2010. Web. 6 April 2016.
“LeBron James vs. Dirk Nowitzki Comparison.” Land of Basketball. 2016. Web. 6
Moore, Matt. “Dirk Nowitzki Thinks LeBron James Should Not Win Finals MVP in
a Loss.” CBS Sports 16 June 2015. Web. 6 April 2016.
Stein, Marc. “Taylor’s Pregnancy Test Negative.” ESPN.com 5 September 2009.
Web. 6 April 2016.
Vardon, Joe. “LeBron James on Dirk Nowitzki: ‘One of my favorite players ever to
play the game.” Cleveland.com 12 January 2016. Web. 6 April 2016.
