Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki became the 23rd player in NBA history to score 23,000 career points during a Friday night game against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The star 7-footer was only needed for 22 minutes and finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting as the Mavericks cruised on to win the game – their fourth straight victory – 102-76 at American Airlines Center.
“Twenty-three thousand is great, but I think I say it over and over, right now that’s not really what I’m playing for,” Nowitzki told ESPN in a post game interview . “All the milestones are going to be great when I look back on my career in 10, 15 years, but as of right now, I’m trying to keep going and help this team and this franchise win as many games as I can. We’ve been playing better so that’s really all I’m worried about right now.”
According to ESPN, Nowitzki needs 326 points to surpass Elgin Baylor, Adrian Dantley and Robert Parrish and crack the top-20 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Nowitzki, 33, is in his 14th NBA season. Acquired by the Mavericks during a draft-day trade, Nowitzki is the team’s all-time leader in points, rebounds, field goals, field goal attempts, games and minutes.
In addition to his recently acquired 2011 NBA Finals MVP, Dirk’s other awards include: 2006-2007 NBA MVP, All-NBA first team four times and 10 All-Star selections.
“He’s one of 12 or 13 players to be a 10-time All-Star, a league MVP and a Finals MVP. So, that puts him in the top 12 or 13,” Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle said. “I don’t think that can be disputed. He’s had a staggeringly awesome career. There’s no debate now, he’s up there.”
Dirk Nowitzki talks about reaching his milestone 23,000th career point in the video clip below:
