Photo Credit: AP Photo/Ron Jenkins

Dirk Nowitzki Says The Modern NBA Is About Money And Not About Loyalty

When Dirk Nowitzki  joined the NBA, numerous players and coaches alike didn’t believe Nowitzki would even last in the league, let alone break all kinds of records for a big man. But he has done that, and continued to prove the doubters wrong throughout his glamorous career. Nowitzki not only changed the game for international players, but changed the game forever overall.  Unfortunately, his impact and influence throughout the NBA is still not quite comprehended by the casual fan after all these years.

You see, young NBA fans growing up now will see the likes of Karl Anthony Town, Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid knocking down threes form the outside, but what they don’t realize is Nowitzki paved the way for every shot making big man that can step away from the basket and be a deadly weapon. Nowitzki didn’t just create the true definition of a “stretch 4 and stretch 5” he revolutionized those positions forever. Previously, players were drafted out of college into the NBA purely on their size and ability to rebound the ball and possibly block shots. Now, NBA scouts are asking “Can he step away from the basket? Can he pick-and-pop? Can he handle the ball? Can he score? What’s his range?” All these questions are now relevant, because Nowitzki has dominated and scored the basketball in ways in which we’ve never seen big men put the ball in the basket for such a long period of time.

If that wasn’t enough, Nowitzki also invented his signature shot which is now an NBA norm – the one legged fade away jumper. The likes of Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade have all added his shot to their arsenal, as Nowitzki made a living of torching opponents with it. What was once thought of as a bad and unbalanced shot, Nowitzki perfected and made it his go to move, which has still proven to be unstoppable even to this day.

More so, Nowitzki managed to set all these records and new parameters for big men while only playing for one sole team.

Loyalty is a dying art in the world of sports. Players like Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Dirk Nowitzki were the last breed of NBA stars to never “jump ship” and leave when their team is not performing up to par. The ability to remain apart of a losing team is something only the best can do; not particularly skill wise, but mentally. Players often move around the league for two reasons; to contend for a championship or for the green paper that the world revolves around.

But loyalty goes both ways, and in today’s NBA even trying to be loyal to a team seems impossible. We’ve seen it when Isaiah Thomas, Blake Griffin and DeMar DeRozan got traded.

In an interview with SiriusXM NBA Radio, Nowitzki said that he believes the modern NBA is more about winning and money then loyalty. He said:

“I think I’m oldschool. You know, some of these guys that now are stars, are obviously younger and the business has changed a bit. I never knew what to expect when I came to Dallas, but everything just came together here. The way, when I got here, that the community embraced me and wanted me to succeed, then Cuban buying the team by the end of my second year was a huge part why I was here my entire career. He supported me, he is a friend of mine, he always supported me on and off the floor. I belong to this community and for me it was always easy to be loyal. I understand, the new NBA is a little different. It’s about making money, it’s about winning and not as much about being loyal anymore.”