After Dirk Nowitzki hit a monumental and joined an exclusive club by being just the sixth player in NBA history to score 30,000 points, the Dallas Mavericks legend said he intends to finish his two-year contract and play in his 20th season next year. Be it a product of the adrenaline brought about by the impressive milestone, Nowitzki also opened the window to playing beyond that, which brings the question, could he possibly surpass Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant on the all-time scoring list?
Following Wednesday’s win against the Los Angeles Lakers, Dirk Nowitzki trails Wilt Chamberlain by 1,414 points, Michael Jordan by 2,287 and Kobe Bryant by 3,638. Time for some math. With still 19 games left in the Dallas Mavericks’ season, if Dirk Nowitzki averages his current season norm of 13.9 points per game, he could finish with 30,269 points for his career.
Looking at those numbers, if Dirk Nowitzki only plays up to his 20th season in the league, it looks likely that he’ll stay at sixth place in the all-time scoring list. As pointed out by CBS Sports, so far, he has only played in 37 games this season after struggling with an Achilles injury. The only chance he has of catching Wilt Chamberlain at the end of next season would be if he plays in all 82 games and averages more than 14 points per game.
“As of now, I think I want to leave the end open, but definitely want to come back next year and compete at a high level,” Dirk Nowitzki said after reaching the 30,000-point milestone. And as noted by SportsDay, Nowitzki also took time to thank everyone who congratulated him on his accomplishment, tweeting in his typical self-deprecating manner, “Huge thanks to everyone, who has reached out. I’m humbled and overwhelmed. Honored to be part of the 30k club! #old”
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