By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during his interview with host Tyler Cowen as part of the “Conversations with Tyler,” series at George Mason University, took questions from audience members and he was asked if the 7-foot Nowitzki’s one-foot fadeaway is as an unstoppable shot as he has seen.
The reaction of Jabbar was not the one you may have expected: “You asked about Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk Nowitzki’s shot is very hard to block, but I don’t think that he was able to have a dominant career because he couldn’t do other things. If he could have shot like that and rebounded and played defense and blocked shots, then he would have been all-around, and he would have gotten more credit. He was like a one-trick pony. You want guys that can shoot like that on your team. I’m not saying that he lacked value, but he would have been considered at a higher level if he had done more on the court other than just shoot the ball”.
Abdul-Jabbar averaged 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.6 blocks in 20 seasons. Nowitzki’s career averages stand at 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 0.9 blocks a game, to go with his 22.1 scoring average.
Still he had something to say about the comments Jabbar made: “It is what it is. People have opinions. He’s one of the greatest ever to play the game, so I’m not going to get in a war of words. I respect his opinion. I don’t necessarily agree with it, but it is what it is. I don’t think you can average 25 and 10 over your playoff career and not be dominant. 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”.