LeBron James battled Dirk Nowitzki alongside his stacked Miami Heat team in the 2011 NBA Finals, and shockingly lost. It was arguably the worst series of James’ career, while Nowitzki cemented his legacy as one of the greatest NBA players ever with the victory.
During that time, there was some animosity between LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki, especially after the former mocked Dirk along with Dwyane Wade. But by 2017, any rivalry had faded away, and LeBron went as far as to say that he loves Dirk Nowitzki.
“I love him, both on and off the court,” James said on an early episode of the Road Trippin’ podcast, as reported by Dayton Daily News. “He seems so cool. I never got the opportunity to be around him, but he just seems like one of the greatest guys ever…
“Just being a historian of the game, if you’re able to have guys in our league who have a staple shot or a staple move that people take from you, and they say, ‘I got that from that person.’ Obviously, the one-legged fade away is one of the most unguardable shots this league has ever seen.”
By the time he made this statement in 2017, LeBron James was already a 3-time champion and had entered the GOAT conversation. As such, it was probably easy for him to be complimentary toward the man that dealt him arguably his worst defeat. He has praised Nowitzki quite a bit since too, like the time he called him the greatest international player ever.
Dirk Nowitzki Argued In Favor Of LeBron James’ GOAT Case Last Year
LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer this season, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And Nowitzki had said before he did, that doing so would begin to put him over Michael Jordan.
“I mean, tremendous that he can still play like this in year 20. The athleticism is incredible, so I’m happy for him. I always say Michael Jordan is the GOAT. If he [LeBron] really surpasses Kareem in the scoring record, I’m sort of running out of arguments for Michael. What this guy has done has been nothing short of incredible.
For two players that were big rivals for a significant chunk of their careers, the two seem to be quite fond of one another now. LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki both changed the game of basketball, and the mutual respect between the two is truly amazing to see.
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