When we think of a big man in historic terms, we think of players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Shaquille O’Neal. Those are players that dominate on the interior and generally score near the basket.
However, throughout history, there have also been big men that had the ability to shoot from range. A player that was well-known as a big man who could shoot from range during his playing days was Dirk Nowitzki. Nowitzki notably won a championship with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011.
Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns has started a debate when he claimed that he was the best shooting big man ever. As a result of his statement, many have compared him to Dirk Nowitzki, with many providing arguments for one or the other. Notably, Kevin Durant picked Dirk Nowitzki as the greatest big man shooter ever, though he added that he respects Karl-Anthony Towns.
“(Dirk Nowitzki) is the greatest big man shooter of all time. Although I respect KAT… For KAT to say that, like, come on.”
Analyst Kirk Goldsberry has recently posted a statistical comparison of Dirk Nowitzki and Karl-Anthony Towns on his Instagram page. The graphic showed how frequently the two big men took shots from each area of the court, as well as their overall efficiency from those areas.
From the information provided, we can tell that Dirk Nowitzki shoots well from both the 3PT range and the midrange, but the edge on 3PT shooting specifically goes to Karl-Anthony Towns due to the frequency of attempts combined with the efficiency from that area. However, 3PT shooting isn’t the only factor in determining the best shooting big man, as proficiency from midrange is important as well. Thus, it would make sense why a lot of people prefer Dirk Nowitzki.
Karl-Anthony Towns still has quite some time in his career, so perhaps by the time he retires he will take over the title of “greatest big man shooter”. There is no doubt that Karl-Anthony Towns is a great player though, and perhaps we’ll see him get more respect in these discussions in the future.
