Dirk Nowitzki is the biggest idol in Dallas Mavericks history after that epic playoff run in 2011. The German big man showed he was made for big moments, leading his team to impressive victories in one of the best playoff performances of all time.
Nowitzki is retired from the game, but he remains the best thing that ever happened to this franchise. However, another European player could take that title away from the power forward, with Dirk even claiming Luka Doncic is already better than he was at the age of 22.
We had the chance to see these two playing together, but several people dream of seeing them going at it in a one-on-one game. Everybody has an opinion on who would win this match, including Luka, who thinks Dirk would defeat him.
Recently, the Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was asked about the winner of this hypothetical matchup. Talking on the 10 Questions With Kyle Brandt Podcast, Cuban sided with Dirk if he ever played against Doncic in a one-on-one match.
“I think Dirk because Dirk won’t miss. Just in a regular one-on-one game, I think I gotta go with Dirk. Dirk couldn’t stop Luka, but Luka couldn’t stop Dirk and Dirk four years in (to his career) is a better shooter.”
Even though Luka can do a lot of things on the offensive end, it’s hard to disagree with Cuban on this one. Whenever Dirk took things personally and tried to dominate rivals one-on-one, he was really hard to stop.
He mastered his shots and became one of the best mid-range shooters of all time. That would be too much for the Slovenian point guard. While Luka is still trying to improve his shooting, Dirk was ahead of him on that matter.
Cuban has seen them closely and knows their strengths and flaws. He goes with Dirk on this one and that’s probably the best choice.
