NBA icon Dirk Nowitzki participated in the “Winner Stays On” challenge with the Daily Mail recently, and he had some tough decisions to make in it. Nowitzki had to pick between some of the all-time greats, and he made a couple of interesting selections.
Q: “Magic Johnson or Larry Bird?”
Dirk Nowitzki: “Tough. I love Larry, I love Magic. That’s a tough one. I guess I say Larry.”
Q: “Larry or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?”
Nowitzki: “Probably Kareem.”
Q: “Kareem or Wilt Chamberlain?”
Nowitzki: “Kareem.”
Q: “Kareem or [Shaquille O’Neal]?”
Nowitzki: “… I mean, Shaq is probably the most dominant ever. I’d probably have to go Shaq.”
Q: “Shaq or Steph Curry?”
Nowitzki: “I mean, it’s tough to pick a center over a guard. Kind of depends what you need. Oh man, I’d say Shaq, I guess.”
Q: “Shaq or Kobe Bryant?”
Nowitzki: “Kobe Bryant was one of my all-time favorites. So I’m going to slight notch to Kobe.”
Q: “Kobe or LeBron James?”
Nowitzki: “I love Kobe, but I probably have to be LeBron.”
Q: “LeBron or Michael Jordan?”
Nowitzki: “I mean, that’s 1A, 1B right there of the GOAT conversation. I grew up with Michael Jordan in the ’90s, so I will give a slight nod to Michael. But both are insanely talented.”
View this post on Instagram
Nowitzki has spoken about Michael Jordan being the GOAT for him in the past, so that wasn’t too surprising. The German has also called Jordan his ‘hero,’ so he is a little bit biased on this subject. That said, picking him over LeBron James isn’t exactly a controversial opinion. The former is still generally regarded as the greatest ever.
Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles in his career. He was a perfect 6-0 in the NBA Finals, leading the Chicago Bulls to three-peats from 1991 to 1993 and 1996 to 1998. Jordan dominated a decade in a way that few others have.
As for James, he has won four titles, four Finals MVPs, four MVPs, a scoring title, and an assists title. He is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, and his longevity is simply mind-boggling. Nowitzki had admitted back in 2022 that he would start running out of arguments for Jordan if James surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list. He has done that now, but the Hall of Famer still isn’t changing his pick.
Among Nowitzki’s other selections, the ones that stand out are his going with Larry Bird over Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal over Abdul-Jabbar. You won’t find too many who hold the same opinion as him, especially with Abdul-Jabbar being generally regarded as the third greatest player of all time.
Another popular pick in the top three tends to be Kobe Bryant. A fair few former players rank him over James, too, but Nowitzki, who played 21 seasons in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, isn’t part of that group. He had some epic battles on the court with both men, and gives the edge to James.
