Name	Dirk Nowitzki
Height	7 ft 0 in
Naionality	German
Date of Birth	19-June-1978
Place of Birth	Würzburg, West Germany
Famous for	Basketball Player

Dirk Nowitzki is a German professional basketball player who currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). An alumnus of Röntgen Gymnasium and DJK Würzburg basketball club, Nowitzki was drafted ninth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1998 NBA Draft, and was immediately traded to the Mavericks, where he has played ever since. Standing 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m), Nowitzki plays the power forward position but also has the athleticism and shooting ability to play either center or small forward.

Nowitzki has led the Mavericks to 12 consecutive NBA Playoffs (2001–2012), including an NBA Finals appearance in 2006 and the franchise's first championship in 2011. He is an 11-time All-Star and 12-time member of the All-NBA Teams, and the first European-born player in NBA history to receive the NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He is the first Maverick ever to be voted into an All-NBA Team and also holds several all-time Mavericks franchise records. Only Nowitzki and three other players have ever averaged more than 25 points and 10 rebounds in the NBA playoffs, and only Nowitzki and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have managed 4 consecutive 30-point, 15-rebound games in the playoffs. Additionally, Nowitzki is the only player in NBA history to get 100 blocks and 150 3-pointers in a single season. Nowitzki is a versatile frontcourt player who mostly plays the power forward position, but has also played center, small forward and point forward throughout his career. Nowitzki hits 88% of his free throws, hits nearly 50% of his field goal attempts and 40% of his 3-point shots, and won the 2006 NBA All-Star Three-Point Shootout competition. In 2006–07 Nowitzki became only the fifth member of the NBA's 50–40–90 Club for players who shot 50% or better from the field, 40% or better on three-pointers, and 90% or better on free-throws in a single season while achieving the NBA league minimum number of makes in each category.

Throughout Nowitzki's career, he has responded to the increased pressure of the playoffs by increasing his productivity. In the regular season he averages 22.9 points, 8.3 rebounds. In the playoffs he averages 25.9 points and 10.3 rebounds, which only Hakeem Olajuwon, Bob Pettit and Elgin Baylor have managed to do. In the most pressure packed games, such as playoff elimination games he averages 28.8 points, 11.8 rebounds. He has had 14 elimination games where he scored 30 or more points, which ties him with Jerry West for most all time. Of the top 100 elimination game performances in the last 20 years, Nowitzki has had the best performances in 8 of them, more than any other player in the NBA in that same time frame.