DALLAS — Dirk Nowitzki has reclaimed the No. 6 spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, passing Wilt Chamberlain on Monday night.
Nowitzki, the longtime face of the Dallas Mavericks franchise who is playing his 21st and likely final season, spent a few years as the sixth-leading scorer in NBA history before LeBron James passed him earlier this season. He entered Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans needing four points to pass Chamberlain, who scored 31,419 points in his Hall of Fame career.
Nowitzki knocked down his first two jumpers of the game to hit the milestone early in the first quarter. He passed Chamberlain by swishing a 16-footer with 8 minutes, 33 seconds remaining in the first quarter, catching the ball at one of his favorite spots, just above the free throw line, facing up against New Orleans’ Kenrich Williams and shooting over him, much to the delight of a sellout crowd that was mostly on its feet in anticipation of the moment.
All-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is now the only 7-footer to score more career points than Nowitzki, who revolutionized the game as a big man whose jump shot was his most dangerous weapon. That was in stark contrast to dominant 7-footers of the past who commanded the paint and on post-ups, particularly Chamberlain, whose combination of size and athleticism was ahead of his time.
Nowitzki entered Monday night with 1,960 made 3-pointers in his career, which ranks 11th in NBA history and is by far the most by a 7-footer. The other 7-footers who rank among the NBA’s top 10 all-time scorers combined to make a total of two 3-pointers — one apiece by Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal, with Chamberlain playing his entire career before the 3-point line existed.
The game changed in part because of Nowitzki’s success as a perimeter threat. Before his arrival in the NBA, Arvydas Sabonis was the only 7-footer to make at least 25 3s in a season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. That modest milestone has since been hit by 30 7-footers, including Nowitzki, who has done it in each of the past 20 seasons, hitting more than 100 3s nine times. There are 17 7-footers who have made at least 25 3s already this season.
Nowitzki also developed a niche as the master of the midrange. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, his 5,662 points scored from the midrange rank as the most in the NBA in that area during the course of his career.
Many of those midrange shots were one-legged fadeaway jumpers, the iconic shot Nowitzki developed midway through his career, launching them both off the dribble on isolations and out of post-ups. Unlike Adbul-Jabbar’s sky hook, a similarly unblockable shot, many of Nowitzki’s counterparts copied his go-to move.
Nowitzki, 40, is almost certain to finish his career ranked sixth among the league’s all-time scorers. He has yet to make a decision on whether this is the final season of his career, but he is widely expected to retire and has been given an unofficial farewell tour around the league. He missed the first 26 games of the season while recovering from left ankle surgery and is averaging 6.0 points per game in his 21st year.
Michael Jordan ranks fifth in NBA history with 32,292 points. The top four are Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643) and James (32,439).