From my perspective on the couch at home last night, Dirk Nowitzki was the only Maverick who consistently showed up, took the ball to the bucket, and took the biggest shots when needed. Dirk also made many of them, finishing with a game-high 35 points.

So why does he continue to take intense criticism from the media, both local and national?

TNT studio "experts" Charles Barkley and Chris Webber scrutinized a pregame taped interview, in which Dirk complimented the game one defensive efforts of Chris Andersen, Kenyon Martin, and Nene. Barkley and Webber took Dirk to task, saying that a truly great player would never admit someone played solid defense on him. They claimed the difference between being good and being great is your belief that no one in the game can stop you. The two former all-stars went on to say that Dirk's comments feed into the perception that he is soft.

Well, all this "soft" player did in game two was hit 11 of 20 shots, miss only one free throw, and grab nine rebounds. Without Dirk's effort in that game, the Mavs lose by forty, not twelve.

Since when do you have to be a trash-talking hotshot in order to be taken seriously in this league? Perhaps Dirk believes himself to be unstoppable. Just because he didn't say it doesn't mean he's not thinking it.

Dirk happens to be a classy player. When have you ever seen him show up an opponent or scorn someone he knocked a jumper over? No, Dirk's not a cocky player. He's also one of the game's top players. He takes more hits than most "softies" in the NBA. Nowitzki will never be an intimidating bruiser...that's simply not who he is. He's not Karl Malone, nor pretends to be.

Was Larry Bird blamed for being an incredible, pure jump shooter? I don't recall the national media slamming Bird for not taking someone out with a forearm shiver during a heated playoff series.

Was Bird soft too?

Dirk has his weaknesses, as most players do. But let's not blame the top player on the team because the team itself isn't complete enough to compete with the run and gun Nuggets.

2 Comments

Matthew said:

Very well said Mr. Marcus!! I am so sick of everybody ripping on Dirk!! What does Barkley know about winning?? Kenny Smith, the only reason he has championship rings is because of Hakeem!!

I Love Dirk!

May 6, 2009 3:50 PM

Ginger said:

Thank you!! I agree that Dirk has more class than all of those TNT announcers combined. I could not believe they spent that much air time criticizing Dirk when they could have spent that time praising some of the Nugget team for instance. But that would not be controversial and get as much attention I guess. It aggravated me. I am proud of the way Dirk carries himself and I always enjoy what he has to say in his interviews. Perhaps if he threw on some tattoos and copped an egotistic attitude the TNT boys might like him better. I have a bad taste in my mouth for TNT now more than ever. I've always thought Barkley was sour grapes, but the other guys really tried to steal his thunder last night. I hope they feel good about themselves.

May 6, 2009 9:50 PM

Leave a comment

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.