Dirk's All-Star Case

The Case for Dirk as an All-Star

I’m not going to bore you with something you already know: Dirk Nowitzki is a better player with a better career than Paul Pierce.  After Dirk evened up the only advantage that Pierce had on him this past summer, there is absolutely no argument for the chubby Celtic (the real argument is Dirk vs. Bird, but that’s a debate for another day).  The two will always be compared due to their being drafted in the same year so close to each other, but that’s not what I’m doing now.  The argument that I can give credit to is who deserved their All-Star Reserve spot more this season. 

Bill Simmons, of course, thought Pierce’s selection was justified because he has been playing closer to his normal level since January 22^nd while Dirk was just getting it going on February 3^rd.  At first glance, this doesn’t seem like much, but it was 6 games sooner in the crazily condensed schedule that the lockout forced, which equates to about 9% of the entire season.  He also says that Dirk does not deserve it for not being ready for the start of the season.  Ya know, the start of the season that wasn’t a sure thing until about two weeks before.  Either way, there were other factors causing Dirk’s slow start, that shouldn’t count against his All-Star selection.

            To start, let’s just compare their numbers through February 14^th:

Averages	Games	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	FT %	FG %
Dirk	25	32.5	18.5	6.2	2.3	0.8	0.6	0.870	0.456
Pierce	24	34.5	17.8	5.4	3.8	1.1	0.4	0.832	0.418

In fantasy basketball terms, Dirk wins five of the seven categories pretty handily, with only assists being Pierce’s serious advantage.   Even John Hollinger’s player efficiency rankings have Dirk higher with a PER of 19.87 to Pierce’s 19.75.  While this may seem miniscule, this statistic has never been much in Dirk’s favor, even in his NBA MVP season.  When you factor in these stats, you must also look at the fact that Dirk has the Mavericks at 4^th in the much tougher and deeper Western Conference, while the Celtics are teetering on the edge of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.  So numbers wise, there’s not much of a debate over who has had the better season so far.

            Now both started the seasons slowly, as can be expected for veterans in their mid-30’s without a full training camp, and yes Pierce got going faster but there’s something that needs to be remembered: Dirk played more games than Pierce over the summer.  The Mavs ended up playing six games in the first round, four in the second, five in the third and six in the finals.  The Celtics only played four in the first and five in the second before being ousted.  That’s 12 more games, in the conference and NBA Finals, all of which Dirk was carrying the team.  That’s over 14% of an entire season more, in the every other night, do-or-die NBA Playoffs.  Naturally that’s going to take a little more out of a 34 year old than not playing them.

            Then you have to factor in the Champions’ hangover attributed to the amount of appearances and obligations of the Finals’ MVP’s time.  Dirk was constantly being pulled to different functions including the ESPY’s,  victory parades, television appearances, and a return to his homeland which had to of taken a good deal out of him.  For a fair comparison, let’s look at the beginning of Paul Pierce’s 2008-2009 season, the year after the Celtics won the title:

Averages	Games	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	FT %	FG %
’08-’09 Pierce	25	36.5	18.9	5.4	3.2	0.9	0.3	0.803	0.421

That’s without a lockout and with a full training camp/confirmed season start date.  While he did ratchet it up right after these stats as the Celts win on a long win streak and he ended up at over 20 points a game and career-like averages in other categories, that’s not much of a difference from Dirk’s season to date, with Dirk in having a slight advantage numbers’ wise. 

            Dirk also had the obligation of playing in the Euro 2012 tournament in August.  Some might say that his contract obligation is to his NBA team and not the German National Team (Mark Cuban angrily agreeing).  But when is the last time someone complained about Kevin Durant or LeBron playing for the U.S. team?  Two years ago for the World Championships the U.S. team had a longer (and I’m guessing more intense) training camp to figure out the team than the two weeks that the Germans went through.  I mean Dirk was just getting used to playing with the guys while the U.S. guys were competing for spots.  Either way, Dirk had those two weeks, plus eight more games in the actual tournament in which, once again, he carried the team on his German shoulders.  So for those keeping count at home, that’s 20 more games (or a quarter of an NBA season), along with an extra two week training camp on a 34 year old’s body.

            Now I know neither one might “deserve” their selection based on this experience, and someone could come at me with a Paul Milsap argument and I would have to listen, but the All-Star game is about entertainment in the NBA.  It doesn’t decide the finals home-court advantage (Fucking C.J. Wilson) or anything, so why not put the players people want to see most?  I bet the reigning Finals MVP who did not get carried off in a wheelchair, crying, during a game because of a bruise is a high draw with what the people want.