Each NBA team’s most clutch player of all-time

Most clutch player in Dallas Mavericks history: Dirk Nowitzki

When the Dallas Mavericks selected Dirk Nowitzki with the 9th pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, not even they could have expected a Hall of Fame player who would be the first European player to win MVP. The Mavericks ripped off 11 straight 50 win seasons with Nowitzki at the helm.

Throughout his 21 seasons with the team, Nowitzki has come up big in critical moments. His signature shot, the one-legged fadeaway, is impossible for opposing players to block. At 7-0 Nowitzki towers over anyone fast enough to guard him, and his ability to space the floor breaks a defense if they slot their center onto him. He is seventh all-time in career points, one of the best offensive players in league history.

Key Moment: Nowitzki made the NBA Finals two times, and had to face the Miami Heat both times. The first time around Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal led Miami to the victory, and in 2011 Nowitzki was facing Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. After Miami won the first game, Dallas had the ball with the game tied in the closing seconds.

Nowitzki received the ball on the wing, with an accomplished defender in Bosh glued to him. Nowitzki dribbled down to the elbow, then jerked his shoulders as if he was pulling up into his patented jumper. Bosh began to shift his weight for a leap to contest the shot, at which point Nowitzki promptly spun the other way and drove for a layup, putting Dallas up 95-93.

Dallas won the game after Miami missed a desperation heave at the buzzer, and rode that win to a 4-2 series victory that brought the Mavericks their first title in franchise history. Facing some of the league’s best players, it was Nowitzki who came up clutch when the game was on the line.