Despite playing 50,000 NBA minutes, he still gets his name spelled wrong
Monday night’s game in Los Angeles against the Clippers will likely never be forgotten by Dallas Mavericks superstar Dirk Nowitzki for two reasons.
He became the sixth player in NBA history to reach the 50,000-minute mark in a career. That milestone came while he wore a Mavericks jersey that had his last name spelled incorrectly. On his back was the name N-O-W-I-T-K-Z-I. Dirk prefers the usual spelling of Nowitzki.
Nowitzki now has played 50,018 minutes in his 20-year career, all with the Mavericks. He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (57,446), Karl Malone (54,852), Kevin Garnett (50,418), Jason Kidd (50,111) and Elvin Hayes (50,000) in the 50,000-minute club.
Nowitzki finished Monday with 12 points in 25 minutes, but the Mavericks lost 104-101 to the Clippers.
The loss leaves the Mavericks with a 17-37 record, last in the Western Conference and ahead of only Orlando (16-36) and Atlanta (16-37) in all of the NBA.
Dallas | 28 | 27 | 27 | 19 | — | 101 |
L.A. Clippers | 32 | 26 | 20 | 26 | — | 104 |
Dallas | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | F | Pt |
Matthews | 34:27 | 7-16 | 2-2 | 2 | 2 | 23 |
Nowitzki | 25:09 | 4-11 | 2-2 | 6 | 1 | 12 |
Powell | 29:15 | 2-3 | 4-6 | 10 | 3 | 8 |
Ferrell | 32:06 | 4-11 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
Smith Jr. | 34:32 | 5-17 | 0-0 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
Barea | 22:46 | 4-8 | 2-2 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
Mejri | 22:03 | 2-4 | 2-2 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
D.Harris | 20:24 | 4-6 | 6-6 | 1 | 5 | 16 |
Kleber | 19:18 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
Jones | 0:00 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 240 | 33-80 | 18-20 | 38 | 23 | 101 |
Percentages: FG .413, FT .900. 3-Point Goals: 17-42, .405 (Matthews 7-12, D.Harris 2-3, Barea 2-4, Nowitzki 2-7, Smith Jr. 2-7, Kleber 1-3, Ferrell 1-6). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 20 (17 PTS). Blocked Shots: 5 (Matthews 2, Mejri, Nowitzki, Powell). Turnovers: 20 (Smith Jr. 9, Barea 2, D.Harris 2, Matthews 2, Powell 2, Ferrell, Mejri, Nowitzki). Steals: 5 (Barea, D.Harris, Kleber, Matthews, Mejri). Technical Fouls: Barea, 00:13 third.
LA Clippers | Min | FG-A | FT-A | R | F | Pt |
Gallinari | 34:03 | 9-13 | 6-6 | 5 | 1 | 28 |
T.Harris | 35:01 | 9-20 | 0-2 | 5 | 3 | 19 |
Jordan | 33:18 | 3-6 | 0-0 | 13 | 1 | 6 |
Bradley | 27:28 | 6-10 | 0-0 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
Teodosic | 21:51 | 1-6 | 0-0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
L.Williams | 33:30 | 5-15 | 4-4 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
Johnson | 17:11 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Harrell | 14:42 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Wallace | 13:41 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
Dekker | 9:15 | 4-7 | 0-0 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
Marjanovic | 0:00 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Totals | 240 | 42-87 | 10-12 | 39 | 16 | 104 |
Percentages: FG .483, FT .833. 3-Point Goals: 10-27, .370 (Gallinari 4-5, Dekker 2-2, Johnson 1-2, T.Harris 1-5, Teodosic 1-5, L.Williams 1-5, Bradley 0-3). Team Rebounds: 8. Team Turnovers: 13 (9 PTS). Blocked Shots: 3 (Jordan 2, Harrell). Turnovers: 13 (L.Williams 4, Jordan 2, Teodosic 2, Wallace 2, Bradley, Gallinari, T.Harris). Steals: 10 (Bradley 3, T.Harris 3, Harrell, Jordan, L.Williams, Wallace). Technical Fouls: Jordan, 1:45 first; Harrell, 00:13 third. Att.—15,127 (19,060). T—2:18. Officials—Ben Taylor, Ed Malloy, Ray Acosta
This story was originally published February 6, 2018 at 8:56 AM with the headline "Despite playing 50,000 NBA minutes, he still gets his name spelled wrong."