Is Dirk Nowitzki underrated?

People seriously underrate Dirk on this site. In my opinon he is about the 5th best player in the league. Tied with Chris Paul.

This guy is great, period.

His basketball skill and IQ is ridiculous, and he hits Game Winners like it's nothing. Not to mention, he creates a matchup problem for every player in the league except for Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, and Andrei Kirilenko.

He is so underrated. I can't understand why anyone would say he is garbage. Two and a half years ago, Dirk was hands down the best player in the league by my standards. How could he drop so far when his ppg has even gone up?

I recognize Dirk's greatness. This is probably because I am a Mavericks fan, but I have seen the best of Dirk Nowitzki, and this guy is not only an NBA First-teamer, But a Top 5 player in the World right now.

He is seriously underrated by the NBA community...especially fans and media personalities.

He is a scorer and he is tough.

He plays differently than most 7' so the 'experts' don't exactly know what to say about him. All one has to do is look back to how the fans and media talked and reported on Indiana Pacers Reggie Miller or Utah Jazz Karl Malone. These guys are ranked very high and in their playing days considered amongst the best in the league.

Dirk is better in his prime than both of those guys, and like them hasn't won a title.

At times I wonder if it's a bit of a prejudice against one's stereotype of what an NBA player should look like. (I am not talking racism...just that Dirk looks and acts differently than your traditional 7' player)

7' doesn't require much athleticism when you can shoot like Dirk. He also has a really high release point on his shot. Also he's not THAT non-athletic. He got good handles for a big guy and is a good passer.

Athleticism is also not really the most important factor in basketball.

Yeah IF...but still he lost early in the playoffs and as good of player he is with Josh Howard, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry still wasn't able to do any good except for great individual performances. He can't play defense very well and his 3 point game is not that great. His mid-range game is the best.

Theres a hick in your logic, I dont think 7 footers can be as athletic as Lebron or kobe.

He in a way "sacrificed" athleticism for height.

You take away his height, and give him athleticism, then no, he wont be a lebron or kobe. He cant pass very good.

he is defintely underrated. im so sick of hearing about lebron kobe wade etc when dirk puts up almost the same numbers. OH and the retard that said kobe is underrated, WOW is all I have to say that. I can say wow all ******** day to that comment

Absolutely not, if anything he is vastly overrated. He may be a great scorer but his rebound totals are from standing around and letting the ball come to him. Then there is his horrid defense. Imagine if he spent an offseason working on defense and not his shot. The Mavs would actually win some playoff series and be a real contender instead of barely making the 7th or 8th seed every year.

Yes,finally someone speking for that

He's incredibble big man with great accrasity.He's great shooter,isn't athletic but dominates anyway with skills.He's good rebounder and defender,those things become better in the playoffs and they turn in another level.He maybe isn';t the best defender but his effort is good

Dirk is good big man passer too,creates plays for his team mates in unique way with attracting sharp blockers(KG,Dwight) and giving his team mates free space to attack teh basket without beeing chalegned

Plus,he's the best shooting big man of all time and best scoring PF for sure.Also he's incredibble clutch shooter and Top 5 Player in the World at the moment

I know he will win 1/2 ring(s) in his career,if if he had to play as a role player

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;%E2%80%A6 answer)

I hope i helped

Darko(#1 Blazers Fan,MJ=Best)™

His not under or overated

No way man. He's most useful. It's not his fault he lost the final.