Before the drama that was the NBA lockout we had a very exciting finale to the NBA season that saw Dirk Nowitzki leading his Dallas Mavericks to both his and the franchises first NBA championship.

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Since being drafted in in 1998 Dirk Nowitzki has been the face of the Dallas Mavericks franchise.  After a decade with the team it all came together for Dirk and they won the 2011 NBA championship.  After that Dirk was also voted as the MVP of the NBA finals.  Two more accomplishments that he can add to his long list that includes being a 10 time NBA All-Star and league MVP in 2007.

In a league where we had players like Lebron James and Chris Bosh leaving their teams to form "super teams", Dirk remained true to his.  One of the games best shooters, Nowitzki and the Mavericks were not even looked at to win an NBA title.  They crept their way into the playoffs and eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round.   Next they would do the unthinkable and sweep the heavily favored Lakers 4 games to none.

It was into the Western Conference Finals to face the Oklahoma City Thunder.  A much younger team, but as many can tell you in the NBA experience is very important.  Dirk and his Mavs were made up of some of the best veteran players in the NBA.  They would win the series 4-1 and move to face the Miami Heat, and Dirk sought a bit of redemption for the 2006 Finals where his team fell to the Heat 4 games to 2.

Nowitzki was a different player this time around.  Many had said that he quit on his team in the 2006 finals, a label that Dirk did not want.  He had also been labeled a "soft" player who wouldn't go to the inside, but would rather shoot.  That all changed and Nowitzki and his Mavs seemed to dominate the "super team" that was the Miami Heat.  He got his redemption as Dallas beat Miami 4-2 this time around and Dirk can call his career, though far from over, complete.

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