Mavs tease Nowitzki about LeBron possibly beating him to 30,000 points
Dirk Nowitzki is well on his way to becoming the sixth player in NBA history to register 30,000 points for his career, needing just 38 more to get there after netting 10 against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
His Dallas Mavericks teammates may be more eager for the Germanator to hit that milestone than he is, with Nowitzki telling reporters following his team's narrow 104-100 victory how they playfully tease him over how long it's taking.
"The guys are killing me that LeBron (James) might catch me before I get to it," said Nowitzki, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. "It is what it is. I'm going to play within the system. I guess eventually it's going to happen."
James had 38 for the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at Philips Arena against the Atlanta Hawks, but is still well behind Nowitzki on the league's all-time scoring list.
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 38387 |
| 2 | Karl Malone | 36928 |
| 3 | Kobe Bryant | 33643 |
| 4 | Michael Jordan | 32292 |
| 5 | Wilt Chamberlain | 31419 |
| 6 | Dirk Nowitzki | 29962 |
| 7 | Shaquille O'Neal | 28596 |
| 8 | LeBron James | 28286 |
| 9 | Moses Malone | 27409 |
| 10 | Elvin Hayes | 27313 |
(Courtesy: Basketball-Reference.com)
Related: Nowitzki will play next season barring 'drastic change'
Nowitzki, 38, is averaging his fewest points per game (13.6) since his rookie year, and has 55 total points in five outings since the All-Star break. He's made 35 appearances this season for the 25-36 Mavericks, missing a good chunk of time due to an Achilles injury.