CBS Sports recently released a list of the 25 best players from the last 25 years:
LeBron James clocks in at number one, and Russell Westbrook sneaks on at 25. In between them, five Mavericks players appear, with Dirk Nowitzki leading
the pack at number 10. Head coach Jason Kidd and Anthony Davis both cracked the top 20, ranked 17th and 19th, respectively. Luka Doncic is ahead of Kidd at 17, and Steve Nash is just in front of him at 14. In a lot of ways, these five players have been the defining quintet when you talk about the biggest storylines for Dallas over the last quarter-century. It makes sense that they are all among the best guys to have played since the turn of the century.
Nowitzki resides just above Dwyane Wade (11) and below Kevin Garnett (9). It is a bit of a give-and-take to have Nowitzki there; on one hand, it is sweet to see him above Wade, who is on a short list of Mavericks villains. On the other hand, having him below Garnett is offensive to the career Nowitzki had and the legacy he left, especially when you factor in Nowitzki’s 33 points and 16 rebounds a night in his three-game sweep of Garnett in 2002.
Steve Nash is sandwiched between Kawhi Leonard and James Harden. Having him ahead of Harden is interesting, as they both do not have a ring, and The Beard is one of the most prolific scorers to ever play the game. Of course, Nash affected the game in a way that statistics don’t totally capture, and he has two MVP awards. Having them back-to-back on this list is quite the nod to Mike D’Antoni.
Luka Doncic and Jason Kidd are behind them, making three Mavericks point guards in four spots. Doncic’s talent certainly would warrant a higher ranking, but it is hard to place him above any of the 15 guys ahead of him, who all have tenure that he doesn’t. Kidd‘s ranking is probably correct, and just like Nash, his statistics didn’t fully quantify his impact.
Anthony Davis rounds out the collection of Mavericks as he sneaks in the top 20 behind Dwight Howard and in front of Allen Iverson. This is another solid position, but I have to imagine that if Davis had more than one ring, or perhaps even won his championship under different circumstances, he would be much higher on this list. He was in “future face of the league” talks early in his career, but he just never elevated to the top like a lot of people thought he would. Either way, he is an elite talent and deserves his rank on the list.
There will be plenty of lists released in the future like this one. Although these aren’t the gospel, they do show a consensus that the Mavericks and their players have been key pieces of the league for a long time. Now Dallas has a young rookie in Cooper Flagg who projects to be a great player. Maybe when the next one of these all-encompassing lists is released, the Mavericks will have six guys on it, or more.
