Brandon Jennings, at this point, is pretty much known as a basketball junkie and never shies away from a hot debate on twitter.
On Thursday, it was his view on who belongs on the list for Top 5 power forward of all-time, which included the still-relevant Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks:
Dirk Top 5 PF of All Time!!!
— Brandon Jennings (@thinkiminthe90s) October 30, 2015
This is really a subjective topic because there isn’t exactly a set of criteria that determines which player is better than another. There are general ideas, such as championships won, statistics as well as things you simply can’t tell through statistics.
One may believe Dennis Rodman was a better power forward than Dirk Nowitzki because of the impact he made as a transcendent defender and how many championships he helped two different teams win as a result. Another may believe Chris Webber was a better player than Nowitzki from a two-way perspective, but doesn’t have the longevity to match the German’s accumulation of numbers over 17 terrific years. Most agree that Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone are atop the list of best power forwards ever. Then you have the older generation of players like Bob Pettit, Dolph Schayes and Elvin Hayes, who put up inflated numbers in a different era.
Nowitzki is currently ninth all-time in total points scored, which is an incredible accomplishment. It’s unclear how much longer the 37-year-old will play but assuming it’s for at least another couple of years, he should easily be able to surpass Julius Erving to be the sixth best in points scored just behind the great Wilt Chamberlain, who has 31,419 points in his career (Nowitzki currently has 28,130). Nowitzki also helped the Mavericks win a championship, was rewarded Finals MVP, has won MVP honors and has a laundry list of other accomplishments.
Jennings may be right, but if Nowitzki isn’t on a universal list of top 5 greatest power forwards of all-time, he’s certainly knocking on the door.
Jim Park is a blogger and author of Tweet of the Night for Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.