Dirk Nowitzki just added another achievement to his illustrious 20-year career as he joins five other players to reach over 50,000 minutes played.
The 39-year-old has played exclusively for the Dallas Mavericks, where he gave the franchise an NBA championship in 2011. Nowitzki was drafted by Dallas in 1998 and has been logging in over 20 minutes per game ever since. The longest average time he spent on the court was during the 2002–2003 season, when he played for 39.0 minutes in all 80 games of the season.
The 50,000<sup>th minute came during the game against the Los Angeles Clippers, where the Mavericks lost. Nowitzki needed to play a total of seven minutes to reach the milestone, which he reached as he totaled 25 minutes in the court during the entire game. Nowitzki passed 50,000 minutes during the second quarter.
The milestone now places him alongside other National Basketball Association (NBA) elites such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd and Elvin Hayes, all of whom retired at a late age. He ranks fifth among the six players who have achieved the feat.
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was quick to praise the player after the Clippers game. "I just really believe Dirk's record of high level of excellence, of longevity, durability, is one of the most remarkable I've ever seen in sport,'' he said.
Other players also congratulated Nowitzki for his accomplishment. Cleveland Cavaliers player Lebron James posted a tweet complimenting the German player's admirable work ethic:
"50K mins played though @swish41?!?!? Sheesh bro that's insane. Congrats man! That's what you call punching in your clock daily!"
Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari also praised Nowitzki, calling him an international legend:
"I've been playing against him not just in the NBA but overseas, so it's been a lot of battles, especially with the (Italian and German) national teams, too. He's a legend, a Hall of Famer. For us growing up in Europe, he's one of the best ever."
Aside from the huge number of minutes played, Nowitzki is the only player in the NBA to record at least 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 3,000 assists, 1,000 steals, 1,000 blocks and 1,000 3-point field goals.
Humorously enough, Nowitzki's Jersey showed a typographical error in his name the night that he achieved the milestone.
