Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki says he is honoured that Sixers’ Joel Embiid uses his move, adding that the Embiid reached out to him to show him his version of the move.
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Dirk Nowitzki is an instrumental figure in the history of the league. The former MVP completely changed the way power forwards and centers play in today’s NBA. He was one of the first to play at the four and space the floor at the same time.
Despite not being an agile player, he was successful because he knew how to shoot the peel off the ball. Moreover, he had one of the most unstoppable moves ever: The one-legged fadeaway.
Dirk was not the first to use the move in the NBA. However, no one mastered it as he did. Moreover, his tall, skinny figure allowed him to easily shoot over defenders in his way.
Due to his success with it, many players in today’s NBA have tried to replicate the move. One of them being 76ers star big man Joel Embiid. In fact, Dirk itself made some comments on the Philly All-Star using his patented move. What exactly did he say? Read on and find out…
Dirk Nowitzki says he is honoured that Joel Embiid thinks his one-legged fadeaway is a good move.
Dirk Nowitzki almost single-handedly transformed the way bigs play the game nowadays. Before Dirk entered the NBA, power forwards usually banged down low and played with physicality, along with rebounding the ball. Moreover, the last place they wanted to be was on the perimeter defending.
However, after Dirk hit the NBA, everyone who played the 4 or 5 wanted to shoot it from deep. Any big man who had the ability to space the floor saw a rise in their value. Case in point: Joel Embiid.
In fact, the Philly superstar spent countless hours studying Dirk’s game and more specifically, his signature one-legged fadeaway. The Mavs legend said it is an honour that Embiid uses his move. He goes on to say –
Via TakeOff with John Clark –
“That’s an honour. That’s so sweet to see that he thinks that that’s a good move and a shot that he can put in his repertoire, so it’s fun to see.”
The 14x All-Star then goes on to say that Embiid has contacted him to show him his version of the move. He further comments –
“When (the 76ers) actually played here in Dallas, I watched some of the game, and he texted me the day after and said, ‘I had to show respect to you and shoot it on your silhouette. You know, my silhouette is now on the Mavs’ floor, and so he said he had to shoot one for me. So that made me of course feel really good. I’m honored that he thinks it’s a good shot to have.”
It is always a nice touch to see younger players learn and incorporate moves from players of a different era. It is their way of showing respect and paying homage to the greats of the game.
Skill-wise, Joel Embiid is arguably the best big man in all of basketball. When he gets in his bag, he is virtually unstoppable. Obviously, when that bag includes Dirk’s signature one-legged fadeaway, it always helps.
