NBA Top 50: Dirk Nowitzki (No. 8)

FanHouse's Tom Ziller argues his ranking of the top 50 players in the NBA.

Dirk Nowitzki might have been the only superstar officially disqualified last year from MVP consideration before the season began. Upon winning the trophy for his exemplary work in the 2007 regular season, his team was summarily dis(mis)sed by an eighth seed as his own stock among basketball fans near (in Dallas) and far (every town but Frankfurt) sunk to unfair levels. Dirk took all heat for the Golden State defeat, and it's a ghost it seems he won't be able to shed.

"Sullen" isn't the correct emotion to attach his early '07-08 performance -- the man didn't look sad or anything. Confounded, maybe. Temporarily destroyed? Whatever it was, the impression lasted much of the year. Dirk's production, still otherworldly, took a deep dip from its MVP heights. His team faltered some, until Mark Cuban blew up the building to acqure, for whatever reason, Jason Kidd. Dirk's number surged under the reign of Kidd, but the rest of the team settled into a malaise and the Mavericks again went out with a whimper.

Avery Johnson is gone, but the rest of the cast remains in place. Is distance from the Oakland trauma enough to get Dirk back on top of the world?

Let's note an incredible achievement for Dirk, a guy oft maligned for a supposed inability to fully comprehend his physical gifts: according to PER, Dirk has been one of the league's top 10 players in each of the last seven seasons. By PER, he's #13 in the history of the NBA. He matches an insane scoring touch -- nearly as potent as the game's top two-guards -- with killer rebounding, great hands (which helps with his passing and ball-protection) and an innate feel for getting good shots. Basically, he's a fully functioning guard in the body of a giant. That's not the ol' hyper-flexible beast a la Kevin Garnett -- guys like that just make the big man look smooth. Dirk is more like a two-guard who is big; he's a re-imagining of Jerry West in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's body.

Dirk also happens to be older than we think: he turned 30 a few months ago. This guy has been around, and he has a ton of miles on the treads. He keeps himself in exceedingly flawless shape, with the infamous stretching and remarkable healing ability. But everyone begins a downslope at some point ... typically at this point. His production went down last season. Is that circumstantial, or an indication of things to come? Slotting him here at #8 hedges a bit -- if it was a hiccup, he's one of the top five players; if it was an indication of things to come, he could slide much faster than you'd think. I'd feel much more comfortable were it Devin Harris supplying the ball, but I suppose we'll find out if he can make it work with Kidd for a full season.