For the first time in the Dirk Nowitzki era the Dallas Mavericks were swept out of a playoff series. With fundamental structural changes in the make-up of the roster and identity looming it is perhaps time to reflect upon a decade of sustained excellence led by Dirk Nowitzki. While it is certainly too early to close the door on Nowitzki, it does appear that the times of him carrying a team to a top-ten offense and 50+ wins year in year out by himself are over.

Dirk Nowitzki has been the Mavericks best player since 2001. But his era did not truly begin until the last time the Mavericks undertook a major roster overhaul - the 2004 offseason. Before that Nowitzki's game and role within the team was defined by the partnership between him, Michael Finley and Steve Nash. In 2003, his best season up until then, Nowitzki shot 46% from the field on nearly 1500 attempts, 65,5% of which were assisted. But this partnership was coming to an end. Following the 2003-04 season and the disastrous experiment with Antoine Walker and Antawn Jamison the Mavericks acknowledged a need of change. Although the team posted the league's best offensive rating for a third consecutive year, it's defense dropped all the way to 26th as the team struggled with chemistry and a longjam at the forward positions. On draft day the Mavs opened up the bottle and traded Sixth Man of the Year Antawn Jamison to Washington for the 5th pick Devin Harris, Christian Laettner and Jerry Stackhouse. On August 4th, Dallas then traded Antoine Walker to Atlanta for Alan Henderson and Jason Terry, before swinging a sign-and-trade deal for Warriors center Erick Dampier. The biggest move, however, proved to be a move they did not make. After spending six years with the team, point guard Steve Nash became a free agent. His former team the Phoenix Suns, in need of a point guard, offered him a contract over six years and 63 million dollars. Due to concerns over his age and health Mark Cuban declined to match the amount and let Nash walk. The long year pick-and-roll partner was gone.

But instead of faltering Nowitzki announced the coming of his prime years by becoming a legit MVP candidate. Without Nash Nowitzki succesfully retooled his game. He finally took use of his unique offensive game and turned into a matchup nightmare through effective isolation play. Although his assisted-upon-field-goals dropped all the way to 53,4% his percentages did not suffer. Furthermore Nowitzki managed to draw fouls at a career high rate. In 2004-05 Dirk got to the line 9,1 times a game. His dominance ensured the Mavericks retaining a top five offensive rating while the other moves pushed their defense back into the top ten and Dallas won 58 games. The following year Nowitzki continued his improvement and led the league in PER. Through an impressive playoff run, including a dramatic game 7 victory against the defending champions Spurs, Dirk Nowitzki claimed the title of the best player in the NBA. But in the finals his campaign ran out of steam after taking a 2-0 lead, courtesy of Dwyane Wade and a record breaking performance at the free throw line. In 2006-07 Nowitzki once again led the league in PER while Dallas won a franchise record 67 games and was awarded the MVP trophy. But in the playoffs the Mavericks suffered an upset at the hands of the frantic Golden State Warriors and people openly questioned Nowitzki's toughness and ability to lead a team. This notion was reinforced during the following three seasons as the Mavericks failed to get back to the Finals, but instead were ousted twice in the first round. Nowitzki finally got the deserved appreciation after leading the Mavs to an improbable title in 2011.

Despite winning "only" one title the fact that the Mavericks won more than 50 games in every season of the Nowitzki era (2004-2011) is remarkable by itself. This accomplishment further reflects the greatness of Nowitzki if one considers that during these 7 years Nowitzki did not play with a single All-NBA teammate and only two All Stars - Josh Howard in 2007 and Jason Kidd in 2010, both times as injury reserves. Seldomly does a team manage to string together so many great years, even fewer manage to do that with only one star. Although this issue showed its consequences in many playoff series, it is a testament to the toughness and ability of Nowitzki to carry and drag a team by himself. From 2004 to 2011 the Mavericks averaged 56,9 wins a season, appeared in two NBA Finals, winning one, while Nowitzki shouldered them with 25,0 PPG, 8,5 RPG and 48,4% from the field - numbers that speak for themselves. People should cherish that.