Dirk Nowitzki scored seventeen points in a win over the Magic last night and in the process passed immortal Celtics legend Larry Bird for 25th on the all-time NBA scoring chart. The scoring milestone occurred on a three-point dagger at the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Congrats, Dirk!

If anyone had told us back when you entered the league in 1998 that you would reach such a milestone we would have laughed hysterically.

Not anymore.

WATCH A CLIP OF DIRK FROM THE RECORD-BREAKING GAME HERE

If Dirk continues his current scoring pace, and nothing suggests that he won’t, he will pass Clyde Drexler and Gary Payton. He also stands an outside chance of passing Adrian Dantley and Bob McAdoo.

According to the Dallas News even “Larry Legend” called Dirk to congratulate him on his accomplishment and Nowitzki offered up the following words:

“It’s obviously an unbelievable accomplishment to be in the top 25 scorers in this amazing league with so many amazing players,” Nowitzki said. “But it’s going to mean more to me when my career’s done. When I’m 15 or 20 years from now, I can look back and it’s something I’ll be proud of. But as of now, I’m still chasing the dream and trying to win a championship. But it’ll be a sweet one in 20 years.”

Check out the table below illustrating numbers 10-30 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list after last night’s games:

RankPlayerPoints
10.Dominique Wilkins26668
11.Kobe Bryant26535
12.John Havlicek26395
13.Alex English25613
14.Reggie Miller25279
15.Jerry West25192
16.Patrick Ewing24815
17.Allen Iverson24368
18.Charles Barkley23757
19.Robert Parish23334
20.Adrian Dantley23177
21.Elgin Baylor23149
22.Kevin Garnett22669
23.Clyde Drexler22195
24.Gary Payton21813
25.Dirk Nowitzki21798
26.Larry Bird21791
27.Hal Greer21586
28.Ray Allen21408
29.Tim Duncan21023
30.Walt Bellamy20941

To celebrate I offer five links to clips that are sure to warm the hearts of any Dirk Nowitzki fan: (Click on the bold writing to view clips)

Nowitzki is not finished, of course - he’s posting 24.5 points per game this year on the most efficient shooting percentage of his career and there is no reason to think he won’t pass Dominique Wilkins for a top-ten berth before he’s through.

So much for skill deteriorating with age.

Who would’ve known that we’d be calling Don Nelson a genius after all these years.

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