Ranking the Dirk Seasons

With Dirk Nowitzki's 21st and perhaps final season fast approaching it's time to look back and rank the previous 20 seasons of his illustrious career.

20. 98-99: Dirk's rookie campaign was far from ideal. The 20-year-old struggled to adjust to the NBA in a 50 game lockout shortened season. For the season he averaged a career low 8.2 points on only 40.5% shooting.

19. 16-17: Nagging knee injuries limited Dirk to only 54 games as the Mavs finished with a losing record for the first time since Dirk's second season. His 14.2 points per game were the lowest since his rookie year. The highlight of the year was when Dirk scored his 30,000th career point on March 7.

18. 17-18: Dirk bounced back from his injury plagued 16-17, playing in 77 games in his 20th year, highlighted by a three point percentage of 40.9%.

17: 12-13: Injuries caused Dirk to miss 29 games at the start of the season as the Mavs missed the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. Dirk and his teammates grew beards until they got to a .500 record, which eventually happened in the season's final week.

16. 99-00: Dirk arrived as a NBA player in his second season, finishing 2nd the Most Improved Player voting and more than doubling his scoring average from his rookie year.

15. 15-16: Dirk led the Mavs in scoring for the last time at 18.3 points per game as the Mavs made the playoffs for the 15th time in 16 years, losing to the Thunder in 5 games in the first round.

14. 14-15: Dirk made the 13th and final All-Star game a memorable one by finishing an alley-oop off a Stephen Curry pass. A promising start to the season for the team was done in my the ill-fated trade for Rajon Rondo.

13. 11-12: The Mavs championship defense didn't go as planned as they lost Tyson Chandler in free agency and the trade for Lamar Odom ended up being a disaster. On the bright side Dirk was a third team All-NBA selection, his 12th (in a row) and final All-NBA selection of his career.

12. 03-04: A weird year featuring a team heavy on offense but lacking on the other end of the floor. Dirk was named 3rd team All-NBA and led the NBA in points per game in the playoffs but the Mavs lost to the Kings in 5 in the first round.

11. 13-14: Dirk and the Mavs bounced back from missing the playoffs in 2013 with a 49 win campaign and a 12th all-star nod for Dirk. At 21.7 PPG, Dirk would top the 20 point per game barrier for the last time in his career.

10. 00-01: Dirk became a star as he was named 3rd team All-NBA despite being snubbed as an All-Star, leading the Mavs to their first playoff appearance in 11 years. During those playoffs the Mavs would beat the Jazz in the opening round before falling the Spurs, despite 42 and 18 from Dirk in the final game.

9. 07-08: After the disappointing playoff loss the year before, Dirk bounced back just fine, making a 7th straight all-star trip and making 2nd team All-NBA. Unfortunately another first round exit from the playoffs, this time to New Orleans, ended the season.

8. 01-02: Dirk made his first career All-Star game as the Mavs made the second round yet again, as Dirk dominated Kevin Garnett and Minnesota in the opening round. Dirk's 9.9 rebounds per game would tie a career high that he equaled the following year as well.

7. 09-10: Making an  All-NBA  team for the 10th straight year, Dirk led the Mavs to 55 wins and the #2 seed in the West. However one final playoff disappointment, a first round loss to the Spurs, would have to be suffered before a championship would finally come his way.

6. 08-09: Dirk was named a first-team All-NBA player for the fourth time in 5 years and led the Mavs past the Spurs in the first round of the playoffs before falling to the Nuggets in the second round. Dirk incredible play in that Nuggets series was even more impressive considering the tumult happening in his personal life.

5. 02-03: What a year it was for the 24-year-old before a knee injury forced him to miss the final 3 games of the Western Conference Finals. Dirk would lead the Mavs to a 60 win season, tied for the best mark in the league, highlighted by a 14-0 start to the season. In the playoffs Dirk would lead the way in game 7 wins over the Blazers and Kings.

4. 04-05: Now without Steve Nash for the first time in his career, Dirk took his game to an entire new level, making first team All-NBA and finishing 3rd in MVP voting. Dirk increased his scoring average from 21.8 points the year before to 26.1 points per game, the second best mark of his career.

3: 06-07: The MVP season. Dirk had a regular season for the ages, leading the Mavs to a 67-15 record as he joined the ultra-exclusive 50-40-90 club, shooting 50.2% from the field, 41.6% from three and 90.4% from the free throw line. Unfortunately the playoffs were a different story as the Mavs were stunned by the #8 seed Warriors, crushing their chances of redeeming their previous year's Finals loss.

2: 05-06: After a regular season that saw him finish 3rd in MVP voting for a second straight year while averaging a career high 26.6 point per game, Dirk would take it up yet another notch in the playoffs. After sweeping the Grizzlies in the first round, the Mavs would take their down their arch rivals, the Spurs, as Dirk scored 37 in a game 7 win on the road including the clutch 3 point play that forced overtime. In the conference finals against the Suns, Dirk was brilliant again, scoring 50 points in a key game 5 win. The season would end in heartbreak however as the Mavs blew a 2-0 Finals lead to the Heat.

1. 10-11: Things finally all came together as a brilliant playoff run resulted in the Mavs finally being crowned champions as Dirk cemented his legacy as one the game's true all-time greats. There were so many memorable moments from the sweep of the Lakers to the destruction of Oklahoma City, highlighted by perhaps the best game of Dirk's career in game one as he went 12-15 from the field and 24-24 from the line for 48 points. In the Finals Dirk's owned crunch time, first by leading an improbable game 2 comeback capped by hitting the game-winning-layup. Then he once again took over late in game 4 despite playing through illness. Than in the deciding game 6, Dirk struggled through the first half before scoring 18 points in the second half as he finally captured the one prize that had eluded him.