Ranking the NBA's Greatest Shooting Bigs of All Time | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Big shocker, right?

Regardless of the methodology used to compile this list, Dirk Nowitzki was likely to finish in the top spot. He leads the group sampled in career points over average from the field, points over average from three and total threes made.

He's 15th in the group in three-point percentage, but every player ahead of him there attempted significantly fewer triples. Nowitzki's 5,210 career three-point attempts isn't just first among 7-footers—it nearly doubles second-place Channing Frye's 2,706. It's more than second place and third place combined.

And all those jumpers from the legendary power forward helped put him on the short list of players who truly changed basketball.

From 1979-80 (the first NBA season with a three-point line) to 1997-98 (the last pre-Dirk season), all 7-footers averaged 0.1 three-point attempts per 36 minutes and shot 22.2 percent from three. From 1998-99 to now, 7-footers have averaged 1.0 three-point attempts per 36 minutes and shot 34.9 percent from deep. And even if you take Dirk's numbers out of the mix, that bunch still averaged 0.8 attempts per 36 and shot 34.1 percent.

Beyond the threes, Dirk was also one of the game's best mid-range shooters for two decades. He was the league leader in two-pointers from 10 feet and out in nine different seasons, and he shot 47.2 percent on those attempts over the course of his career. For context's sake, DeMar DeRozan is working on a single-season career-high percentage from that range of 43.9.

The prolific shooting didn't just lead to individual accolades and great numbers, either. Over the course of Nowitzki's career, the Dallas Mavericks were second in the NBA in winning percentage, first in points per 100 possessions and tied for third in effective field-goal percentage.

Dirk was revolutionary. He showed the world that certain basketball skills aren't reserved for players of a certain build. He wasn't a power forward or center as much as he was a basketball player. When the league saw how helpful shooting from a big is, it set out trying to find the next Dirk. The result was much more shooting from centers and power forwards. From there, playmaking was added to the equation. And the new desire is having a big who can switch onto anyone on defense.

Basketball has thrown plenty of unforeseen evolutions at us over the years. The trend could change. But right now, it looks like we're headed toward relatively positionless basketball. And when you watch bigs like Jokic, Adebayo, Towns and others displaying traditional guard skills, don't forget that it all traces back to Dirk.

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