Is Dirk Nowitzki an exception to the NBA rule?

We are officially an Eastern Conference & Western Conference series win away from a rematch for the third consecutive season of Cleveland & Golden State battling for an NBA Championship. If this is the case, we will also be seeing arguably seven of the top 30 players in the NBA battling for the Bill Russell trophy. LeBron James is the greatest player of his generation, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are on pace to become the two best shooters ever, Kevin Durant is a scoring machine, Kyrie Irving has the best handles in the league, & Draymond Green and Kevin Love have triple-double potential in any arena they play. The problem is, we aren't talking about the best players in one of the conferences, these seven players combine to makeup the two best teams in the league. Going back in time, they are doing what just about every other championship team in the history has done...build a team of stars. Russell Westbrook put together arguably the best statistical season of all-time this season, but his Thunder team didn't have a prayer of getting out of the first round without Kevin Durant in OKC. Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins joined forces this season, but it was too late to even make the playoffs and neither of them have ever been on an NBA team that has posed a postseason threat by themselves despite their prolific scoring and rebounding abilities. The discussion is always fluttering in the air, "Who is the greatest player of all-time?" Is it LeBron James? Is it Michael Jordan? Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabar, or Wilt Chamberlain? A more interesting question may be, "Who is the best player to win a championship by themselves?" Below is a list of champions since 1990 and a common trend will be easily visible, they mostly all have MULTIPLE superstars... 1990: Pistons Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, & Dennis Rodman 1991-1993: Bulls Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen 1994-1995: Rockets Hakeem Olajuwon & Clyde Drexler 1996-1998: Bulls Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, & Dennis Rodman 1999: Spurs Tim Duncan & David Robinson 2000-2002: Lakers Shaquille O'Neal & Kobe Bryant 2003: Spurs Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, & David Robinson 2004: Pistons Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, Chauncey Billups, & Rasheed Wallace 2005: Spurs Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, & Manu Ginobili 2006: Heat Dwayne Wade & Shaquille O'Neal 2007: Spurs Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, & Manu Ginobili 2008: Celtics Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo 2009-2010: Lakers Kobe Bryant & Pau Gasol 2012-2013: Heat LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, & Chris Bosh 2014: Spurs Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, & Manu Ginobili 2015: Warriors Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, & Draymond Green 2016: Cavaliers LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, & Kevin Love The only year missing is 2011. The Mavericks won their only championship that season, and the best international player of all-time, Dirk Nowitzki, put the city of Dallas on his German-born back. The second leading scorer on that team was Jason Terry, who although having a productive career, has never been thought of as one of the top players in the league. Jason Kidd, who is a sure hall-of-famer, was at the backend of his career and played a limited role.

Nowitzki's Mavs trailed in the series 2-1 to the Heat who had just formed the NBA's newest "Big Three" with James, Wade, & Bosh. Dallas then closed out the series by winning the final three games thanks in large part to Nowitzki shooting 45-of-46 from the foul line and scoring 20+ in each of those games despite facing a lot of double-teams. So, to answer the question, "Is Dirk Nowitzki the best player to ever win a championship virtually by himself?"