Although Nowitzki won the single-core championship, he also has many helpers

On May 9, the 2011 Dallas Mavericks' championship journey was one of the greatest single-core legends in NBA history. Dirk Nowitzki led the team to the top with an unsolvable Golden Rooster independent jump shot and a superstar performance at a critical moment, but like all the great championship stories, behind the German tank is a group of key helpers with their own uniqueness, who jointly wrote this basketball epic.

**Defensive pillar: Tyson Chandler's transformation effect**

As a strong contender for the best defensive player of the season (Note: Chandler actually won the award in 2012), Chandler's joining completely reshapes the Mavericks' defensive system. The regular season average of 10.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game seems plain, but his dominance on the defensive end cannot be fully reflected by data: behind his shooting percentage of up to 63.5% (first in the league) and 1.1 blocks per game is his deterrent power in the penalty area. In the playoffs, Chandler's blockade against Lakers Gasol and Bynum and the cutting of the Heat's "Big Three" breakthrough route became the key to the Mavericks' defensive efficiency leaping to the third place in the playoff team. Especially in the finals G6, he grabbed 11 rebounds (7 of which were frontcourt rebounds) and completely defeated the Heat's hope of turning the table with a second offense.

**Jets take off: Jason Terry's killer nature**

As the second-in-command, Terry contributed a firepower output of 17.5 points per game in the playoffs, and its value is far beyond the summary of the data. The Jets used three-pointers (46.3% of the series three-point shooting percentage) to help the Mavericks complete the sweep when they played against the Lakers in the Western Conference semi-finals; in the key battle of G5 in the Finals, he scored 21 points from 11 of 21 shots, including three consecutive fatal jump shots in the fourth quarter. It is worth mentioning that Terry's shooting percentage in the entire playoffs reached 51.2% at the "critical moment" (within 5 points in the last 5 minutes), and this big heart performance perfectly shared Nowitzki's scoring pressure.

**Brain and Helmsman: Jason Kidd's inheritance of wisdom**

37-year-old Kidd has lost his athletic ability in his peak period, but his basketball IQ is still an intangible asset of the team. Behind his average of 7.7 points and 6.3 assists per game is his precise control of the game rhythm: against the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals, he repeatedly saw through Westbrook's breakthrough route and completed steals; in the last 24 seconds of the G2 in the finals, he deliberately fouled James to destroy the Heat's tactics, showing his depth of understanding of the rules. More importantly, as the leader of the locker room, Kidd used twenty years of experience to stabilize the team's mood - when the Heat won three consecutive games to tie the score to 2-1, Kidd organized the entire team to watch the game video and found a way to crack the Heat's joint defense.

**Bench Gang: The collective outbreak of role players**

Shawn Marion used his comprehensive skills to defend James while also contributing 13.7 points per game in the finals; Peja Stoyakovic made 15 of 26 three-pointers in the Western Conference semi-finals, becoming the Lakers' nightmare; Baria changed the series trend in the finals, and his misaligned defense and speed-changing breakthroughs against James disrupted the Heat's deployment. These role players perform their duties under the Carlisle coach's system and form a unique chemistry. Data shows that the Mavericks averaged 33.2 points per game in the playoffs, nearly 10 points more than the Heat.

**The perfect range of German tanks**

Nowitzki's greatness lies in his maximization of the abilities of these helpers: Chandler's defensive value is improved by Nowitzki's ability to pull space; Terry's chances of getting more open space are due to the opponent's double-teaming against Dirk; Kidd's pass found the most reliable ending point. This complementary relationship reached its peak in the finals - when the Heat chose to hit Nowitzki, the other Mavericks' three-point shooting percentage reached 41.2%; when the Heat changed to single defense, Dirk punished his opponent with a shooting percentage of 54.7%. This unsolved dilemma is the ultimate form of team basketball.

Looking back at the 2011 championship journey, Nowitzki's single-core legend and the perfect collaboration between the team constitute a dialectical unity. As Dirk himself said: "With Tyson's rebounds, Jason's scores, and Jason's command, we can't touch the O'Brien Cup. " This trophy not only witnesses the peak performance of the superstar, but also engraves the most moving symbiotic relationship between individuals and collectives in basketball.