Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki made history Tuesday night in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers when he became the sixth player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points.
Nowitzki joined Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 30,000-point club.
The coach on the other end of the court, Luke Walton, was teammates with Bryant during their playing careers. And while Walton never developed a personal relationship with Nowitzki, from what he heard Nowitzki and Bryant shared one major characteristic that helped them reach the 30,000-point plateau.
"I know Kobe was the hardest working player I've been around," Walton said before the game. "I've heard from other teammates that have played with Dirk that his work ethic is pretty impressive. The amount of time he would spend mastering his craft of shooting. It would be hours and hours in the gym, rep after rep after rep. Without really knowing him, I would say that their work ethic is a similar trait."
Nowitzki and Bryant developed a friendship throughout their careers. Nowitzki wore Bryant's shoes to the American Airlines Center on the day of Bryant's final game while Bryant could only nod his head in approval when Nowitzki hit a game-winning shot in front of him last season.
Bryant took to Twitter to congratulate Nowitzki on the achievement.
Congrats @swish41 you are a true great #fadelikedirk
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) March 8, 2017
Walton has previously bemoaned the assignment he had throughout his career of defending Nowitzki, calling it "a near-impossible job."
"Seriously," Walton said in January. "You would try to make certain players take tough shots. The shots you tried to get guys to take, Dirk wanted those shots. He puts you in a real tough spot. He's obviously one of the all-time greats in our league and an absolute joy to watch. Not a joy to try to stop."
Twitter: @AdamGrosbard