Larry Bird congratulates Dirk Nowitzki for passing him on all-time scoring list

When Dirk Nowitzki entered the league as a skinny German kid he became a bit of a sensation for the reasons he is a legend now — the guy can flat out shoot the rock and is 7-feet tall.

But if you said he’d end up scoring more points than the Larry Bird you would have been laughed out of the room. Except in Boston where you would have been dragged out into the alley.

But it happened. Monday night in Orlando Nowitzki knocked down a spot-up three in transition that gave him 21,792 career points, passing Larry the Legend for 25th on the NBA’s all time scoring list.

Tuesday Nowitzki felt his phone vibrate while on the team bus, according to the Dallas Morning News. It was a text from Bird congratulating him.

“It’s obviously an unbelievable accomplishment to be in the top 25 scorers in this amazing league with so many amazing players,’' Nowitzki said. “But it’s going to mean more to me when my career’s done. When I’m 15 or 20 years from now, I can look back and it’s something I’ll be proud of. But as of now, I’m still chasing the dream and trying to win a championship. But it’ll be a sweet one in 20 years.’'

Right now, Nowitzki may be higher on the Maverick’s sweep through Florida. But this is still something to be celebrated.