If you look up Webster’s definition of tenacity, you might find a picture of Dwight Powell next to the word.
Think about what his career has been like, in particular the other big men he’s seen the Mavericks employ during his nine NBA seasons – all but five games of which have been with Dallas.
Zaza Pachulia, Andrew Bogut, David Lee, Nerlens Noel, Salah Mejri, DeAndre Jordan, Willie Cauley-Stein.
JaVale McGee, twice.
To varying degrees, all of them were brought in with the idea that they would maybe not replace Powell, but certainly reduce his role.
And guess what? Powell somehow has always ended up back on the floor, usually as a starting center, which is where he’s been for the last five games, and seven overall this season.
This from a guy who couldn’t even get off the bench at the start of the season.
Outside of some dude named Luka, there may not be a more respected player in the Mavericks’ locker room than Powell.
The 6-10 Canadian has averaged just 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds this season. But he leads the team in floor burns and nobody uses more elbow grease than Powell.
“He’s a pro,” coach Jason Kidd says. “He knows he’s going to get his opportunities and he’s always ready when they come.”
Powell stays ready because he’s relentless when it comes to doing the right things that are designed to get the most out of his God-given abilities.
He gets his shots up, alone in a gym with only a shagger to rebound for him. He lifts weights. And that’s just after games. His off days are anything but. They are all about staying in the best condition he can.
And, of course, he eats healthy and doesn’t indulge in alcohol.
Spencer Dinwiddie said Powell is like “that great left guard for a football team where Tom Brady is getting all the accolades and endorsements but if that dude isn’t protecting his blind side and isn’t doing it every single time, Tom Brady is getting his head knocked off.”
Of course Powell gets frustrated when he’s not playing. For a guy who started every game last season, including all 18 in the playoffs, not playing at the start of this season was a tough pill to swallow.
But Powell did what he always does: he persevered.
“Just stay ready, regardless,” he said. “At the end of the day, this league’s all about winning games so we’re going to try when we can to achieve that goal. There’s going to be different situations when you’re going to have to play different roles. So you got to be prepared every day for whatever the situation might be.”
And when he isn’t on the court, nobody is a better teammate.
“(He) cheers the hardest for the people that play over him,” Dinwiddie said. “JaVale gets a dunk – he (Powell) is one of the first people off the bench. It’s an extreme credit to his character. It is the hardest role to have in this league to know that you can play, to have started and had success, and to be relegated to the bench not playing at all.”
Dinwiddie then gave a quick basketball lesson to illustrate Powell’s worth.
“I know Mavs fans give him a lot of flak for fouling a lot or falling on the ground or things like that, but the things he does in terms of rolling every single time, regardless of whether he gets the ball – getting hit, getting hurt, getting knocked in the face and all that other stuff – that is a glory-less job,” he said. “It allows guys like Luka (Dončić) and myself to be able to make plays because his rim pressure is what then gets the weak side to pull in so we can pass to Reggie (Bullock) and Dorian (Finney-Smith) so they can hit corner 3’s.”
In other words, a successful team needs a player like Powell that will work hard for the good of the team.
Even if that work doesn’t always lead to headlines or adulation.
Twitter: @ESefko
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