Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki -- or is that Nowitkzi? -- joined the rare 50,000-minutes-played club on Monday night, and it couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow. That is not my usual sarcasm. Nowitzki has been a fantastic player and behaved himself, and he deserves better than to be the fourth-leading scorer for a rebuilding team that might end up with the No. 1 pick in the next draft.
Nowitzki is still productive, averaging 12.1 points and 1.7 3-pointers with an excellent free throw percentage, and he is rostered in roughly half of ESPN's leagues, which seems about right.
When I saw the Nowitzki minutes note I wondered about the rest of the active top 10 in the category. Good bar-time trivia, right? Are any of them aiding fantasy managers as well? Fantasy managers tend to be attracted to name value, but they also tend to ignore older players. Or perhaps that is mainly in football and baseball.
Regardless, here are the top 12 active leaders in minutes played and my random thoughts as it pertains to current fantasy value, if there is any. Perhaps it is simply a reminder of some names you forgot were still playing in the league. Hey, a 40-year-old quarterback just threw for 505 yards in a Super Bowl -- and lost! -- so perhaps there are veteran helpers in the NBA who can aid as well!
1. Dirk Nowitzki, PF, Dallas Mavericks: Not all
