Joel Embiid credits Dirk Nowitzki for improvement from perimeter this season

Other than both being 7-footers, Dirk Nowitzki and Joel Embiid have two very different styles of play. The latter is giving credit to the former for helping him improve his game this season.

The Philadelphia 76ers star Embiid said this week that he watched a lot of Nowitzki tape to prepare for the year, per Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice. Embiid credited The Big German for some of his success this season operating at the nail, the area roughly around the free-throw line.

The 27-year-old Embiid might never be as pure as Nowitzki was shooting the basketball. But he has become a much-improved mid-range threat and can even hit shots off the dribble fairly consistently now. That, in turn, opens up new playmaking opportunities as well.

Embiid once said that he learned to shoot by watching “white people.” It’s good to know that some things never change.