Germany's basketball star Dirk Nowitzki played his final home game in the NBA on Tuesday night, announcing in front of a sellout crowd the end of his illustrious career.
Nowitzki played a 21 seasons with the Dallas Mavericks — a record at a single team — and is set to end his career in San Antonio on Wednesday night, in the last game of the Mavericks' season.
Read more: Dirk Nowitzki: 'I gave it everything I had'. In the final home game of his career, Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 30 points as his Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns After the game, the German announced that he would retire following their season finale in San Antonio. Although he saw limited playing time in his last season in the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki did manage to reach another milestone.
Against the Memphis Grizzlies on April 7, , Nowitzki gathered in his 10,th defensive rebound. He is just the fifth NBA player to reach the 10,rebound mark. Two years earlier on March 7, , Dirk Nowitzki reached another impressive milestone, scoring his 30,th point in a home game against the Los Angeles Lakers. He didn't pick up a basketball until he was 13, but it was clear from the start that he had talent.
Milwaukee then immediately traded Nowitzki to the Dallas Mavericks, meaning he never actually wore a Bucks jersey.
Nowitzki got off to a slow start with the Mavs in his first season, which was shortened by a lockout. However, it wouldn't be long before Milwaukee's management would regret their mistake. Nowitzki's trademark was his fadeaway jump shot.
By Bri Amaranthus. By Lance Roberson. By Tomer Barazani. By Mike Fisher. See More. Dallas and Dirk are often thought to be above said trend. Their collective roots run deeper than money, rebuilding and the future in general. Dirk won a ring for the Mavericks, and though he'd like to spend the rest of his days contending, it's not necessary.
Winning doesn't matter as much as riding the remainder of his career out with the Maverick does. Anyone who claims the previous premise is undeniably wrong doesn't know what they're talking about. Dirk could stay in Dallas for the next few years and retire with the Mavs without ever leaving, no matter what state they're in.
Yet that doesn't mean winning isn't important. Dirk still wants to win, preferably with the Mavericks, but there's no way he's above leaving next summer if they're not in a position to contend. Dallas has been brimming with optimism over the past few summers. Each year, they've chased a course-altering star; each year, they've failed. Last summer, they were left with Chris Kaman, O. Mayo and Darren Collison as consolation prizes.
Since when is Ellis enough to satisfy a team thirsty for a championship? Last time I checked, never. Don't get me wrong, the Mavericks are a good team, maybe even playoff-bound. At 35, he should no longer be shouldering that kind of burden. But they also suffered a shocking upset in the first round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors.
The loss was so devastating it drove Nowitzki into the Australian outback for five weeks. That was the first of three consecutive seasons in which the team lost in the opening round. But while Nowitzki — and by extension, the team — went through difficulties, coaches and teammates continued to support him.
So too did Dallas. And I want to make everything possible to pay them back and make this work, to pay their loyalty back. In the five years after their championship season, the Mavericks lost in the first round of the playoffs four times.
They missed the playoffs the other of those five years. Counting this season, the Mavericks have struggled three years straight. Yet when his contract expired in , he re-signed with the team, again. Now, as a player clearly past his prime, who years ago could have perhaps contributed on a contender , Dallas cheers each dwindling minute of his career.
As the game against the Pacers winds down, with the Mavericks holding a four-point lead, Nowitzki, with a white towel draped around his neck and over his shoulder, sits on the bench and watches. With about two minutes left, Luka Doncic shoots a three-pointer from 30 feet away.
The ball hardly touches the rim as it goes through the net. The crowd cheers and Nowitzki stands up, raising both his arms. Doncic nods back, implying he understands what Nowitzki, old enough to be his father, is telling him.
And while it took Nowitzki some time to believe he belonged in the NBA, Doncic, signed to Real Madrid at 13 — the same age Nowitzki first picked up a basketball — knows he was born for the play the game.
Doncic plays with an arrogance that comes from prodigious talent. And on this late-February night, Doncic, in his last game as a teenager, seemingly controls everything the Mavericks do. With Mavericks up by six, Doncic has the ball again. He dribbles, feints a drive, then steps back to hit another footer. He assisted on the other three-pointer, too. The Mavericks win while Nowitzki watches from the bench. This is how athletes age when they play long enough.
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