“That’s special”: Dirk Nowitzki gets honest about relationship with Mavericks fans ahead of jersey retirement

Dirk Nowitzki regarded as the greatest Dallas player ever is now getting his jersey retired from the franchise. The Mavericks announced that the ceremony would take place today following the match of the Dallas against the Golden State Warriors. Nowitzki has proved his undoubted loyalty to the franchise as the player never shared his spot with any other team in the league. From the start of his career, Nowitzki has shown his dedication and commitment to his only franchise Dallas Mavericks.

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Following the ceremony, Dirk Nowitzki will become the fourth player in Dallas history to get his jersey number (41) retired from the franchise. The legendary jersey will be secured and swung in the rafters at the American Airlines Center joining the other Maverick stars Derek Harper, Brad Davis and Rolando Blackman. It would be an auspicious moment to witness for Dirk himself and his loyal fans who would be present there to support him in his legacy.

The one time MVP and 14-time All-Star Dirk Nowitzki has played 21 NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks where he grabbed the Larry O’Brien trophy in the year 2011. He also became the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the year 2007 recording his first-ever MVP trophy of the same. Following his jersey retirement, Dirk Nowitzki glanced back at his amazing career with Dallas. He defined his legacy with Mavericks as a “dream” when he first came to the city being a kid himself back in 1998. It was the Mavericks who first drafted him with a 9th overall pick in the NBA draft.

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Dirk Nowitzki explains his legacy with the Dallas Mavericks

It is amazing to see how much Dirk has achieved in his whole career. The kid who was drafted in 1998 came to be a legend and one of the best NBA players in history. Dirk explaining his legacy with the Dallas said, “You know me, I’m a quiet, modest sort of shy guy, and of course that is a lot of limelight for me,” Nowitzki said on a conference call with international media last month.

“It’s of course very humbling that when I first left Germany as sort of a 19/20-year old kid that over 20 years later I would have had all this stuff in Dallas, I would have said you’re absolutely out of your mind, this is never going to happen. So, it was a dream. It was a dream career that worked out great for me that I could stay in one city and be part of this community for such a long time and part of this organization.

“It’s a dream come true that now how many people have come up to me after my career and told me that they respect and appreciate what I’ve done for the city, for the sport and for the organization, and of course that makes me super proud.

“The other day I went to a Mavs game and I take a right on Nowitzki Way. That is still surreal. It’s surreal to look at that, to look at my own street, and eventually seeing the jersey under the roof and also one day, I’m not sure when, but see the statue out front. I mean, it makes me super proud of all the work, of course, I put in and how many people have helped me obviously to get to this point. I’m super excited about what’s coming in the next few months and years.”

Following the ceremony that is scheduled for today, Dirk said, “That’s a special evening. I’m sure they’re going to surprise me with some stuff. I’m sure there will be some great, great stuff happening and some great surprises, which I don’t even want to know before.

“It’s going to be overwhelming. I am not super emotional off the court, but at stuff like that I tend to get a little emotional, like at the street naming where it took me a couple minutes to get going there. I’m sure it will be overwhelming. But it’s going to be so much fun to see everybody, and hopefully everybody can come that’s been part of my career for such a long time and has helped me somewhere down the line. It’s going to be a night of me being extremely grateful to everybody who’s been part of my career.”

Having his name written in the list that was not something he was waiting for, Dirk said that he is honored by the same and it is actually very hard to make it into that list. Remarking on the same he said, “I’m of course incredibly honored that I was named as part of the list. As you know, it’s super hard to make that list, to pick players out of a list that’s basically had players from whatever, since the league started existing.

“It’s hard to compare players from different eras, so I think it was extremely tough to find 75 guys. I did a little list for myself just to see how it is and how hard it is, and it was extremely, extremely difficult. But I’m very humbled and blessed that people would vote for me on that, and so I was very excited. I think I was very proud to be on that list with the best who have ever played in our sport and have represented the NBA. It was a very proud moment when I saw the final list.”

It would be interesting to see how the ceremony goes and what actually it brings for Dirk himself. It is for sure that he is proud of what he has achieved and how he has achieved, as we all are aware that these legacies are not something that is just wished for.

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