'Loyalty Never Fades Away,' Says Nowitzki During Statue Inauguration

Dirk Nowitzki announced his retirement after 21 seasons in the NBA. In this picture, Nowitzki #41 of the Dallas Mavericks reacts after announcing he played his last home game at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, April 9, 2019.
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KEY POINTS

The Mavericks have honored Dirk Nowitzki with a statue
Nowitzki admits that the 2011 NBA title played a role in convincing to stay with the Mavs
The statue features Nowitzki’s iconic one-legged fadeaway

Dirk Nowitzki is undoubtedly one of the best European players ever to play in the NBA, and it is only fitting for him to be feted with a rare honor that only the greatest cagers have gotten.

The 2007 NBA Most Valuable Player deemed the statue unveiling was done on a perfect day, capped by the sun shining on it.

The statue was unveiled on Christmas Day, December 25 in a ceremony hours before the Mavericks’ scheduled tiff with the Los Angeles Lakers at the American Airlines Arena.

“It was emotional,” Nowitzki, the only NBA player to spend all 21 seasons with the same franchise, said as quoted by the Associated Press. “When the thing went up, felt like the sun was just perfect today, just shining right on it.”

The Mavericks went on to ice the statue unveiling by beating the LeBron James-led Lakers, 124-110.

Leading the Mavs is current ace Luka Doncic, finishing with a near-triple-double of 32 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists.

Tim Hardaway Jr. backed up the Slovenian star guard with 26 points and six rebounds.

“I’m just happy for him,” Doncic, who was Nowitzki’s teammate his rookie year, stated. “He deserves all those things that are happening to him. The statue looks amazing.”

The statue depicted Nowitzki’s signature one-legged fadeaway jumper as it was one of the memorable moves of the 44-year-old baller—something that was all so familiar to Lakers head coach Darvin Ham.

“That jump shot, just going up to the sky, creating all types of rain,” Ham shared.

For Mavs head coach Jason Kidd, a teammate of Nowitzki in that 2011 NBA title run, gave his take and poked a bit of fun at the defense of his former teammate.

“They picked the right move,” Kidd told reporters. “I don’t think they were going to use the swipe [on defense] or him passing the ball. You see his stats on passing? He was a ball hog.”

Nowitzki also added how that 2011 NBA title practically dictated his career, a reason why he opted to stick it out with the Mavericks until he was done playing professional basketball.

“I’m so happy I didn’t have to do that and it worked out this way,” Nowitzki bared. “Once we won the championship, I knew I wanted to be here and finish my career here.”

Being one of the rare players to play on a single team, Nowitzki had the right words for it.

“Loyalty never fades away,” he stressed.