On January 6, 2022, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Dirk Nowitzki's No. 41 jersey was officially retired from the Lone Rangers.
The NBA president was present, the mentors attended, the old teammates gathered, the league stars blessed, the fans cheered in unison, the symphony orchestra played the praises, the lone ranger, Dallas, pay tribute to their basketball heroes.
"You're an icon, you're a pioneer, you've redefined international players and created a culture like no other." Xiao Hua said.
"Thank you, Dirk, for knowing the meaning of hard work and the meaning of victory." Nowitzki's former teammate and current Mavericks head coach Kidd said.
Lone Ranger owner Mark Cuban unveiled a model of the statue designed for Nowitzki at the scene, which will be another "medal" belonging to Nowitzki after the jersey is retired.
"Dirk, I want everyone to see your greatness forever." Cuban said.
The great player, crowned with grand honors, is his journey with the Lone Ranger and Dallas. At this moment, Nowitzki was full of gratitude.
"From the time the plane landed in the city, I felt that this was my home, success or failure, everyone has supported me, and I will always thank you." Nowitzki said.
Music flutters, flags fly, jerseys hang high in the dome, "Forever 41" inscribed history, this robe records 21 years of basketball stories, the theme of the story is called "commitment".
Two hours after the end of the 1998 draft, Nowitzki's basketball mentor, former German men's basketball captain Holger, received a call from Lone Ranger head coach Nelson Sr.
"We're going to germany right away." Old Nelson said.
The purpose of Nelson Sr.'s trip was to persuade Nowitzki to go to the United States, and he had no bottom in his heart, because Nowitzki had no Background in American Basketball, and it was generally believed that he would stay in Germany for another two years and maybe be better prepared.
By the pool at Holger's residence, Nelson Sr. sat with Nowitzki through the night and talked about the development program to the 14-year-old German youth who had only just begun formal training in systematic basketball.
"We're not a playoff team, we don't need you to come and take on the heavy lifting, it will give you time to grow." Old Nelson said.
Toward the end of the conversation, old Nelson raised the question that weighed on his mind.
"Dirk, don't you want to compete with the best players in the world and try to make yourself stronger? Coming or not? ”
"Okay, I'll give it a try." Nowitzki nodded and replied.
This test, that is 21 years.
The starting point of these 21 years is not good, Nowitzki's rookie season is struggling, his shooting ability has not been fully demonstrated due to lack of confrontation, and the defensive shortcomings are fully exposed. At the time, Nowitzki was dubbed "Irk Nowitzki" by critics, and his name (Dirk Nowitzki) was deleted from the "D" to indicate that there was no defense.
"I was so depressed that I even considered going back to Germany." Nowitzki said.
It was Nelson Sr. who persuaded Nowitzki to stay, promising to design tactics for him and not to demand his defensive performance.
Nowitzki would consider the Lone Ranger his home, because the Lone Ranger had raised him as his own child from the beginning.
"I'm so lucky to be able to play under Nelson Sr., play in my own style, and do what I'm good at." Nowitzki said.
With the full support of the team, Nowitzki quickly adapted to the NBA, averaging more than 20 points per game in his third year, all-stars, the best team, and a series of honors followed.
However, the smooth sailing is only temporary. The 2-0 lead in the 2006 Finals was reversed, and the first round in 2007 was blackened, and what was even more embarrassing to Nowitzki was that he received a message from the NBA after he was out and was elected MVP of the 2006-07 regular season, usually the award ceremony will be held on match day, but the Lone Ranger has been eliminated, and Nowitzki can only go to a small room arranged by the broadcaster to get the award.
"I knew it was a big honor, but my first thought at the time was, don't give it to me." Nowitzki said.
Just in the summer of 2007, the Lone Ranger management received a call from the Lakers, Kobe Bryant was dissatisfied with the team lineup and publicly applied for a trade, Nelson Jr. reported the Lakers' asking price to the team owner, and the boss's reply was: "Except for Dirk, the other Lakers pick, Dirk can't do it." ”
This boss is Cuban.
Cuban bought the Lone Ranger in 2000, he first met Nowitzki in a bar in Dallas, Cuban held a bottle of champagne and wanted to invite Dirk for a drink, Nowitzki did not know that the person in front of him was the new owner of the team, out of the vigilance of professional players, he turned his head and left, leaving Cuban in a mess.
The day after the bar encounter, Cuban officially announced his joining the main team, and the first thing he did was to find Nowitzki to single out.
"He just bought the team, he came to train with us and had to go one-on-one with me," Nowitzki said, "I started thinking he was joking, but he was serious, he played well, he could really score, and I felt like I had to act." On one offense, I broke through from the left and finished a dunk above his head. If the average boss is so buckled, he will be very unhappy, but he laughs. He really loved basketball and we've been in a very close relationship ever since. ”
That head-to-head was the beginning of Nowitzki and Kuban in the same boat. In the 4 seasons after 2006, the Lone Ranger had 3 seasons to stop in the first round, Nowitzki played a very beautiful statistic, but the team just can't go further in the playoffs, the outside world for his doubts have intensified, and now the Lone Ranger guard Hardaway Jr.'s father Tim Hardaway, who has been a teammate with Nowitzki, he said something like this in an interview --
"There are two kinds of players in the NBA, one is that the fans think he's great because he plays well, but the players, especially the opponents, think he's average and not a big threat. The other is that the fans think he is average, but the players have played against him and think he is very good, and Nowitzki belongs to the former. ”
There were too many such criticisms at that time, but those who mocked were rarely willing to really understand Nowitzki's situation, the Lone Ranger had a poor lineup in those years, and Nowitzki was struggling to support. In the 2009 Western Conference Semifinals, Nowitzki averaged 34 points, 11.6 rebounds and 4 assists per game, shooting 53% from the field, but he was alone, and the series Lone Ranger's no. 2 scorer Terry and no. 3 scorer Josh Howard shot less than 40% from the field.
"You can't ask Dirk to do better, he's alone and he's never complained." Famous basketball journalist Stein said.
The Lone Ranger began to worry that Nowitzki might go, and after losing to the Spurs in the first round of the 2010 playoffs, Nowitzki was depressed to tears, and that summer there was a "decision" to change the culture of the NBA, and Nowitzki also happened to jump out of the contract at that time, and rumors were overwhelming, and multiple teams were interested in him, including the Lakers, who had just won two consecutive championships.
Nowitzki, surrounded by much speculation, found Cuban.
"I talked to Mark at his house and I told him, 'How about we fight for a few more years?' Nowitzki said.
Nowitzki admitted that he had struggled, but ultimately chose to stay.
"I don't want to pretend to be how strong I am, to be honest, I also considered going to a super team," Nowitzki said, "because winning a championship is an incredible achievement and experience, a goal that we aspire to achieve as players, and you have to know that the length of professional footballers is limited, and sometimes it is really timeless." But when I calm down and think back to the support and love that the team and the city have for me, who didn't give up on me in my most difficult times, how could I choose to escape when I lost? ”
A year later, Nowitzki's perseverance paid off, and he led the Lone Ranger to the first championship in team history. In that year's playoffs, Nowitzki went all the way to the top of the Finals, and he used his perfect shooting to extinguish the talented Heat.
On the night of the championship, Nowitzki lay on the bench in the shower room, tears pouring down his face. All the hardships, all the tribulations, were finally exchanged for the tears of victory.
Although Nowitzki has only one crown in his career, the gold content is so high that it shocks the ancient world, especially the key balls that kill people, conquering the fans and convincing the opponents.
"Dirk sets the standard for us on and off the field and I'm a fan of him." James said.
Those shots are made of steel. When Nowitzki was besieged by black eights in 2007 and ridiculed, he chose to immerse himself in hard training and kill the championship's stunt "Golden Rooster Independence", which was born in that sweaty summer.
Kathy Smith, the Lone Ranger's lead trainer who has been with the team since 2004, knows Nowitzki well and understands the player's distinctive way of thinking.
"When we lose, whether it's a game or a series, he's looking for his shortcomings," Smith said, "and he thinks about what he can do better and bring the team closer to success." ”
Leading the team to the top, Nowitzki was fully qualified to ask the Lone Ranger to give him special treatment, such as a maximum salary, but in fact, since the renewal of the contract in 2010, Nowitzki has not asked for a maximum contract, until 2016, he received a salary from the Lone Ranger, compared with the full maximum salary, 80 million less.
Nowitzki's concessions on wages made the Cubans "unacceptable." In 2016, when the contract extension was negotiated, the two had a "bizarre" conversation in the professional sports world.
"I told him, 'You make a price,' and he quoted a relatively low amount, and asked me if the money was okay?" Cuban said, "I said no, we'll give you more money." Talking about the amount getting bigger and bigger, he asked, 'This is almost it', I said, 'Let's add some more', and finally we gave everything we could. ”
To say that Nowitzki has no pursuit of matter is false, but he has his own rules of doing things. Nowitzki doesn't even have a full-time broker, has very few endorsement contracts, and after winning the championship in 2011, many merchants came to the door, but most of them were pushed away by him.
"I want to be a really pure basketball player, the team has paid me enough salary, I don't want to be distracted," Nowitzki said, "Mark is a boss who cares a lot about the players, he takes care of us very much." Mark and I went through the ups and downs of the team together and won the championship together. He's always supported me, and even when things weren't going well, he always said to me, 'You are and you will be our ace player in the future.' I just want to play well. ”
After reaching the top in 2011, the Lone Ranger misjudged the impact of the new labor agreement on the team building model, dismantled the championship lineup, and the team returned to the situation where Nowitzki struggled to support, he repeatedly reduced the salary requirements, but also hoped to provide space for the Lone Ranger, but the Lone Ranger's attempts continued to fail, until they exchanged Doncic in the draft, and now Nowitzki has come to the last stop of his career.
During those years, Nowitzki never complained, and he kept his promise with the Lone Ranger and Dallas to complete the one-man,one-city journey.
When Nowitzki surpassed 30,000 career points in 2017, a fan with his child witnessed it. The fan admitted in an interview with reporters: "When Dirk first arrived in Las, I was only 4 years old, and my father took me to the stadium to watch Dirk play. Now I'm a father, taking my kids to cheer for Dirk. I can proudly tell my child, 'This is your dad's idol when he was a kid, and after all these years, he's always been there.' ’”
He is the most outstanding international player in the history of the NBA, and the first person in the history of the Lone Ranger, and the data record and honor book of this team is the career of Nowitzki, and his greatness is far more than that.
In the era of basketball in which the group became the mainstream, Nowitzki died in the lone ranger, becoming the only person in NBA history to play on the same team for 21 years. Professional sports may be interpreted as moral kidnapping, but professional sports also need simple heroic feelings, and it is understandable to seek shortcuts after struggling but failing, and because of this, perseverance is particularly valuable.
"Giving up is never your choice." Holger said.
"Dirk, thank you, there will never be a player like you again." Cuban said.
Nowitzki's 21-year journey came to an end, but his mutual commitment to the Lone Ranger and Dallas continued.
"I can't put into words your contribution to the team, but I assure you that there will always be a place for you here," Cuban told Nowitzki.
In the Lone Ranger's arena, Cuban prepared an office for Nowitzki, and Dirk, as a special adviser, was involved in the team's management restructuring and coach selection, and also went to Slovenia as a representative to reach a contract extension with Doncic, and also saw him in the commentary seat of the Lone Ranger game.
The Dallas municipality named the street outside the American Airlines Center after Nowitzki, whose statue is under construction, and Cuban also plans to launch a digital currency that pays homage to Nowitzki.
From their encounter in 1998, Nowitzki and the Lone Ranger, and Dallas have never been separated and will not be separated.