Already in his 21st season in the league, Father Time is quickly catching up with Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki. However, following Friday's matchup against the Boston Celctics, the 40-year-old Mavs big man implied that a certain record might motivate him to play on next season.

With his retirement looming, Nowitzki may have already played his last game at TD Garden on Friday. After the contest, a reporter pointed out that Dirk missed out on breaking a scoring record set by Los Angeles Lakers great Kobe Bryant. The German responded in jest, claiming that this might just force him to have another crack at it next season:

Nowitzki was terrible on Friday and was held scoreless in 17 minutes off the bench. The 13-time All-Star went 0-of-10 from the field, including 0-of-8 from 3-point territory. It was one of the worst performances of his otherwise stellar career, as the Mavs lost big to the C's, 114-93.

It has been almost a month since Nowitzki made his season debut for the Mavs after undergoing ankle surgery over the summer. It was an extended recovery period for the big man, who had to sit out for over a month nursing his injured ankle.

Since his return, Dirk Nowitzki has been on a minutes limit, and his 16 minutes played on Friday is the most he has played this season. Sadly, this may be Nowitzki's body's way of telling him that time has come to finally call it a career.