The Dallas Mavericks were somewhat surprised by Dirk Nowitzki's retirement announcement on the day of his last home game at American Airlines Center. Lara Beth Seager, who designed and produced the night in which the Mavericks planned to honor the 7-footer for his 21 years with the franchise, spoke at length about the process and the surprise factor kicking in:

“Well, no one knew that it was going to be his last home game [laughs]. We were celebrating 21 years because obviously no one before has ever been with one team for 21 years. The celebration, the planning of all of that started with Mark [Cuban], he started working on that in the beginning of the year,” Seager told Zac Crain of D Magazine. “Just planning for a celebration for 21 years and then obviously that night had turned into, he decided that it was going to be his last home game.”

Cuban himself remembers when he first heard it from his star's own mouth:

“I knew that morning when he had to get shots in his ankles,” he said. “That’s when he told us.”

Nowitzki had kept mum about the possibility of retiring, but most teams around the league were already honoring him with plaques, gifts and several concessions through the course of his would-be farewell tour. The German international was surprised by five of his idols after the game, greeted by Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Charles Barkley, fellow German great Detlef Schrempf and Shawn Kemp:

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“Really, the decision to announce it was the one that really fell on me one day or two days ahead. Because I always said I kind of want to make it through the season,” said Nowitzki. “But I was relieved the way it went. Just to say it after the last home game and that way, in a month or two, I didn’t have to come back and do a big press conference. That way, it worked out amazingly. I’ll never forget that last week, that last home game with the five idols of mine showing up. The video tribute in San Antonio. I’ll never forget that last week, so I’m really happy how that went and how I closed this chapter of my life.”

Dirk Nowitzki played 21 seasons in Dallas.