On Wednesday night, Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki played his final game. The 40-year-old took the court for the final time in Dallas' loss to the San Antonio Spurs, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds on 8-of-21 shooting.
In what was an incredible final send-off, Nowitzki had the support of not just Mavericks faithful and NBA fans at large across the globe, but also a select group of his fellow countrymen. After he took the floor one last time, a handful of German professional soccer players were vocal on social media in their support for Nowitzki.
German soccer players paid tribute to @swish41 š pic.twitter.com/mhsZZJq5uR
ā Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) April 11, 2019
The four players,Ā Thomas MĆ¼ller, Toni Kroos, Leon Goretzka and Jerome Boateng, have each played for Germany's national team at one point. They are the latest in a long line of athletes, coaches, and fans to say farewell to the best basketball player, and one of the best athletes, to ever come from Germany.
Nowitzki, by the way, went out in style, putting up 20 points and 10 rebounds in the loss. For his career, the sweet-shooting big man averaged 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists, shooting 47.1 percent from the floor and 38.0 percent from beyond the arc. He retires as a 14-time All-Star, the 2006-07 Most Valuable Player, and the Finals MVP during Dallas's 2010-11 championship run.
Other notable celebrities to publicly honor Nowitzki included Bill Clinton, Kobe Bryant and Charles Barkley.
Unfortunately, the Mavericks could not pull off a storybook season in Nowitzki's final year. At 33-49, they tied for the second-worst record in the Western Conference and fell 15 games short of a playoff spot. The team will look to rebound next year in their first season without Nowitzki since 1997-98.
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