In his first home game this season, Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki was welcomed by a standing ovation from the Mavs crowd.

This is Dirk Nowitzki's second game for the season. In his first game, he made history as the only player (so far) in NBA history to have played for one team in 21 seasons. Previously, he shared the record with Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant — who played for 20 seasons as a member of the purple and gold.

Nowitzki missed the first 26 games of the season as he recovered from a surgery to remove bone spurs off his left ankle back in April. Though the rehabilitation process wasn’t expected to take this long as it’s a relatively minor procedure, come training camp, he suffered tendon soreness which forced him to continue rehabbing.

Now, the German looks good but it may take some time for him to get his rhythm back. Per the Associated Press via ESPN, Dirk Nowitzki shared his thoughts on his 21st season and even managed to slip in some humor:

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“It is good to be back,” he said after the game. “Obviously I got a lot of work to do timing-wise, conditioning-wise. I have been running on a treadmill, which is not the same as playing NBA speed against a bunch of 20-year-old athletes.”

The 40-year-old hasn't confirmed if this year will be his final season. This only means that we still have an opportunity to see a living legend at work for the Mavs.