Dirk Nowitzki's busy All-Star weekend officially begins. The Dallas Mavericks forward and future Hall of Famer has been selected to coach Team World for the Rising Stars Challenge game. Before they played Team USA, Nowitzki had a chance to meet and greet his players.

This is going to be the first of three events that Nowitzki will be participating in during the All-Star festivities that's happening in Charlotte. On Saturday, he will be one of the participants in the 3-point shootout, and then he will suit up for Team LeBron in the All-Star game on Sunday.

This is likely going to be Nowitzki's last All-Star Weekend as a player. Although he has yet to officially announce his retirement plans, the feeling around the league is that the German sharpshooter will no longer play in the NBA beyond this season.

A lot of the players in the Rising Stars Game grew up as fans of Nowitzki, so it's a great privilege for some of these youngsters to be able to interact with the one-time champion.

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Nowitzki played his entire 21-year career with the Mavericks, leading the franchise to its first title back in 2011.

The Mavs are expected to miss the playoffs, and even though it isn't the happy ending that fans want for Nowitzki, his swan song will be remembered as the passing of the torch, with him handing the team's leadership over to rookie sensation Luka Doncic.