The Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs have had a long-standing rivalry that started in 2001 when a then 22-year-old Dirk Nowitzki helped lead the team to the playoffs for the first time since the 1989-90 season. With Nowitzki officially announcing his retirement on Tuesday night, it was serendipitous that the final game of his career is taking place in San Antonio – and their Texas adversary came prepared with a tribute clip that sent the Mavs lifer in tears.

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The Spurs early on were a thorn in Nowitzki and the Mavs side, beating them in convincing fashion their first two meetings. Dallas ultimately dispatched San Antonio in 2006 in a second-round duel that many consider as a matchup that should have been a Conference Final, and inspired discussions on changing how playoff seeds are determined. The two teams met each other a few more times later on although it became less of a rivalry as Nowitzki started to show his age a bit while the revamped Spurs was still dominant and making routine NBA Finals trips.

Soon, the head of the proverbial snake in Tim Duncan retired abruptly, shortly followed by other key pieces of that rivalry in Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker (who signed with the Charlotte Hornets). With Nowitzki exiting tonight, the main fixtures of the Spurs-Mavs feud are officially history.