NBA: The Dallas Mavericks have unveiled the statue of Dirk Nowitzki in their stadium

The Dallas Maverick inaugurated the statue of more than seven meters of his legend, Dirk Nowitzkioutside the arena at the American Airlines Center.

Furthermore, there is already a street that bears the German’s name and his jersey number is already retired on the roof of the Dallas arena.

Before unveiling the tribute, Nowitzki stood next to his son Max, both ready to push the button that would unveil the statue which was known for having the signature backflip pose with one foot overhead.

“The shot from far, into the sky, creates any kind of rain,” the Los Angeles Lakers coach said. Darvin Hamwhose team faced Dallas on Christmas Sunday following the ceremony.

“It was exciting,” said Nowitzki, who is the only player in NBA history to have spent 21 seasons with the same franchise.

The Mavericks beat LeBron James’ Lakers 124 to 115. The contribution of James, an iconic figure in the NBA, was insufficient with 38 points.

The Lakers are unable to raise their heads in the contest, since they occupy the 13th. position among the 15 members of its Conference, with a negative record of 13 wins and 20 losses.

For its part Dallas, former team of Cordoba point guard Facundo Campazzo, who today made his debut at Red Star, in Belgrade, is in eighth place with a narrow positive statistic of 18 wins and 16 falls.

His top scorer in this match played at the American Airlines Center in Dallas was Slovenian playmaker Luka Doncic, Campazzo’s former teammate at Spain’s Real Madrid, with 32 points.

More details of the tribute

The biggest of several accolades to recognize Nowitzki’s career came on the 11th anniversary of the Mavs’ only other Christmas game.

At the time the German was the face of the franchise and in the 2011-12 season he defended the only title the team has ever won.

The new face of the team, star Luka Doncic, 23, watched the ceremony from behind Nowitzki, along with his teammates and head coach Jason Kidd, who played under Nowitzki.

“I’m happy for him,” said Doncic, Nowitzki’s teammate in his rookie year. “He deserves all the things that are happening to him. The statue looks amazing,” he added.

Sculptor Omri Amrany created other statues of retired basketball players like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal.

His family traveled from Germany with Holger Geschwindner, Nowitzki’s mentor. The 44-year-old former player reiterated over and over how much it meant to have his mother and father at the ceremony.

The event came four days after Nowitzki was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, retired Spurs guard Tony Parker and Dwyane Wade, who beat Nowitzki for Miami in the 2006 Finals before losing to him in 2011.

Source: agencies.