It has now been nearly five years since Dirk Nowitzki played his last game in the NBA.
That final game came on April 10, 2019, versus the San Antonio Spurs, a team that his Dallas Mavericks battled several times in the playoffs, but was usually unable to get past.
Nowitzki’s final made basket of his career came on a jumper over Drew Eubanks, and he said that even though Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was telling Eubanks to let him shoot the shot, he decided to not drive to the basket since he couldn’t really do so anymore, per Bally Sports Southwest.
“I knew I was gonna shoot it because I couldn’t really drive anyways,” Nowitzki said.
“I knew I was gonna shoot it because I couldn’t really drive anyways.”
Dirk Nowitzki’s on the final shot of his Hall of Fame career@swish41 | @dallasmavs | #MFFL | @BallySports pic.twitter.com/M7FTvwcTqe
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) February 29, 2024
Nowitzki played all 21 seasons of his NBA career with the Mavs, making him one of the few superstars in any major sport to play his entire career with one team.
Upon coming to the Mavs in 1998, he made them into championship contenders within a few years, but they had trouble getting over the hump.
Usually, it seemed the Spurs were the team that was in their way.
Actually, the Spurs beat Dallas only twice in the playoffs in 2001 and 2003 until Dallas finally broke through in the second round of the 2006 postseason.
Nowitzki led the way in that game with 37 points, including a big three-point play with 21.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force overtime, where his team prevailed.
The Mavs lost in the NBA Finals that year to the Miami Heat, but they got revenge five years later in the championship series, giving Nowitzki his championship ring.
Mark Cuban and company ensured a smooth transition away from Nowitzki, as Nowitzki shared the court in his final season with a rookie named Luka Doncic who is now an MVP candidate.
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