Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban claims that a statue for Dirk Nowitzki is in the works, says unveiling date is "going to be up to Dirk"
Dirk Nowitzki is arguably one of the best European players in the NBA. He was the face of the Dallas Mavericks throughout his 19-year career in the league. Dirk's brilliance in the 2011 NBA Finals helped the Dallas Mavericks to their first championship in franchise history.
Throughout the 6 games against the Miami Heat, the German averaged 26.0 PPG, 9.7 RPG and 2.0 APG to be crowned as the Finals MVP. After retiring from the NBA in 2019, he joined the Mavericks as a special advisor to the team. The owner of the franchise, Mark Cuban, has always been open about how he feels about Dirk.
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The German already has a stacked resume with the championship and MVP honors headlining it. However, to add to this, his career with the Mavs will soon to be immortalized. To the jubilation of the Dallas fans, Mark Cuban has finally dropped the news that this could be the year where Dirk Nowitzki's Jersey Number 41 is retired from the Mavs.
Mark Cuban confirms that Dirk Nowitzki's jersey retirement ceremony will be this year
Mark Cuban appeared on the 97.1 The Eagle. He gave the good news that all the Mavs fans were waiting for, since Dirk Nowitzki retired in April 2019. Speaking on the show, Cuban said:
"Potentially happening this year. With the timing up to Dirk because Dirk travels a lot these days."
He also revealed that the prototype of the Dirk statue has been approved. The jersey retirement ceremony could have been conducted a lot sooner, however, with the Covid-19 induced lockdown things got delayed. All of this has a silver lining, as in the present day, Dirk's jersey can be retired in front of a packed American Airlines Center.
Although he confirmed that the jersey retirement ceremony could be this year, an official date has not yet been given. His extended role with the Mavs has kept him busy over the past year as he does a lot of traveling to keep things smooth in the franchise. Speaking about the ceremony, Cuban said:
"That's going to be up to Dirk, because Dirk travels a lot these days. It really depends on when he wants to do it and when we're at a point with the statue where we have something to show, like a real model, because we've been working on it. That's for sure."
His career at the Mavs has been nothing short of exceptional. Dirk's glorious one-legged fadeaway was a thing of beauty. In his 19 year stint, he received immense love from all the fans in Dallas. But on the day of the jersey retriment, when a packed stadium cheers him on as he watches his jersey go up the rafters, it will definitely be one of the best moments of his life.