This December 25, 2022 will remain a historic day in Dallas, which inaugurated the statue of its legend, Dirk Nowitzki, on the forecourt of the American Airlines Center on the sidelines of the meeting between the Mavericks and the Lakers.
The 2011 NBA champion received a major new tribute after seeing his #41 number retired in January, when Dallas also renamed the street in front of the franchise hall. President Mark Cuban had promised him that evening that he would one day give him the greatest honor.
“It’s a promise I’m happy to keep, because you’ve earned it”, did he declare at the unveiling of the statue this morning.
The white bronze work, measuring more than 7 meters, represents him performing one of his favorite gestures, this famous step-back on one foot which made him a dominating player and often impossible to defend.
His loyalty also honored
It was created by artist Omri Amrany, who has already been commissioned for statues of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal.
At the base of the statue, we can read the inscription “Loyalty never fades away”, which could be translated as: “Loyalty never fades”. The sentence, composed of 21 letters, refers to the loyalty of the German, who will have known only one franchise in 21 years of career in the NBA. A real feat in the world of modern professional sport.
“I kind of wondered why people associated me with Dallas. There were two things: fadeaway and loyalty. We kind of combined them. It was just a funny wink that there were 21 letters for the 21 years”has also slipped the “Wunderkid”.
As Dirk Nowitzki mentioned this week, the object will now be able to accompany the future of the franchise and its generations of fans. After this new distinction, Jason Kidd for his part recalled the next step for his former teammate, with his next induction into the Hall of Fame.
