Mavs' Nowitzki makes retirement official
Dirk Nowitzki was mum all season on his future plans but after a rousing performance in the Dallas Mavericks' home finale Tuesday, the star finally announced the decision everyone expected.
"Wow. I'm a little overwhelmed, as you would think," Nowitzki told the sellout crowd after the Mavericks' 120-109 victory over the Phoenix Suns. "As you guys might expect, this is my last home game."
Nowitzki made his much-anticipated retirement announcement after delivering a season-high 30-point performance, with five 3-pointers, against the Suns. The 7-footer scored 10 points in the opening seven minutes and had 19 points on a season-high 18 shot attempts in the first half.
The 14-time All-Star and sixth-leading scorer in NBA history (31,540 points) finished the game with eight rebounds, three assists and a block in a season-high 33 minutes.
Nowitzki's final season didn't actually begin until mid-December thanks to a longer-than-expected recovery from ankle surgery. From there, he mostly came off the bench for the first time in his career and averaged 6.6 points in fewer than 15 minutes a game.
But on this special night, Nowitzki turned back the clock, and so did the crowd as it chanted M-V-P! M-V-P! Nowitzki won the league's regular-season MVP award in 2007 and earned NBA Finals MVP in 2011, when he delivered Dallas its lone championship.
--Field Level Media
