DALLAS — A Dallas Mavericks legend's legacy will be etched in stone outside of the American Airlines Center forever.
The Mavs announced Friday that a statue of Dirk Nowitzki will be unveiled at 11 a.m. on Christmas Day outside of the AAC. Nowitzki Way will be closed to traffic, where the outside general public will have the opportunity to celebrate this landmark Maverick milestone, team officials said in a press release.
The Mavericks take on the Los Angeles Lakers at 1:30 p.m. on Christmas Day and fans in attendance for the game may show up early at 10 a.m. to watch the statue unveiling from inside the AAC on the jumbotron.
A live stream of the ceremony will also be available on mavs.com.
“Dirk has done so much for the game and for our city,” said Mavs owner Mark Cuban. “And to show our appreciation, we want to ensure his legacy and his jump shot will forever be remembered in Dallas.”
Nowitzki had his No. 41 jersey retired by the Mavericks in January, and his No. 14 Germany number was retired at EuroBasket 2022. He spent his entire 21-year career with the Mavs, the only player in NBA history to play for the same franchise for 21 years.
Nowitzki is the team's all-time leader in points (31,560), games played (1,522), starts (1,460), minutes (51,368), rebounds (11,489), defensive rebounds (10,021), field goals made (11,169), 3-pointers made (1,982), free throws made (7,240) and blocks (1,281). He also won the NBA MVP award in the 2006-07 season and led the Mavericks to its only NBA Finals championship in 2011. Nowitzki was named the 2011 NBA Finals MVP, as well.
WFAA exclusively interviewed Nowitzki in September, where we spoke on his growing relationship with Luka Doncic, his love for tennis and more. You can watch that interview with WFAA's Jay Wallis here.
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