DALLAS — It was a moment of fanfare, excitement ... and a little bit "huh?"
Two years after his retirement from the NBA, beloved Dallas Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki was celebrated as the Mavs retire his jersey in a ceremony during Wednesday night's home game against the Golden State Warriors.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban also revealed a blueprint statue of Nowitzki - of which the full-sized version will stand outside American Airlines Center, the Mav's home court.
During the unveiling, Cuban thanked Nowitzki for his contributions to the team, saying "we did this not because you won us the championship ... this is because of who you are, and what you've done, and we always want to recognize greatness."
Watch the moment below:
But after the statue was unveiled, some fans were left wondering - "what's going on with the balls on the Dirk statue"?
The statue, which shows the baller mid-air while shooting a basketball toward an invisible hoop, attempts to depict the arced path of the ball on the way to the hoop. For most, it was an odd design choice.
It didn't take long for folks on Twitter get the jokes going.
The multiple basketballs weren't the only criticism, though.
And some wanted a different concept all together.
Some were underwhelmed by the design.
But others thought it looked great.
While it might take time for the critics to warm up to the depiction, some said as long as Dirk approves, that's all that matters.
And it looks like Dirk approves.
Nowitzki played 1,522 games with the Mavs, and he is the only player in NBA history to spend 21 seasons with the same team. He ended his career as the team's all-time leader in most statistical categories, and also was a 14-time NBA All-Star selection.
He was also the first European-born player to win the league's MVP trophy. Perhaps most notably for Mavericks fans, Nowitzki led the franchise to its first and only NBA championship during a memorable 2011 season and playoff run.
Nowitzki will join Brad Davis (#10), Rolando Blackman (#22), and Derek Harper (#12) as the only other Mavs players to have their jersey’s hung in the rafters.
Nick Blackhall contributed to this report.