Dirk Nowitzki's statue gets unveiled in front of Mavericks arena / News - Basketnews.com

A statue dedicated to Dirk Nowitzki was unveiled in front of the American Airlines Center, picturing his one-legged fadeaway jumper and his loyalty to the club.

Credit: AP - Scanpix Credit AP - Scanpix

The Dallas Mavericks hosted the Los Angeles Lakers on Christmas day in the NBA. Before the match, a statue honoring Dirk Nowitzki's achievement with the club was unveiled in front of the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Player of the Game EFF 39 Christian Wood Points 30 Accuracy 12-17 Rebounds 8 Assists 7

Created by artist Omri Amrany, the statue is a sculpture of Nowitzki's famous one-legged fadeaway jumper which is now known as 'The Dirk'.

"It had to be a fadeaway one-legger," LeBron James said after the match. "It had to be. No question about it. Dirk is a legend. He's an icon. I think he's the greatest international player ever. I put him right there with Manu [Ginobili]. But what he brought here, what he brought to this city ... that boy was cold, man. Dirk was cold. He revolutionized what a stretch four big could look like."

There is a phrase on the base of the statue dedicated to Nowitzki's loyalty to the club - "Loyalty never fades away". It's a tribute to Nowitzki spending his entire 21-year career in Dallas, setting an NBA record.

"I just kind of sat down, like, 'What do people associate you with in Dallas?'" Nowitzki said. "It was these two things. It was the fadeaway and the loyalty. We kind of combined that. It was just a fun fact that it was 21 letters for the 21 years."

The Mavericks gave another present to Nowitzki that evening, beating the Lakers behind Luka Doncic's 32 points.

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