Nowitzki announces retirement after final home game for Mavs

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Sports

April 10, 2019 - 8:58 AM

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki gets emotional after a video played during a break in play in a game against the Phoenix Suns at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, on Tuesday. Nowitzki is playing in his last home game of his 21st season with the team. Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning News/TNS

DALLAS (AP) — Dirk Nowitzki cried near midcourt when the second quarter was about to resume.

The Dallas Mavericks star nearly jumped for joy with a huge smile on his face after a rare dunk prompted thunderous applause from a crowd celebrating the final home game of his record 21st season with the same franchise.

And then after Larry Bird joked during a postgame ceremony that he was “15 when Dirk came into the league and now I’m 62,” Nowitzki let fly with a realization the 40-year-old said he reached in recent days.

It’s time for the most accomplished European player in NBA history to retire after scoring a season-high 30 points in a 120-109 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.

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