Dirk Nowitzki’s No.14 jersey was retired by the German national basketball federation on Thursday in a ceremony before the Germany-France game at the FIBA EuroBasket tournament in Cologne.
The jersey goes up! 🇩🇪
A true legend of the game, @swish41 gets his #14 jersey retired by Germany! 🙇#EuroBasket x #BringTheNoise pic.twitter.com/YbgOK4O44t
— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 1, 2022
Nowitzki’s No.14 is the first number ever to be retired in the 73-year history of the German basketball federation.
“Your successes and records are legendary,” Germany President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, via translation, in a speech to Nowitzki. “Even three years after your retirement, you are every bit the hero you were back then. People respect you and look up to you.”
Nearly 18,000 people packed the Lanxess Arena, as lights flashed “MVP” and “14″ across the court. A video montage showcased highlights and seminal moments from Nowitzki’s 153 games with the national team from 1997 until his international retirement in 2016.
Some of the highlights of Nowitzki’s international career include helping Germany win silver at the 2005 EuroBasket and bronze at the 2002 World Cup. He also helped Germany qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he served as the country’s flag carrier at the games’ opening ceremony.
Highlights from the Mavericks’ 2011 championship run and Nowitzki’s final home game in Dallas in April 2019 made the video montage.
In speeches translated to English on the jumbotron, Steinmeier, FIBA president Hamane Niang and president of the German basketball federation Ingo Weiss all spoke of Nowitzki’s generosity and extensive charity involvement through the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation to benefit children’s health, wellbeing, and education.
“Thousands of kids started playing basketball thanks to you,” Niang said via translation.
It was the second jersey retirement this year for Nowitzki, who had his iconic No.41 Mavericks jersey retired and raised into the rafters of the American Airlines Center on January 5, 2022.
Nowitzki played the entirety of his 21-year NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks before announcing his retirement in 2019.
Nowitzki finished the ceremony by jokingly saying this was “I think the last” of his jersey retirements. The Mavericks legend then hugged each current German player as they jogged onto the court to warm up for their next game against France. Nowitzki also hugged each of the French players.
A contingent from the Mavericks flew into Cologne for the event, including team owner Mark Cuban and head coach Jason Kidd.
General manager Nico Harrison, assistant general manager and former teammate Michael Finley, director of player health and performance Casey Smith, and vice president of basketball communications Scott Tomlin were also in attendance.
Jamahl Mosley, a former Mavericks assistant coach and now the Orlando Magic head coach, was also present.
So were Nowitzki’s parents, his wife, Jessica, and most of his 2002 World Cup teammates.
Mavericks star Luka Doncic, who took over for Nowitzki as Dallas’ superstar player, also watched the ceremony, which took place only a few minutes after he led his Slovenian national team to a EuroBasket-opening 92-85 win over Lithuania.
Doncic finished with 14 points on 4-of-17 shooting, with six rebounds, 10 assists, and three steals to power the come-from-behind win for Slovenia. Slovenian center Mike Tobey led with 24 points, with many of his points coming from Doncic assists.
🎩 Luka Magic has arrived to #EuroBasket to defend Slovenia's crown 👑
14 PTS | 10 REB | 6 REB | 3 STL in another epic battle between 2 European powerhouses 🇸🇮🇱🇹! pic.twitter.com/2uoG3LyRjv
— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 1, 2022
It marked the 10th consecutive EuroBasket win for Slovenia, who won the most recent edition of the tournament in 2017, arguably the greatest sports achievement ever for the nation of 2.1 million.
Doncic was only 18 when he helped Slovenia win EuroBasket in 2017, but he has helped turn the country into a hotbed of basketball fandom with such passion that it extends to Dallas.
Thursday marked the first day of the EuroBasket tournament. There are 24 teams in the field, broken down into four groups of six. The top four teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage in Berlin, starting September 10 and going through the title game on September 18.
