Dallas Mavericks: City of Dallas planning to re-name street after Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk Nowitzki deserves everything that the Dallas Mavericks and the city of Dallas can give him and the next thing on the list is a monument of some sort. It is going to take awhile for the statue to go up, so renaming a street near the AAC seems like the logical next step.

The number of people who have done for a city what Dirk Nowitzki has done for Dallas is close to zero. Despite being one of the best basketball players in NBA history, Dirk’s service to the community and the passion and joy he brought to Dallas Mavericks fans is one of the most amazing things many of us have ever seen.

The list of players who played at least 21 seasons in the NBA is already incredibly short. Robert Parrish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett, Vince Carter and Dirk Nowitkzi are the only players to ever have a name on that list. The big difference that sets Dirk apart from the rest is, of course, the fact that there is only one team listed next to Dirk’s name. There are at least three for the other guys.

Dirk also brought the Mavericks their lone championship since the franchise began. In 2011, Dirk won the NBA Finals MVP as the leader and best player for the Mavs against the Miami Heat and their “Big 3”. Parish had multiple titles with the Celtics, KG got one in Boston and Willis joined the Spurs towards the end of his career, but none of their titles meant as much to the city as Dirk’s.

For that reason, the city of Dallas is planning on renaming a street near the American Airlines Center after Dirk Nowitzki. What was once called Olive St. will now be known as Nowitzki Way. This is such a cool thing for the city to do to honor one of its greatest citizens and members of the community.

This is far from the last tribute that will be had in honor of Dirk Nowitzki here in Dallas. His number will be retired, he will undoubtedly have a statue somewhere in or around the American Airlines Center, he will be a first ballot Hall of Famer and for the very foreseeable future, he will be on list after list of the best basketball players to ever play the game.

All of these honors are really cool just at face value, with a huge portion of the Dallas community getting to watch Dirk through the entirety of his NBA career. However, these honors are just as significant to the players on the Mavs and those who will come later. There is no better example of loyalty and leadership than this man.

We can gush about Dirk all day if we get the chance, but this is just another cool thing that the community will do to honor one of the greats. If you haven’t already, follow the link above to get tickets for Dirk Nowitzki’s Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game coming up in just a few weeks. They are running out fast!