The only player in NBA history to be forced to retire, the career value champion, Nowitzki

There are 9 seconds left in the game, and the winner is decided. Rivers' voice came through the tactical board microphone: "Diker's career deserves our standing tribute." The audience at Staples Center responded, Clippers players lined up to applaud, and Leonard even bowed slightly. Nowitzki's expression splits in half in the close-up shot: the corners of the left eye tremble slightly, hiding the sudden exposure of the touch; the corners of the right mouth pursed, and the instinctive resistance of the old killer to the "farewell ceremony" was written.

This is not the curtain call he envisioned. In an interview with Sports Illustrated three months ago, he also said: "Retirement should be a natural thing, it should not be like performing a circus." But when the Warriors, Spurs and other teams arranged a "salute session" against the Mavericks one after another, and when fans began to sing "One More Year" away, he suddenly found himself trapped in a grand collective narrative - everyone was waiting for him to say goodbye, except himself.

2011 Finals G6's floor debris is also embedded in Nowitzki's championship ring print. The summer when he shot through the three Heat independently with the Golden Rooster, it should have been the starting point of the dynasty, but it became the peak masterpiece. Cuban's "Salary Space Revolution" broke up the championship team: Tyson Chandler went away from New York, Kidd retired, and Terry joined the Celtics. Nowitzki looked at the empty locker room and remembered the slogan "Made in Germany" held by fans during the championship parade, and suddenly realized that he had become the only "survivor".

freed up salary space for the team. Over the years, he voluntarily gave up his maximum salary of $83.7 million, which was equivalent to earning $33,000 less every day. When he renewed his contract in 2016, Cuban handed him the contract: "Fill in the numbers yourself." He wrote "40 million for 2 years" and Cuban changed it to "50 million" with a big stroke - this was actually the only maximum salary in his career. On the 2018 draft night, Nowitzki sat in the Mavericks' management box, watching Luka Doncic's name be pronounced in the third pick. This Slovenian boy, 21 years younger than him, reminded him of the embarrassing story of Boggs defending the bug in the 1998 rookie season: 2.13 meters tall squatted in front of his opponent who was 1.60 meters tall, and the sneakers rubbed against the floor with an awkward sound. After the game, he hid in the locker room for 40 minutes before daring to face the reporter. Now, when he told Doncic this story, the boy laughed so hard that he leaned back and forth. But when Nowitzki showed his rookie season technical statistics (average 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 40.5% shooting percentage), Doncic suddenly fell silent - those clumsy that were covered by the dust of time turned out to be the starting point of the legend. In the 2018-19 season, Nowitzki averaged 7.3 points per game, but he defeated all the rookies' challenges independently in training. Coach Carlisle said: "He is the walking tactical manual. "

On April 10, 2019, the dome lights at the American Airlines Center were focused on the central stage. Nowitzki stroked the retired No. 41 jersey and paused for 3 seconds as his fingers slashed through the words "NOWITZKI" - the embroidered pins there, 0.2 mm thicker than other letters, were specially customized to match the curve of his palm. Cuban choked up in his speech: "We have seen the shortcuts to win the championship in groups, but we can never see the lone bravery alone again. "

When Rivers' suspension became the fuse for retirement, perhaps fate had been arranged - this man who even retired was "forced" to complete, finally interpreted what a true legend is in the least ostentatious way: not to end in the spotlight, but to make love an eternal footnote. The No. 41 jersey at the American Airlines Center will always float, but what is more touching than this is the hot resonance of love and perseverance that surges in my heart when every basketball boy thinks of "Nowitzki".