After months of speculation, Dirk Nowitzki officially announced his retirement from professional basketball Tuesday night.
Following an emotional sendoff during his last home game at the American Airlines Center, it was on the road to San Antonio for his last game ever.
On Wednesday, team staffers filled several buses bound for San Antonio so that employees could witness Dirk's final game in person.
Ending his career against the cross-state rival Spurs seems fitting for many fans.
"He’s one of the best power forwards. He’s going to be missed," one fan said holding tight to an autograph from Nowitzki in San Antonio.
Mavericks and Spurs fans waited outside the team’s San Antonio hotel Wednesday morning for one last look at the legend.
"He’s the franchise. He brought them a championship and made a lot of great players out of… I don’t want to say nobodys, but…," fan Darnell Wilkerson said.
Sources close to the Spurs said the team has a video sendoff planned for Nowitzki in his final game.
For those close to the Mavericks, the retirement is still sinking in.
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"I’m predicting that it probably won’t hit me until sometime when the Mavericks come back and they have media day and everybody comes down the stairs in the locker room and onto to practice floor in the American Airlines Center and he’s not there," the voice of Mavericks Radio Chuck Copperstein said.
"When we got off the plane, I happened to run into him and I said, 'You’re unbelievable and you’re the best and there really is little else that needs to be said,'" Cooperstein added. "He’s just such a humble, honorable guy."
