Dirk and D-Wade's Retirement

 

So Wednesday Night was a pretty special night in the NBA as two of the greatest to play the game had their final home games of their career. Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki are calling it quits after memorable sure fire Hall of Fame careers. Not only sure fire Hall of Fame careers, but these two are two of the best ever at their respective positions to ever play the game. Now I'm more partial to Dirk for a variety of reasons. Wade's great and nothing to take away from him, but him and Lebron mocking Dirk during their NBA Finals Meeting (which Dirk and the Mavs WON) kind of soured me on him a little bit personally. This post is mainly going to be about Dirk, but I did have to give credit where credit is due to Dwyane Wade. I've always been a huge Dirk fan, mostly because he's my best friend's favorite player of all time and it just rubbed off on me. The  guy is one of the most underappreciated talents the game has ever seen. You wouldn't meet a more selfless, humble, nice guy in the NBA than Dirk. He revolutionized the Power Forward position...a 7 footer who can shoot 3's and shoot with the best of them. His trademark unstoppable fade away shot, reminiscent of signature shots like Kareem's sky hook. He's the best international player ever to play the game in my opinion (just a smidge above Hakeem to me).But to me what stands out about Dirk, is not him being 6th all time in points (unbelievable by the way) not his regular season MVP, not the numerous All Star appearances, it's his resolve. In an era where soooo many NBA players are worried about "legacies" and what other people think and driven by "branding", Dirk was the total opposite of that. Dirk failed twice in high profile situations. First in the 05 Finals against the Heat, where his team was up 2-0 (ironically against that year's finals MVP...one Dwyane Wade) a second time in his MVP winning season, where the 1st seeded Dallas Mavericks fell to the 8th Seed Golden State Warriors (back in the time where the Warriors were underdogs, pre Steph Curry). He got a LOT of criticism and was called everything from a choker to being soft. Others (coughKDcough) can't handle that kind of criticism and they take the easy way out by joining championship ready teams or forming super teams of their own. Not Dirk..he could've easily. In fact, Kobe tried to recruit him and Kobe said Dirk said he would never leave. "I'm a lifer, just like you". Nope, Dirk persevered...and not for his own legacy..no..he felt he owed the City of Dallas a title..he felt it was his responsibility as the face of Dallas to bring that title home. And in the magical year of 2010-2011 he accomplished that in the grandest way possible. Dirk's playoff run that year, what literally the best playoff run I've seen someone have to go through and that INCLUDES Michael Jordan's runs. You see, even MJ had a couple 1st round cupcake matchups against the Wizards and Nets of the world. That year, Dirk and the Mavs took out a young and hungry Portland team, swept the defending champ Lakers, took out a Thunder team that produced three future MVP's (Durant, Harden, and Westbrook) and would be in the Finals the next year, and to top it off not only beat "The King" but forced Lebron to literally have his worst finals of his entire career. And throughout it all, Dirk was the absolute MAN. He CARRIED THAT team. Yes he had a solid supporting cast, but people forget the Mavs second leading scorer that season, Caron Butler was injured for the playoffs. Yes he had Jason Kidd, but it was older Jason Kidd, who was still great, but it wasn't prime Jason Kidd. It was a great supporting cast with Jet, JJ Barea, Tyson Chandler, DeShawn Stevenson..etc. It wasn't no 4 all stars in their prime. It was one unquestioned leader and guys that followed suit and they won a title in amazing fashion. Dirk's resolve and never give up attitude just made me even more of a fan. Even after winning the title, he never complained about the lack of talent around him, he even took pay cuts to try to get other stars to come, he just loved playing the game of basketball and especially loved it in Dallas. He's Dallas' favorite son and he will be missed dearly. Since this is a card/memorabilia blog I figured I show off my better stuff of the two future Hall of Famers. I don't have much of Dwyane Wade, but here's one awesome card I have that I pack pulled myself

 

Pulled this out of a box of 2017-18 Contenders last year. Such a sweet looking on card full big signature of D-Wade.

Now for Dirk, I have a few cards, but nothing huge. It's these two though that are my favorite possessions

 

A 16x20 Autograph Finals Photo from Panini Authentic. One of the lasting memories from that memorable championship run. Great Photo, Great Auto, Legendary Player.

and of course one of my most prized possessions in my entire collection

 

A Dirk Nowitzki Game Used Jersey from the 2008-09  Season, Meigray certified. This was one of the earliest Game Used Jerseys I ever got and it was a Christmas gift from my parents. So lucky to own this.

The NBA definitely won't be the same without Flash and Dirk.