DALLAS -- Dirk Nowitzki watched and listened to two tribute videos and three high-profile speakers Wednesday night before he finally took his place behind the lectern, which featured "41 FOREVER" on the front and was set up in the center of the American Airlines Center court for a postgame ceremony in which the Dallas Mavericks raised his number to the rafters.
True to form, Nowitzki started his speech with a self-deprecating story, recalling how nervous he was on the flight from Germany to Dallas after being drafted in 1998 and how touched he was by the reception at the airport.