'It will never be the same without him': What Dirk means to Dallas

Dirk Nowitzki gazed at the floor as he limped through the tunnel and toward the American Airlines Center home locker room, his sore knee throbbing and thoughts swirling in his head that he might have just played his final playoff game after his Dallas Mavericks were on the wrong end of a gentleman's sweep against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2016 first round.

"Dirk! Dirk!" a small voice called, a little boy hoping to get the attention of his hero.

Instinctively, Nowitzki broke his solemn stride, shuffling a couple of steps to his left, extending his hand and making eye contact as they exchanged high-fives. No matter how much pain and anguish he felt, the big German just couldn't leave the…