Screw off with this “retirement tour” BS. It’s so corny. Luckily, for his part, Dirk Nowitzki seems slightly embarrassed by the whole thing. So I’m not blaming him (unlike how I’m blaming Dwyane Wade, FOH outta here with that jersey swap garbage) for people wanting to make a big show out of his retirement. Except he hasn’t even said he’s retiring, so I hope he comes back and everyone feels embarrassed for all the falderol they put him through.
People didn’t used to get retirement tours, did they? Kobe Bryant, I can sort of understand. A little bit. That guy was an absolute legend. Wade and Nowitzki are all-timers, but they’re not on the level of global transcendentiality (screw you spellcheck that is abso-goddamn-lutely a word) that Kobe was. People will forget about them for the most part after a few years. That might sound harsh, but the NBA always moves on.
In other news, Nowitzki made headlines recently for finally making a shot in the paint a few games ago. Indeed, if you take a look at the scanty highlights you can find of him this year, it’s nothing but him hitting jumpers. And that’s good, because I think one solid hit from someone like Steven Adams or even Jonathan Isaac would be a career-ender. Better to float around in the midrange and pray that no one gets to aggressive with their close-out.