Dirk Nowitzki has died. That’s all there is to it. He’s not coming back out of the tunnel this time, because he’s dead for real. This isn’t like those other times, where it looked like he was dead but he was actually alive. This death is permanent.
Unless German NBA fans want to nationalistically support Paul Zipser, which they don’t, because that guy really sucks and only just tonight made his first shot, Dënniß ßchrööder has to be the new object of Deutsch devotion. Believe me, I wish it could be Tibor Pleiss or Tim Ohlbrecht, but those dudes aren’t even in the league right now. It has to be Dënniß. He has to be the primary receptacle for the devotion. He’s pretty good, guys! Don’t worry about Dirk anymore! Wunderbar!
It’s really important that they support him with full enthusiasm, because, uh, weird things happen when Germans don’t allow their nationalistic fervor to be vented.