Dirk Nowitzki saw his No. 41 jersey rise high above the floor at American Airlines Center on Wednesday. He's undoubtedly the greatest player in Dallas Mavericks franchise history and arguably the best European player the NBA has ever seen.

However, his 21-year-long career has not always been smooth sailing. In fact, not many people held high expectations of him when he entered the league in 1998. The Milwaukee Bucks drafted him with the ninth overall pick, but they traded him for Robert Traylor, who the Mavericks drafted with the sixth-overall pick. An undersized big man at 2.03 meters tall, Traylor weighed 132 kilograms, the same Shaquille O'Neal when he entered the NBA. 

Traylor averaged only 4.8 points in 438 games in seven seasons before being abandoned by the NBA. Of course, Nowitzki's first season was not much better. He could get only 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. When teams in the Western Conference were hoarding muscle monsters to throw at O'Neal, Nowitzki's slim body and habit of shooting outside the paint seemed so out of step with the league.

Fortunately for Nowitzki, Mavericks head coach Don Nelson believed in his talents. Instead of chasing him to the resistance training room, Nelson gave Nowitzki full freedom to launch early offense and shoot outside. The German seven-footer made one of the fastest offensive pairs with Canadian point guard Steve Nash.

Having averaged 23.4 points and 9.9 rebounds in the 2001-02 season, Nowitzki and Nash were named for the All-Star game for the first time in Nowitzki's career. The Mavericks remained the NBA's best offensive team during that time. However, Nowitzki and Nash seemed to reach their bottleneck in the playoffs. Nowitzki was unable to stop Tim Duncan from dominating the paint, while Mike Bibby took Nash apart.

In 2004 summer, 30-year-old Nash left the Mavericks for the Phoenix Suns. 

When Nowitzki joined the Mavericks, many regretted that he missed the opportunity to play along with Jason Kidd, a future Hall of Famer point guard. He watched another top point guard leave six years later, just like he had to see Nelson replaced by Avery Johnson.

Of course, Nowitzki didn't have much time to feel bad because he and the Mavericks seemed to be rushing to the summit in those years. Nowitzki was named for the All-NBA First Team three times in a row. The Mavericks knocked their long-time rivalry San Antonio Spurs to reach the NBA Finals. They once led 2-0 over the Miami Heat, but third-year shooting guard Dwyane Wade reversed the situation for the Heat by averaging 39.3 points and 18.3 free throw attempts in the following four games.

Having lost a close series, the Mavericks grew even better in the 2006-07 season, leading the league with 67 wins. Nowitzki was named the most valuable player (MVP), becoming the first European player to receive the honor. They wanted nothing but revenge in the finals. However, the Mavericks fell in the first round against the Golden State Warriors in the West. 

The Warriors' head coach was Nelson, who probably knew Nowitzki better than he knew himself. What's even worse than the 4-2 series loss was that the league saw it crystal clear: Nowitzki, despite his 2.13-meter height, didn't know what to do when defenders much shorter than him pressured him to challenge his jump shooting.

"Overestimated MVP," "soft," "disappointment" and "failed leader" were some of the harshest criticisms Nowitzki received. The worst part was, he couldn't argue back because he and his team lost in a very humiliating way.

The noise of nobody could win the title with jump shooting, and the tag of "soft" haunted Nowitzki in the following years. The Mavericks landed Jason Kidd, whose splendor seemed to have faded in 2008 at age 35. Big men grew old faster than their perimeter and wing counterparts, especially in the sense of athleticism. Nowitzki became slower year by year.

However, that's not the only change he underwent. Having refined his posting skills, Nowitzki was becoming a more reliable isolation scorer in the middle range, a better defender, rebounder and passer. Though the Mavericks did not make many breakthroughs in the postseason between 2008 and 2010, Nowitzki was becoming more and more dominant offensively. He averaged 26.7 points, 10.1 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game in the playoffs during the three years.

In the 2010-11 season, Nowitzki redefined his career. Having finished the regular season with a 57-25 record, the Mavericks became the hardest bone in the postseason. They often trailed by double-digit points in the first three quarters but always managed to make a comeback.

Under Rick Carlisle's coaching, the team launched most of their offense via screen plays between Kidd and Nowitzki. Nowitzki could destroy every defender one-on-one. If the opponents tried to trap him, Kidd could always find open shooters to punish the opponents hard from the 3-point line.

The Mavericks eliminated the young Portland Trail Blazers, the reigning champions Los Angeles Lakers, and the rising Oklahoma City Thunder before meeting the Heat again in the finals. Wade was still with the Heat, but his teammates included Chris Bosh and LeBron James, who were both at their peak.

This time, 33-year-old Nowitzki beat the newly-built Big Three. Having averaged 26 points and 9.7 rebounds, both the highest in the series. He also shot 46 free throws, more than Bosh and James. When Nowitzki lifted the Larry O'Brien Trophy and the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Trophy in his hands, he had redefined his career and how basketball is played.

Who said big men couldn't shoot outside or that big men in their 30s couldn't lead their team to the throne? Who said it's impossible to win the title with jump shooting?

Nowitzki proved them all wrong with his performance. Before Stephen Curry changed how people thought of 3-point shooting, Nowitzki was already ahead of his time. It took him 13 years to do so, but what matters is that he did it.

Forever 41 and congratulations to Dirk Nowitzki for having his jersey retired by the Mavericks on January 5, 2022.