The Dirk Tribute On The Mavs Court Is Officially Real And Spectacular
When that first tweet came out a few weeks ago you had to take it with a giant grain of salt. You can never be too sure what to believe on the internet these days, and considering there was no evidence of that design on the released designs of every NBA team, there was a chance this was just an awesome idea thrown out by Twitter. I said at the time even if it was fake, now that it was something that existed, the Mavs needed to find a way to make this happen. It’s such a cool idea and Dirk is the perfect guy to receive such a tribute. In my opinion this should be reserved for the elite of elite when it comes to a franchise player, anyone can get a statue but you have to be truly special to get a court decal.
Well it appears this is in fact something that was actually real and not just a photoshop. Never have I been so relieved that the internet didn’t let us down. As you can see this move inspired some Mavs players to make jokes at Dirk’s expense, and frankly Dwight Powell may have fucked up here. You see it’s all fun and games making fun of Dirk until you realize he basically runs the Mavs. Powell probably feels secure in his spot after signing a 3 year extension earlier this summer but with a snap of his fingers Dirk can have that man on the street.
But now that we know this is in fact a thing, it made me wonder what other players we might see get this same treatment. In my original blog I put the requirements as 17 years with 1 team and at least 1 title. Basically Dirk’s tenure is the baseline. Here’s where I netted out in terms of tributes I’d want to see
Tim Duncan/Tony Parker/Manu Ginobli
OK so this one you have to cheat a little bit because Manu only played 16 years but you get the point. This could be hard since they don’t really have signature moves, like Duncan has a bank shot, Manu a eurostep, and Parker a floater and that could be hard to replicate. Maybe just a silhouette of them holding their 5 titles would work.
Steph Curry/Klay Thompson/Draymond Green
They still have a ways to go, Steph needs 7 more years, Klay needs 9, and Draymond needs 7. Green talked about how he wants to retire in 10 years, and seeing as how all these guys got extensions there’s a good chance they stay together for another round of contracts. In terms of images, some sort of follow through makes sense for Steph/Klay, and for Draymond it has to be him making a kicking motion doesn’t it? Feels like that’s a no brainer.
Damian Lillard
Is it a little crazy to think at some point in the next 10 seasons that Dame will win a title in Portland? Maybe, but if it happens he’s definitely going to be one of these current players that qualifies. The man BLEEDS Portland similar to how Dirk bleeds Dallas. His silhouette is perfect too, just make it him pointing to his wrist for Dame Time
Giannis
Much like Dame, I’m assuming Giannis is able to snag a title before he hangs em up. To meet the year requirements his age certainly helps, and I’m also assuming he keeps accepting the supermax every time MIL offers it to him. His picture is a little tougher, maybe some sort of rendition that looks like when he dunks from the FT line or something.
Dwyane Wade
Another one you have to sort of cheat for since he only played 15 years in MIA, but he’s the same level of legend in MIA as Dirk is in DAL so I figured I’d bend the rules. You can make his image a pump fake or something because that signature move for Wade was just as effective as Dirk’s fadeaway.
Kobe Bryant
Part of me wants this to happen just so they can troll LeBron. He certainly fits the criteria given his 19 years and multiple titles so no problems there. In terms of his image, maybe that picture where he’s clenching his first or something? You could also just do his jumpshot form because that is pretty iconic.
All I know is this is an awesome tribute and something I hope more teams adopt as long as it’s for someone worthy. Kudos to the Mavs for starting the trend, but something tells me this won’t be the last time we see something like this.