Dirk Nowitzki's jersey retired by German Basketball Federation

COLOGNE, Germany - Germany retired Dirk Nowitzki's number 14 jersey at a ceremony in Cologne on Thursday.

Nowitzki, who wore the number 41 for the Dallas Mavericks, wore 14 in international competition.

He is the first German basketball player to ever have his jersey retired by his country.

The ceremony was held prior to Germany's EuroBasket game against France on Thursday.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, General Manager Nico Harrison, Vice President of Basketball Operations Michael Finley, head coach Jason Kidd, and Mavs star Luka Doncic were among those in attendance.

Nowitzki teared up during the ceremony as the crowd chanted M-V-P.

Nowitzki played for the German international team from 1999 until his international retirement in 2016.

Dirk played 153 games for the German senior team, scoring 3,045 points. He also helped Germany qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where he was the country's flag carrier at the games' opening ceremony.

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Nowitzki continued to play for the Mavericks until the end of the 2018-19 season.

The Mavericks retired Nowitzki's number 41 at a ceremony in January.

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