Nobody expects the Dallas Mavericks to seriously contend this season, but they’ll be worth watching for one reason alone: Dirk Nowitzki is still playing, and he’s still playing at a high level. He’s an icon in Dallas, and rightly so, as one of the best players of his generation and one of the best power forwards of all time. And he’s getting a fitting tribute outside the Mavericks’ practice facility in the form of a pretty awesome mural that also honors the police officers killed in last month’s protests in Dallas.

https://twitter.com/EarlKSneed/status/773912849437503489/photo/1

From the looks of it (it appears to be unfinished), this is going to be a great mural, and there’s nobody more deserving of this honor than Dirk. With Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan retired and Dwyane Wade in Chicago, Nowitzki is the last player of his caliber (former Finals MVP, nearly 20-year veteran and future Hall of Famer) to spend his entire career with one team. He powered the Mavericks to a surprising title run in 2011, the only championship in the franchise’s history, and his presence is largely responsible for the Mavs’ transformation over the last 20 years from a perennial bottom-feeder to a perennial playoff team. The NBA is a better place because Nowitzki is still playing, and this mural reflects that reality.