Much of Nowitzki’s family, as it often did during his playing days, spent the holiday season in Dallas. It has never been easy for his parents, Jörg and Helga, to make the journey from Würzburg, Germany, to faraway North Texas. After Helga was unable to travel for Dirk’s last home game as an active player — that wild night in April 2019 when Nowitzki signed off from the American Airlines Center with 30 points on 31 shots while Phoenix’s ageless Jamal Crawford was ringing up 51 points — Dirk was determined to ensure that Mom and Dad, along with his three young children, were present on the night that the only franchise he has ever known formally ensures that no one else will ever wear Nowitzki’s digits.