Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki are currently playing out what will likely be the final season of two Hall of Fame careers, and the NBA has come up with a great way to honor them during the All-Star break.
Neither Nowitzki nor Wade was voted to the All-Star Game or chosen as a reserve, but the NBA announced on Friday that they have added both players to the event as “special team roster additions.” There will now be 13 players on each squad rather than 12.
The NBA just announced that Miami's Dwyane Wade and Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki have been special roster additions for the All-Star Game in Charlotte next month and will play in the game
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 1, 2019
NAMED special roster additions … there will now be 13 players on each of the squads picked by captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 1, 2019
Wade has already said he will retire following the season, and Nowitzki is likely to do the same.
Wade and Nowitzki had each been selected to 13 All-Star teams before this year, so the NBA’s classy move will give them both 14. While neither player really has the statistics this season to warrant an All-Star selection, the event is a meaningless exhibition. Honoring two of the greatest players of this generation makes sense, and the way the league went about it addresses Wade’s concern about why he didn’t want to be chosen.
