Tear-jerking Doncic tribute reminiscent of incredible Popovich-Nowitzki moment

If you are a fan of the San Antonio Spurs or any NBA team, you likely tuned in Wednesday night as Luka Doncic made his highly-anticipated return to Dallas to take on the Mavericks at American Airlines Center as a visitor for the first time. What was already expected to be an emotional moment exceeded the expectations of most.

The Mavs put together a well-done video tribute for their former franchise superstar and played it just before Doncic's introduction in the starting lineups. As expected, fans in attendance were highly emotionally affected by the moment. However, they were not the only ones. Cameras captured Luka's reaction to the video, and there were visible tears from the Lakers' franchise player during and after it played.

Doncic was clearly moved by seeing all the great moments he had in Dallas flashed in front of him one last time. It was likely that he came into the evening expecting to be hit with a wave of emotions, and this was simply the culmination of everything. As Spurs fans saw all this unfolding, it may have reminded them of something somewhat similar: Dirk Nowitzki's final career game in April of 2019, that just so happened to come against the Spurs in San Antonio.

Nowitzki's final career game came against the Spurs in 2019

On that night in 2019, the Spurs played a tribute video for the Mavericks legend in similar fashion to how Dallas did for Doncic on Wednesday. Obviously, the only difference being that Dirk never played for San Antonio. But Nowitzki was also incredibly emotional in that moment, being brought to tears at the sight of the video the Spurs played for him.

After the pregame intro on that night, another touching moment came near the end of the contest in the fourth quarter. With less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter and the Spurs leading by 15, Dirk matched up with Drew Eubanks at the top of the key. It was going to be one of the final chances for Nowitzki to attempt a shot in his career. Recognizing this, Gregg Popovich attempted to wave off his player, telling Eubanks to not contest Dirk's shot.

Not paying attention to his coach, Drew threw up his arm to challenge Nowitzki's 19-foot shot attempt, but it fell through the bottom of the net anyway, making for a fitting end to the legend's career. Pop, clearly thrilled that Dirk got that moment, clapped for the make.

Later, the legendary coach and hall-of-fame player would share a moment postgame as well. Wednesday night's emotional scene in Dallas was certainly heart-wrenching, and Spurs fans are sure to remember this mirror-image scene with Nowitzki as well.