Dallas Mavericks face superstar Kobe Bryant for the final time

At some point when Dallas plays the Los Angeles Lakers at 9:30 Tuesday night at Staples Center, Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle hopes he gets a chance to shake Kobe Bryant’s hand.

This will be the Mavs’ last game playing against Bryant, and Carlisle wants to make sure he pays homage to one of the greatest players of all-time.

“This is a very important game for us,” Carlisle said after Monday’s practice at the Lakers’ practice facility. “We need to concentrate on what we need to do to compete at our best level.

“But it’s going to be a little bit emotional for me, basically seeing [Bryant] for the last time in person on the basketball court as someone competing against you. He’s been that great and he’s had that much impact on our game and on our team.”

That impact was doubly felt by forward Dirk Nowitzki, who has matched wits with Bryant during the Mavs superstar’s entire 18-year career. And the respect runs deep for Nowitzki, who entered the NBA in 1998, two years after Bryant.

“I think KD [Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant] said it best,” Nowitzki said. “For our generation, [Bryant] was our Michael Jordan, he was our the shot-making, the playmaking, the clutch shots, scoring at will at times, it was incredible to watch.

“I always say there were times when we played at home and it was like 11 o’clock and I’d come home and its only 9 o’clock here [in Los Angeles] and I’d sat on the couch watching the Lakers’ fourth quarter, watching Kobe take over games. That’s something I’ll always remember, his clutch gene, his ability to make tough shots.”

Nowitzki and the Mavs will also always remember a Dec. 20, 2005 game against the Lakers. That’s the night Bryant personally outscored the Mavs through three quarters 62-61.

Bryant didn’t even play in the fourth quarter of that game, which the Lakers won 112-90. The next month he scored 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors.

“I caught a good 25 [points] of that,” said Devin Harris, one of the Mavs trying to defend Bryant that night. “It was one of those games where he just got hot and we couldn’t really do too much about it.

“I felt good when he scored the 81. I felt like we’ve moved on from the 62.”

Harris also felt like Bryant could have scored 100 points that night against the Mavs.

Meanwhile, while the Mavs speak in reverent tone about Bryant, they’re also delighted they won’t have to game-plan for him any more after Tuesday’s game.

“Competitors like Kobe Bryant raised the bar for everybody in our game,” Carlisle said. “The persistence, the perseverance, the work that he puts into it, the level with which he’s performed for so many years has made all of us better.

“From players to coaches to owners to media, and I have absolutely no doubt about that.”

Nowitzki concurred that no longer having to try and defend Bryant beyond Tuesday is a plus for the Mavs. But he also has mixed emotions about it.

“Yeah, it’s a little sad,” Nowitzki said. “It’s unfortunate that all these guys that were obviously drafted in the 1990s are slowly fading away.

“He was a nightmare to prepare for his entire career, he was tough on the blocks, he could make 3s, he could beat you in between, he was one of the best to ever do it. It’s disappointing that he’s going to hang it up after this year, but I think he deserves this little tour he’s on and having the opposing arenas really celebrating his career.”

Carlisle marvels at Bryant’s longevity and the legacy he’ll leave behind.

“The longevity is remarkable,” Carlisle said. “Playing 19 or 20 years in any professional sport is an amazing accomplishment.

“It’s one of the truly historic careers in NBA history. The guy’s been such a great player and such a great competitor and so difficult to game-plan for, you wish these guys could compete into oblivion and just keep going.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2016 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Dallas Mavericks face superstar Kobe Bryant for the final time."