Dallas Stars would be well-served to erect a statue of their greatest player

The statue of Dirk Nowitzki outside the American Airlines Center is nearly as perfect as the term suggests.

The artwork unveiled on Christmas Day in 2022 encapsulates the person in a way that any sculptor, be they Rodin, Michelangelo or Picasso, would applaud.

It’s a statue you can’t pass without stopping to marvel at its brilliance. At its accuracy.

The only detail missing from the Nowitzki statue is that he is quite lonely out there.

Statues depicting a real human being, as opposed to Mother Russia, the Little Mermaid or Liberty, is an inherently awful idea. A statue carries a level of perfection that most of us will never hit.

But someone decided a long time ago that a statue of a football coach, a TV character or basketball player is a great idea so here we are.

The Dallas Stars should join this trend and commission a statue to stand opposite of Dirk in the AAC plaza of its greatest player, and the second-most important pro jock to play in North Texas.

The AAC plaza should have a Mike Modano statue.

Mike Modano technically works as an advisor for the Minnesota Wild, which is not wild but weird, and he would not privately or publicly campaign for a statue of himself because no one in their right mind should ever do such a thing.

We have statues of Nolan Ryan, Pudge Rodriguez, Tom Landry and Dirk. There is one missing.

Behind Roger Staubach, no one could have done more for his sport, and his franchise, than Mo’ did for pro hockey and the Dallas Stars.

When the franchise relocated from Minnesota to Texas in 1993, hockey existed only in the tiniest of niches around the state. A few minor league franchises had their time, but hockey didn’t have a wide base.

Today, the Stars are stable and hockey has a place in a state where it’s going to hit 100 degrees in the next 12 hours or so.

Modano was the willing face not only of his team but the entire sport. To do this well required talent, production, patience, pages of embarrassing situations with well-meaning people who knew zero about hockey, and time away from life.

No one else in this market had the list of unwritten professional responsibilities of Modano.

He may have groused a time or two (or ten) behind the scenes, but publicly he said yes to all of the requests. He had to sit through countless public sessions, just sitting there in stores signing autographs for people who weren’t 100 percent who he actually was.

Answering questions from members of the media who had no background in his sport.

All the while the Stars built a brand, and a sport, that thrives today.

The Stars would still be in the second round of these 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs without Modano, but its history, and its place in the market would not be where it is without him.

The credentials are all there.

He is their all-time points leader and goal scorer, and he led them to the Stanley Cup title in 1999, and an appearance again in 2000. He was an All-Star, an Olympian, arguably the greatest American-born hockey player ever, and a Hall of Famer.

The only bumps to this project are ...

Money. It is a lot of fun to spend someone else’s, and big statues typically aren’t found on the Manager’s Special rack.

Reunion. Modano’s greatest moments came not at the AAC, but Reunion Arena. Reunion was taken down in 2009, and the low-ceiling dump had to go.

Time.

Maybe too much, or not enough, of it has passed.

Modano simply maybe a “victim” of a player that the new generations don’t know. It happens. To all of us.

Modano last played for the Dallas Stars in 2010, when the team was effectively owned and operated by creditors as then owner Tom Hicks was going through the long process of selling the franchise.

Shortly after current owner Tom Gaglardi bought the club in 2011, the Stars hired Modano as a ... something. Advisor. Part time TV announcer. Sales account closer.

When Modano moved with his wife to Phoenix, he wanted to remain in the same role with the team. The team’s position was that if he wanted to work for the team that he should live in town.

Both sides agreed to disagree.

The team felt Modano should do the family thing; when his life reached a point where he could have more time, they could make a position for him.

Insteadn, Modano took a job in a part-time capacity with the Wild, along side his former Stars and Team USA teammate, general manager Bill Guerin. Modano is actually planning on moving with his wife and the couple’s five young children to Minnesota this summer.

That obstacle is in name only.

If the Stars want to do this, they can.

It would be nice if the Dirk statue had a friend.