Dallas Mavericks veteran star Dirk Nowitzki's influences are pretty simple, extensive and wide-ranging. When Nowitzki entered the NBA in 1998, he was one of 38 international players coming from 27 countries on NBA rosters.

According to USA Today, when the current 2016-17 season started, he is now one of an NBA-record 113 international players from, also an NBA-record, 41 countries. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was happy to make the announcements that for the first time this year, the NBA made a significant leap in the number of international players in that are currently playing in the league.

Silver also stated some stats, saying that the NBA has climbed from roughly 20 percent of players that were born outside the United States, to 25 percent, and he also assured that those numbers are only going to continue growing. Silver also recalled last year's draft, where nearly 50% of the players in were born outside of the United States as well.

With the numbers growing, the league won't be shocked if the roster number climbs to 30 percent within just five seasons, with an average of almost 4-5 international players per team. From 2008 to the current season, the number has jumped from 75 to 113.

Though not all of that has been Nowitzki's influence alone, however, his impact is significant as he became on Tuesday the very first international player to reach 30,000 points, putting him sixth overall on the NBA's all-time scoring list behind NBA greats Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and all-time scoring leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Aside from that, there's also this very clear influence: Nowitzki's patented one-legged fadeaway jumper that has been copied - to varying degrees of success - at all levels. According to Sportal, The Wall Street Journal even wrote a story last year about it, entitled: "The Most Stolen Move in the NBA."

LeBron James, Kristaps Porzingis, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Kelly Olynyk and even Michigan State freshman Miles Bridges are among the many players who have tried to imitate that shot. There may be only one Dirk Nowitzki, but his impact on the basketball court is long-lasting.

Related