Dirk Nowitzki changed the NBA's perception of international talent

When Nowitzki entered the league in 1998, he was one of 38 international players from 27 countries on NBA rosters, according to the NBA. When the 2016-17 season started, he was one of an NBA-record 113 international players from an NBA-record 41 countries.

“For the first time this year, we made somewhat of a significant leap in the number of international players in this league,” NBA Commissioner Silver said. “We climbed from roughly 20% of the league, players that were born outside the United States, to 25%, and those numbers are only going to continue to grow. If you look at last year’s draft, nearly 50% of the players in our two-round draft were born outside of the United States as well.”

The league won’t be surprised if that roster number climbs to 30% within five seasons – an average of almost 4-5 international players per team.

From 2008 to this season, the number jumped from 75 to 113. Not all of that is Nowitzki’s influence alone, but his impact is significant as he became on Tuesday the first international player to reach 30,000 points, putting him sixth on the NBA's all-time scoring list behind Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.