Dallas Mavericks icon Dirk Nowitzki dominated the NBA for nearly two decades. It was not just his incredible scoring ability. Dirk revolutionized the game of basketball. He started the stretch four movement. Now, nearly every NBA team employs one.
Nowitzki was also an inspiration in his native Germany. They are a soccer country, but Dirk made playing basketball an option. According to Real GM, there have been 22 NBA players from Germany since 1947. Seven of them were born after 1990. That means they watched Nowitzki dominating the league during their childhood.