Top 10 Most Influential Basketball Players Over the Past Decade

This isn't to say that Alston isn't a fantastic NBA player, but his inclusion on this list has little to do with his performance in the NBA. Rafer Alston, or 'Skip To My Lou' was a major name in the AND-1 revolution. This street-ball style, which involved embarrassing the opponent through creative ball handling, was seen as a complete craze among players of all levels.

Who could forget Jason Richardson bouncing the ball off of an unsuspecting Carlos Boozer's head in the Rookie/ Sophomore game? The famous AND-1 mixtapes, which kids worked at copying for months, were being demonstrated by NBA superstars like Kobe Bryant at Rucker Park.

While it isn't fair to say Alston was the sole reason for AND-1 basketball's growth, he certainly was one of the pioneers of the style. If you watch him closely, that part of his game comes out in spurts over the course of the NBA season. It was certainly on display last season in the closing moments of the Lakers-Rockets game, in which Laker's guard Sasha Vujacic attempted to foul Alston. It certainly wasn't a great moment for Vujacic, and had the cameras not been there, he might have found his shorts by his ankles.

                                                           6. Dirk Nowitzki

Very few NBA players actually revolutionize a position the way Nowitzki has. Along with having won the NBA's Most Valuable Player award, he's a 7-time NBA All-Star, and arguably one of the 50 greatest players to ever play the game of basketball.

Dallas' loss to the Heat in 2006, and then the Golden State Warriors the following year has left a dark stain on Nowitzki's career, where analysts have labeled him soft. However, his performances have been sensational. Last year in the playoffs, he averaged nearly 27 points per game, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists per contest.

Furthermore, his success has been the reason for picks such as Andrea Bargnani in 2006, busts like Nickoloz Tskitishvili, and the early hype surrounding Serbian prospect Nemanja Aleksandrov. People are constantly looking for another Dirk Nowitzki, just like they're always looking for another Jordan, another Shaq, and another Magic. These players revolutionized their positions, and finding seconds hasn't been easy.

While Nowitzki's career in Europe was short, he's been a member of the German national team for nearly a decade now. He's certainly been a very big force on the court, and a poster-child for European basketball in the NBA.

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