Dirk Nowitzki scored 30 points last night in the Maverick’s 100-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, making the 7-0 German the 34th NBA player in history to score 20,000 points in their career.

With the feat, Nowitzki becomes the first European player to score 20,000 points, and just the second international NBA player to score 20,000 career points.

With 20,014 points, Nowitzki sits at #2 on the list right behind NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon with 26,946 points. Another German player, Detlef Schrempf is 3rd all-time with just 15,761 points while Nowitzki’s buddy Steve Nash is 4th all-time with 14,186  career points.

So what does the  all-time international NBA scorers’ list look like?  Below you will find an updated list of the top 25 international NBA scorers as of yesterday’s games:

1. Hakeem Olajuwon, Nigeria (26,946 points) 1238 games, career 21.8 ppg
* 2. Dirk Nowitzki, Germany (20,017 points) 876 games, 22.8 ppg
3. Detlef Schrempf, Germany (15,761 points) 1136 games, 13.9 ppg (01-02).
* 4. Steve Nash, Canada (14,186 points) 973 games, 14.6 ppg
5. Vlade Divac, Former Yugoslavia (13,398 points) 1134 games, 11.8ppg
* 6. Peja Stojaković, Serbia (12,990 points) 744 games, 17.5 ppg
7. Rik Smits, The Netherlands (12,871 points) 749 games, 14.8 points (1999-00)
8. Dikembe Mutombo, Congo (11729 points) 1196 games, 9.8ppg
* 9. Pau Gasol, Spain (11,372 points) 606 games, 18.8ppg
* 10. Tony Parker, France (10782 points), 645 games, 16.7 ppg
* 11. Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, Lithuania (10,450 points), 746 games, 14.3 ppg
12. Rony Seikaly, Lebanon (9,991 points) 678 games, 14.7 ppg (98-99)
13. Toni Kukoč, Croatia (9,810 points) 846 games, 11.6 ppg
* 14. Yao Ming, China (9,196 points) 481 games, 19.1 ppg
15. Rick Fox, Canada (8,966 points) 930 games, 9.6ppg (03-04)
* 16. Hedo Türkoğlu, Turkey (8,840 points) 715 games, 12.4ppg
* 17. Mehmet Okur, Turkey (7,809 points) 565 games, 13.8 ppg
* 18. Manu Ginóbili, Argentina (7,449 points) 510 games, 14.6 ppg
* 19. Andrei Kirilenko, Russia (7,328 points) 591 games, 12.4 ppg
* 20. Luol Deng, Great Britain (5,751) 369 gms, 15.6
* 21. Leandro Barbosa, Brazil (5,714), 446 gms, 12.8 ppg
22. Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania (5,629 points) 470 games, 12 ppg
* 23. Rasho Nesterović, Slovenia (5,442), 790 gms, 6.9 ppg
* 24. Nenê, Brazil (4,814) 409 gms, 11.8 ppg
* 25. Andrés Nocioni, Argentina (4,798), 410 gms, 11.7 ppg

* = active

Nowitzki reached the plateau in 876 games, faster to 20,000 points than players like Kevin Garnett (975), Clyde Drexler (967), and Alex English (903)

Despite what the NBA likes to push, Interbasket doesn’t consider Tim Duncan as an international player. No Dominique Wilkins, Wally Szczerbiak, Patrick Ewing, or Ben Gordon do not count even though they were born in other countries.

Interbasket defines “international” on a case-by-case basis using several factors such as birth country, schooling, when they came to the United States, whether they represented their country or the USA, languages spoken, amongst many other factors.

Discuss the all-time NBA scorers’ list in our forum.