12. Dirk Nowitzki
This German star turned into one of the NBA’s best foreign imports. However, he didn’t settle at first in the US and it took him some time to start firing on all cylinders. First of all, the NBA’s player strike disrupted the season and was a terrible distraction. He then struggled to cope with the physicality of defenders.

Nowitzki only averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 20.4 minutes of playing time. But Nowitzki evolved into one of the best power forwards in the league. An NBA champion, he was a 14-time All-Star and won an MVP Player award in 2007.