Filed Under » Dirk Nowitzki

Dirk Nowitzki's first NBA title has shot him into the upper echelon of sports stars and that new-found popularity is already being seen at basketball courts across the United States.

"Everybody wants to be Dirk now," said D'Maurice Taylor, a 16 year-old Harlem resident during a break in the action at New York's famed Rucker Park. "All anybody wants to do now is shoot fallaway jumpers and free throws," he added in a thick, German accent.

As David Hasselhoff music blared from the sidelines, play resumed. Nearby, a schnitzel and beer cart served locals who stopped by the courts to watch the action.

"Das kinder are playing very efficiently today," remarked one local barbershop owner.

The scene is similar in gyms and on courts everywhere. A high school coach in Indiana held a summer camp last weekend and said he couldn't get the campers away from the free throw line to practice their dunking. At the Venice Beach courts in Los Angeles, players were sporting the latest in lederhosen.