Unlike some of those – and especially, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s near-unstoppable sky hook – Nowitzki won’t take his special toy with him when he exits. It will stay behind, imitation as flattery, in the arsenals of many current and undoubtedly future players.

That lifts Nowitzki’s deadly Dirk shot beyond something about which we’ll merely reminisce or enjoy in classic video, elevating it to a real legacy.

“It’s a great nod of respect,” Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday before his team’s game against the Bulls at United Center. “You’re seeing a lot of the young guys do it, which is really cool to me. Now I see [Russell] Westbrook shooting it. [Kevin] Durant’s been shooting it. I’ve seen LeBron James shoot it. And there are many, many guys throughout the league that have done it. Not only because of how they feel about Dirk but it’s an effective shot.”

There was a game in New York in November when the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis unleashed the shot with an inactive Nowitzki sitting right there.

“He looked at the bench – Dirk was in a suit,” teammate Harrison Barnes said. “Like ‘Nice, huh?’ It’s pretty cool to see guys pay homage to him. I told him, before he retires, I need that entire package.”

Some have smiled, some have smirked. A few imitators probably have been shy about flashing the move in front of its originator. The Wall Street Journal, after all, did a story last spring on Nowitzki’s shot and how it had gotten appropriated in a copycat league, with the headline “The Most Stolen Move in the NBA.”

So how does Nowitzki feel about having his signature shot used against him and the Mavs: Ripped off? Amused? Proud? Teased?

“It’s been an honor to watch some of the guys adopt that shot,” Nowitzki said after scoring 10 points with 10 rebounds in Dallas’ last-minute 99-98 victory. I’ve always said, it’s not that hard of a shot to shoot. If you have good balance, if you have good touch, anybody can shoot it. To see some of these guys put it in their repertoire and really make it a household shot, it’s been fun to watch.”

We can’t ask Edison or Tesla about electricity and the Wright brothers aren’t around to gripe at about that middle seat, but we can get the lowdown on Nowitzki’s lean-back.

“What happened was, I was getting older,” said Nowitzki, who was about 30, so some time in 2008 or 2009. “I couldn’t drive as much as I wanted or get to the foul line. Really I was just looking for a way to create a little separation and get the shot off. I’m obviously 7-feet so just one little step back gives me a little separation to get the ball over the defender.

“That’s it, really. I never practiced it much – it just kind of happened in a game and it worked, and I was like ‘Let’s try that again.’ At some point I kept shooting and shooting it. It’s nothing really I worked on with Holger [Geschwindner, Nowitzki’s widely known mentor]. I don’t think Holger was actually a big fan in the beginning, because sometimes the balance isn’t great. But if you have good touch and the length to shoot it over the defender, it’s a good shot.”