Dirk Nowitzki was on Kobe Bryant’s mind long before the Lakers boarded their flight to Dallas for Wednesday night’s appearance at the American Airlines Center.

Kobe reached into Dirk’s bag of tricks during the third quarter of the Lakers’ Monday night rout of the Trail Blazers, popping Nowitzki’s patented one-legged lean-away jumper over Portland’s Wesley Matthews. Then Kobe talked some playful trash to his fellow future Hall of Famer via the TNT broadcast.

“Dirk does it well, but I do it better,” Kobe said after walking over to the TNT broadcasters during a break in play. “Mine’s a little sexier.”

Let’s just skip over the debate about sex appeal.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Imagine how flattered Dirk must be that arguably the two best scorers in the NBA spent countless summer hours in the gym imitating him.

First, it was two-time defending scoring champion Kevin Durant popping the one-legged lean-away during a preseason game in Dallas, giving Dirk a winking nod after knocking it down. Now, the NBA’s active career scoring leader displays a little Dirk influence.

The best want to be like Dirk.