Dirk and Peja each will be making their third consecutive All-Star appearances in Los Angeles this year. Ronald Martinez Getty Images/NBAE

If you think the NBA's modern era ushered the first international player into the All-Star Game, well, we have a surprise for you.

While Hakeem Olajuwon, who was born in Nigeria, and Rolando Blackman, who was born in Panama, both made their first All-Star Game appearance in 1985, they were not the first international All-Stars. That distinction belongs to Tom Meschery.

Up until 1963, the All-Star game had been an all-American affair. Meschery, who played for 10 seasons with the Warriors and Sonics franchises, was the son of Russian immigrants and was born in Manchuria, China in 1938. When he played in the 1963 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, he became the first international All-Star. Meschery scored three points in his only game.

Since then, the number of international All-Stars has grown considerably. The 2003 All-Star Game in Atlanta features a record six international players. The 2004 All-Star Game will tie that record as San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, New Orleans' Jamaal Magloire, Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki, Sacramento's Peja Stojakovic and Houston's Yao Ming plan to participate on Feb. 15. Kirilenko, from Russia, and Magloire, from Canada, will be making their first All-Star appearances.

Let's take a look at the international players who have made their mark in the All-Star Game.

1. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs Duncan, who was born in the Virgin Islands, will participate in his sixth All-Star Game this year. In his first appearance in 1998, Duncan was more timid than Tim. He tallied just two points, but grabbed a game-high 11 boards. In 2000, Duncan was named co-MVP with Shaq after leading the West to a 137-126 win with 24 points and 14 boards. Duncan is the only international player to win an All-Star MVP.

2. Hakeem Olajuwon, Houston Rockets Olajuwon, who was born in Nigeria, made all 12 of his record-setting appearances for international players with the Houston Rockets. In his first two A-S Games (1985-86), he played a total of 30 minutes and scored nine points. For the next eight games, Olajuwon never played fewer than 20 minutes while scoring 21 points in 1988, his A-S Game best. In 1990, Olajuwon grabbed an All-Star Game record nine offensive boards.

3. Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks Ewing, who was born in Jamaica, appeared in 11 All-Star Games, all as a member of the Knicks. Ewing's All-Star Game career was bookended by "Selected, did not play -- injured" in 1986 and 1997, but in the nine games in which he took the floor, Ewing averaged 11.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. In 1994, Ewing posted 20 points and eight rebounds.

4. Rolando Blackman, Dallas Mavericks Blackman, who was born in Panama, made his first of four All-Star appearances in 1985 and always made the most of his minutes. Blackman never played more than 23 minutes in an All-Star Game, but he scored 71 points in that short time. In the 1987 All-Star Game in Seattle, Blackman scored 29 points in 22 minutes. Alas, Tom Chambers scored 34 and was named the game's MVP.

5. Peja Stojakovic, Sacramento Kings Stojakovic, a native of Serbia-Montenegro, will make his third consecutive All-Star appearance. In his two games has scored 16 points in his 31 minutes of play. Stojakovic earns the No. 5 spot, because he's won two consectuive Foot Locker Three-Point Shootout titles.

6. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks Nowitzki, who was born in Germany, will also be making his third consecutive All-Star appearance. Nowitzki has scored 21 points in his 40 minutes of play. He made a splash in his first All-Star Game with 12 points and eight rebounds.

7. Dikembe Mutombo, Denver-Atlanta-Philly Mutombo has made All-Star appearances with three teams, with three for Denver beginning in 1992, four for Atlanta starting in 1997 and one with Philadelphia in 2002. Mutombo's best game came in 1995 in Phoenix when he scored 12 points and blocked four shots.

8. Detlef Schrempf, Seattle-Indiana Schrempf, born in Germany, made three All-Star Game appearances, two with Seattle (1995 and 1997) and one with the Indiana Pacers (1993). Schrempf scored 23 points in his three games, including his personal All-Star Game best of 11 in 1997.

Other notable international All-Stars: Rik Smits, the Netherlands (1998); Vlade Divac, Serbia-Montenegro (2001); Steve Nash, Canada (2002-03); Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuania (2003)