1. Kobe Bryant, 2014
How Chosen: Fan voting
Kobe Bryant wasn’t the leading vote-getter for the 2014 All-Star Game in New Orleans, but he easily beat out Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers for a starting nod.
Not bad for a guy who played six games and averaged 13.8 points, 6.3 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game on .425/.188/.857 shooting before having to be shut down for the season with a broken bone in his knee.
Bryant was returning to the Los Angeles Lakers after tearing his Achilles tendon late the previous season and he returned faster than anyone anticipated he could, debuting Dec. 8, 2013—less than eight months after he was injured in an April 12 game.
There were other Western Conference guards having far better seasons—OK, having actual seasons—than Bryant, among them Isaiah Thomas of the Sacramento Kings, Mike Conley of the Memphis Grizzlies, Manu Ginobili of the San Antonio Spurs and Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns.
Dragic was the engine behind the shocking turnaround in Phoenix in 2013-14. The Suns rolled into the break with a 30-21 record—already ahead of the previous season’s 25-57 mark.
The Dragon was averaging 20.3 points, 6.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game on .508/.410/.784 shooting at the break.
Bryant, of course, didn’t play in the All-Star Game, being replaced by Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans on the roster and by James Harden of the Houston Rockets in the lineup.
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Dragic is still waiting for his first All-Star bid.