The NBA All-Star Weekend is the best of all the major sports. No other sport can offer the combination of the game itself — especially with its revamped Elam-ending competition last season — and the secondary events, from the Dunk Contest to the 3-Point, Skills and even Rising Stars contest.
Basketball benefits from its relatively small rosters and the intimacy of watching the players on the court. There are no helmets, hats or facemasks involved and the camera comes in close. That helps its stars shine and make a personal connection with fans.
Every year, 24 players are named All-Stars, sometimes with an extra player or two as injury replacements. The number of All-Stars has not changed since 1968: five starters and seven reserves for each conference. As the league has expanded, the rosters have stayed the same; while the brightest stars make the game, that has resulted in some deserving players being left off.
Year-to-year that is simply a piece of history, but where it makes the biggest impact is for players who “just miss out” every time, and never end up with a single All-Star nod. Over time, the vast majority of deserving players still make the cut at least once, but not always. 21 players have totaled at least 70 career win shares without making an All-Star Game; three have cracked 100.
There are a variety of reasons this happens. A player could be balling out but on a bad team. Conversely, they could be contributing towards winning, but on a loaded roster. Many great players missed out on All-Star appearances over the last 20 years in a stacked Western Conference. The most common type of player to miss out are elite defenders who have middling offensive contributions.
These players still deserve recognition, and they are getting it here. Taking into account a player’s peak, total career, two-way impact and postseason success, who are the 25 best NBA players to never make an All-Star game?
The 25 best NBA players never to make an All-Star game — 25. Lou Williams
Some of the hardest-working players in the league are those chosen outside of the lottery, not gifted a spot in the rotation or in the team’s marketing. These players fight constantly not just to improve, but to stay ahead of the cut line. Sometimes those players break through to become well-known and important to a team’s success.
Lou Williams was one such player, selected 45th overall in the second round of the 2005 NBA Draft. His rookie season he scored 56 points total over 30 appearances; a few years back he dropped 50 points in a single game. He has established himself as one of the craftiest scorers in the league, the classic offensive sixth man.
Over the course of fifteen seasons he has started just 121 of his 1033 games, yet has averaged 20.9 points per-36 minutes. After becoming a fan favorite in Philadelphia and Atlanta, he had a breakout season for the Toronto Raptors, then pinged his way to the LA Clippers. Under head coach Doc Rivers he grew into the league’s best bench scorer, winning Sixth Man of the Year three times.
Closest Call: In the 2017-18 NBA season Williams was balling out for a club that had recently moved on from their “Lob City” core of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. When the All-Star reserves were announced in January of 2018, he had put up 30-plus points a whopping 14 times, and led the Western Conference in scoring in the fourth quarter. Unofficially, he was likely one of the two or three players in the mix for the injury replacement slot that ultimately went to Paul George.