1) Ralph Beard (1951)
2) Alex Groza (1951)

Conceived by then commissioner Maurice Podoloff as a distraction from the ongoing NCAA point shaving scandal, the NBA All-Star Game was first conducted in the Boston Garden in 1951 and it was a massive success. 16 of the 20 players who participated would come back for the 1952 edition. Two notable exceptions are Beard and Groza, who were both banned for life from the league ahead of the ’51-’52 season due to their involvement in the very scandal that the All-Star Game was designed to overshadow.  As teammates at Kentucky, Groza and Beard were the two best players of the famed “Fabulous Five” that won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1948 and 1949. They reunited in the NBA with the Indianapolis Olympians but after the conclusion of the ’50-’51 season, when they were both All-Stars and named 1st-Team All-NBA, Podoloff handed down his harsh judgement following their arrests for accepting money to shave points. Neither would ever be reinstated, with Groza, who led the Western Conference in scoring and rebounding in that solo All-Star appearance, eventually garnering several coaching and front office gigs while Beard had a long career in pharmaceutical sales.

3) Calvin Murphy (1979)

Just making it to the NBA at all was quite an achievement for Murphy, who was listed at 5’9″ and was likely even more diminutive. But he persevered to become the shortest player ever to participate in an All-Star Game and eventually the shortest to be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame. His All-Star season, ’78-’79, was actually far from his most impressive statistically and it was likely something of a “lifetime achievement” selection for Murphy, who had spent his long career up to that point toiling away for fair-to-middling Rockets teams (they would eventually reach the NBA Finals in 1981, just as Murphy’s effectiveness was beginning to slip). His record as shortest All-Star was eventually tied by Isaiah Thomas, who was named to the team in 2016 and 2017.

4) Derrick Coleman (1994)

Despite his early reputation as an overpaid malcontent, Coleman’s 1994 All-Star debut in his fourth NBA season was arguably overdue. He averaged 18+ points and nine-plus rebounds per game in each of his first four seasons and his third campaign was actually his peak, with 20.7 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game while leading the Nets to the playoffs. Following his snubbing from the bench in 1993, Coleman was voted in as a starting forward in 1994, beating out traditional fan favorites Dominique Wilkins and Larry Johnson. Fellow Net Kenny Anderson was also starting for the Eastern Conference and the future of the franchise and its star seemed bright. But this was just the beginning of the end as the team, already rocked by the sudden death of Drazen Petrovic, lost in the first round of the 1994 playoffs, then conflicts with Coleman reportedly caused legendary coach Chuck Daly to retire. Coleman spent the rest of his career struggling with injuries and disputes. As a side note, Coleman and Anderson were two of eight players who made their All-Star debut in 1994 and then never returned, many of which we’ll get to later in this list.

5) Tyson Chandler (2013)

While he never lived up to his billing as the second overall pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, Chandler had a long, successful career as a defensive and rebounding specialist for eight different franchises. That’s usually not the type of resume that includes an All-Star appearance but Chandler made it in as a reserve in 2013, representing the Knicks. The ’12-’13 season was definitely not his statistical peak but it was inarguably the zenith of his reputation. He was the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, a newly minted Olympic gold medalist, a darling of the burgeoning advanced analytics sect, and a cornerstone of the legitimately title contending Knicks. Also, there wasn’t exactly a glut of All-Star level centers at the time, though two others made the Eastern Conference bench that year in Joakim Noah and Brook Lopez. Chandler was eventually also named 1st-Team All-Defensive in ’12-’13 but would never excel at that level again, as injuries wracked his ’13-’14 season and hampered the remainder of his career.

6) Bill Bradley (1973)

There are only two players inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame for their NBA contributions that never made an All-Star appearance. That would be longtime Celtics teammates K.C. Jones and Frank Ramsey, who won eight and seven championships respectively. As for Hall inductees with just one All-Star appearance, Bradley is on a short list with Calvin Murphy. Setting arguments about Bradley’s Hall resume aside, we’ll focus on that lone honor. It came in ’72-’73, when he picked up an increased scoring load for the Knicks and wound up averaging a career high 16.1 points per game. Coming off the bench, Bradley played light minutes in the game, as coach Tom Heinsohn leaned heavily on his Celtics stars John Havlicek and Dave Cowens in an East victory in Chicago. Later on in the ’72-’73 season, Bradley received a more important honor, winning his second championship with New York.

7) Sam Cassell (2004)

A lot had happened to Cassell along the way to his first All-Star appearance at age 34 in 2004. He was already a two-time NBA champion with the Rockets, had averaged 18+ points per game in six previous seasons, had finished top 10 in assists per game three times, and had also been traded five times over a seven year stretch, finally winding up with the Timberwolves in 2003. It’s understandable then that Cassell had a muted response to the announcement that he was included on the Western Conference bench, as he felt snubbed in numerous years past. But he made the most of the opportunity, leading the West in assists in a 136-132 win. At 34 years and 89 days, Cassell became the second oldest first-time All-Star in NBA history, falling short of Nat Clifton’s record by less than a week. The ’03-’04 season would ultimately end in disappointment for Cassell, who suffered a hip injury during the Western Conference Finals against the Lakers that arguably cost the T-Wolves a title chance.

8) Vlade Divac (2001)

One of the most thrilling All-Star Games of all time came in 2001, when Allen Iverson sparked a wild fourth quarter comeback and the East upset the West, 111-110. It also featured a classic highlight, wherein Stephon Marbury reached with the ball under a defender’s arm, then flipped it back up over the defending player’s head to himself and shot it while the disoriented victim still had his head turned. That hapless prey was Divac, who was making his All-Star debut at age 33. The Serbian center was added late to the team by his Kings coach Rick Adelman as an injury replacement for Shaquille O’Neal, thus becoming just the third ever European All-Star, following Detlef Schrempf and Rik Smits. As for that infamous highlight, consider what happened next as a perfect microcosm of the two players involved: Marbury air balled the ensuing short jumper and Divac got the last laugh, racing down the court to finish the subsequent play with a workmanlike fast break dunk.

9) Dan Issel (1977)

In ’76-’77, the stars of the recently merged ABA, with their generally more up-tempo, more athletic style of play, immediately won over fans seemingly disillusioned by the recent spate of dull NBA product. Perhaps this was no more evident than in the All-Star voting results, where Issel won the West’s starting center position over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was superior to him in every way. Whether it was burnout, latent racism, recency bias, or likely some combo of the three, Abdul-Jabbar was arguably the most snubbed non-starter in All-Star history. It was a debut in the NBA edition for Issel, who averaged 22.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game for the Nuggets in ’76-’77, but far from his debutante All-Star appearance, as he played in six of the ABA versions. Despite putting up similar stats in the next six seasons, Issel never returned to the All-Star Game, as the West was stacked with solid centers in the late ’70s and early ’80s, including Moses Malone, Jack Sikma, Bill Walton, and Artis Gilmore, in addition to Abdul-Jabbar.

10) A.C. Green (1990)

If Dan Issel over Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1977 was the most egregious voting results in All-Star Game history, then Green over Karl Malone in 1990 is a close second. How did Green, a defensive specialist averaging just 12.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game get the nod over Malone, who was MVP of the 1989 All-Star Game, averaging 31.0 points per game, and eventually finished fourth in MVP voting for the ’89-’90 season? Because Lakers fans were supposedly stuffing the ballot box, placing Green in the starting lineup alongside L.A. forward James Worthy. It was also put forth as further evidence that the NBA and its attendant media were overemphasizing big market teams like the Lakers over smaller market franchises like Malone’s Jazz. Affronted by the results, Malone stated that he would not participate if chosen as bench player and sure enough, when Lakers coach Pat Riley picked him for the bench, the Jazz power forward sat out, citing an “injury.” Green had a quiet All-Star Game performance, missing all three field goals he attempted and finishing with just three rebounds and one block in 12 minutes of play. Malone would be named a starter for the Western Conference in each of the next four All-Star Games while Green would never come close to returning to the roster again.

11) Metta World Peace (2004)

There’s no doubt ’03-’04 was a career peak for World Peace. It was his fifth season in the NBA, his second full one with Indiana, and he averaged then career highs in scoring, rebounding, and assists, won Defensive Player of the Year, and led the Pacers to a still franchise record 61 wins. He also made his All-Star debut that season, getting picked for the East bench by his Pacers coach, Rick Carlisle, joining the roster with his star teammate, Jermaine O’Neal. Then, well, you probably know what happened next. The Pacers were knocked out of the 2004 Conference Finals by the Pistons, entered the ’04-’05 season as title contenders, but had their hopes and dreams decimated just seven games in by the “Malice at the Palace.” World Peace received a record 86 game suspension and his career never really recovered. Though some of his best stats would come later in his career with the Kings, he never received legitimate All-Star consideration again due to his reputation fallout and his playing for a non-contender.

12) Joe Barry Carroll (1987)

Labelled unfairly as a bust from the moment he hit the floor, Carroll was actually one of the better centers in the NBA in his first six seasons. Numerous factors worked against him, from the hype of being the first overall pick in 1980, to the Warriors giving up Robert Parish and Kevin McHale to acquire him, to his disinterest in playing along with the media circus, to his toiling away on Warriors teams that were nowhere near contention. Things finally turned around in ’86-’87, with Carroll leading the way as Golden State made its first playoff appearance in a decade. He also received his only All-Star nod that season, coming off the bench alongside teammate Sleepy Floyd in what’s considered one of the greatest All-Star Games in NBA history. It’s telling that Carroll didn’t even crack the top five in Western Conference center voting that season, finishing even behind an actual severe draft bust in Sam Bowie. 

13) Charles Oakley (1994)
14) B.J. Armstrong (1994)
15) John Starks (1994)
16) Horace Grant (1994)

As mentioned above, 1994 was a unique All-Star Game, in that eight players made their debut and then never returned. Incredibly, seven of those eight, including Oakley, Armstrong, Starks, Grant, and Derrick Coleman and Kenny Anderson as mentioned previously, were in the Eastern Conference (the lone player in the West was Cliff Robinson and the eighth player in the East was Mookie Blaylock). It was certainly a provisional time in the conference, as All-Star mainstays Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Joe Dumars, and Brad Daugherty were recently retired or out of effectiveness, Charles Barkley had gone West, and Michael Jordan was “retired.” One of Jordan’s teammates, Armstrong, was a surprise starter in 1994, as he averaged just 14.8 points in ’93-’94 but received the third most votes overall, trailing only Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. Fellow Bull Grant was a more deserving inclusion on the bench, as he developed into one of the best power forwards in the NBA in Jordan’s absence. Starks and Oakley were on the team with Patrick Ewing as a nod to the Knicks looking like the title favorites at the break. Of all the first time All-Stars, Armstrong actually had the best game, with 11 points and four assists in an East victory.

“At age 34, [Nat] Clifton became the oldest first time All-Star in NBA history when he took the court in 1957, a record that continues to stand and likely will for a long time.”

17) Jack Molinas (1954)

He stands alone as the only player on this list to not participate in the All-Star Game for which he was chosen and that’s because in between his selection and the event, Molinas was banned for life from the NBA by commissioner Maurice Podoloff. On January 10, 1954, Molinas was prepping with his Pistons teammates for a game against the Hawks when he learned of his “permanent suspension” for gambling on his own games. At the time, he was a star rookie on a burgeoning contender, averaging 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game as the starting forward. He was replaced on the All-Star roster by teammate Andy Philip. Though Molinas never played another NBA game, his specter hung over the league for years up until his eventual death (likely in a mob hit), from his multiple lawsuits against the league to his possible involvement in thrown games in the 1955 NBA Finals to his handler status with Connie Hawkins and Roger Brown in the 1961 point shaving scandal. 

18) Andre Iguodala (2012)

Of the 32 players who have earned NBA Finals MVP, Iguodala is the only one to make just one All-Star appearance in his career. It came as a bit of a makeup selection in 2012, as Iguodala had been snubbed in previous years when he had amassed more impressive stats. Unfortunately, those were being compiled for 76ers teams that were an afterthought in the Eastern Conference, in the late years of the Allen Iverson era and its immediate aftermath after the star was traded away. In ’11-’12, Philadelphia seemed to be finally rebuilding and they would eventually reach the Conference Semifinals that season for the first time in nine years. But Iguodala was traded that summer to the Nuggets and then a year later to the Warriors, starting the second phase of his career as a defensive specialist. For the record, there is one Finals MVP with less All-Star appearances than Iguodala (i.e., zero): Cedric Maxwell.

19) Danny Ainge (1988)

A second round pick of the Celtics in 1981, just as the Larry Bird dynasty was getting started, Ainge was lightly used in his first three seasons, then exponentially gained prominence, playing time, and stats as the starting shooting guard in the next four. This culminated with his 1988 All-Star appearance, selected as a bench player by his Boston coach, K.C. Jones. Ainge was putting up career best stats in ’87-’88, ultimately averaging 15.7 points and 6.2 assists per game, but this selection had more to do with two other factors. First, it was an acknowledgement of Ainge’s place as a longtime key component of the dominant Eastern Conference team of the ’80s. Second, it was a weak year for East guards beyond Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas, as youngsters like Mark Price, Reggie Miller and Joe Dumars were still developing while vets like Mo Cheeks, Sidney Moncrief, and Ainge’s Boston teammate Dennis Johnson were aging out of relevancy. Though Ainge never came close to an All-Star appearance again, he did have a solid late career as a role player for title contenders in Portland and Phoenix.

20) Christian Laettner (1997)

In one of the greatest modern era amateur careers ever recorded, Laettner was the consensus National Player of the Year in 1992, the Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 1991, a two-time All-American, a two-time champion with Duke, and an Olympic gold medalist with the legendary U.S. Dream Team. His list of accolades in the NBA is much shorter, with a 1st-Team All-Rookie nod in ’92-’93 and then this All-Star appearance in 1997. Though he put up solid stats in three-plus seasons with the Timberwolves team that drafted him third overall, Laettner was also disgruntled, playing out of position at center for a franchise buried at the bottom of the standings. Things turned around with a 1996 trade to Atlanta, where Laettner was contributing at power forward for a team near the top of the East standings heading into the ’96-’97 All-Star break. He was named to the All-Star team as a reserve and actually played heavy minutes, finishing with seven points and 11 rebounds in an Eastern Conference win. But this would be the peak of Laettner’s career as he soon after suffered an Achilles rupture that hampered him until his 2005 retirement.

21) Mark Jackson (1989)

One constant refrain about the All-Star Game over the years is that it’s a point guard’s game. From the early days of Bob Cousy and Oscar Robertson to modern superstars like Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, floor generals have long been the engine of the exhibition’s finely tuned machine. Then how did Jackson, who is fifth all-time in career assists and finished in the top 10 in the category in 12 different seasons, make only one All-Star appearance in 1989? In large part it’s because his prime in the late ’80s through mid ’90s was marked by much of the top talent in the East being in other positions, taking up precious roster space. Also, while Jackson dished out tons of assists, he wasn’t exactly flashy, thrilling, All-Star material. Fans never even came close to voting him in. In fact, in the season he led the NBA in assists per game while on the Nuggets, ’96-’97, he didn’t even finish in the top 10 in Western Conference back court voting. Jackson’s lone appearance came as a bench player, alongside Knicks teammate Patrick Ewing in ’88-’89, just his second season in the league.

22) World B. Free (1980)

After starting his career as a tertiary offensive threat on the 76ers and making an NBA Finals appearance with them in 1977, Free was unleashed as a scoring monster when the Clippers traded for him before the ’78-’79 season. He averaged 29.4 points per game over the next two seasons, finishing second in the NBA in field goal attempts over that stretch while carrying the otherwise anemic San Diego offense. Though he was named 2nd-Team All-NBA in ’78-’79 and finished sixth in MVP voting, it wasn’t until the next season that Free (who, at that point was still going by his birth name, Lloyd Free) made his All-Star debut, voted in as a starting guard for the West. He scored 14 points in the game and added five assists as the West lost in overtime. Free was traded again in the summer of 1980 to Golden State, where his reputation as a selfish gunner grew even as his scoring average took a dip. Injuries also began to hamper him and he spent the rest of his career getting largely ignored while scoring in bunches for bad teams.

23) Andrew Bynum (2012)

Bynum’s seasons with the Lakers were a paragon of wasted potential at worst but also a showcase of All-Star talent at best, especially in ’11-’12. That was his seventh season in the league, though he was still only 24 years old, and he averaged career highs in scoring (18.7 points per game) and rebounding (11.8 per game). It was also the first season after Yao Ming’s retirement and Amare Stoudemire’s move to New York, leaving the West’s All-Star center position wide open. Bynum was easily voted in as a starter by fans, almost tripling the vote tally of DeAndre Jordan in second place. But in a perfect microcosm of his career, the Lakers center played just four minutes in the All-Star Game before sitting out the rest due to knee pain. He would play through that discomfort successfully for the rest of the season, finishing as Los Angeles’ leading rebounder and second leading scorer in the playoffs but was still considered expendable and got traded that summer to the 76ers as part of the Dwight Howard deal. Bynum suffered another major knee injury that offseason, reportedly while bowling, and played just 26 more games over the next two years before retiring at age 26.

24) Mark Eaton (1989)

Maybe the greatest shot blocking specialist in NBA history, Eaton is one of just five players to compile over 3,000 blocks for their career, and led the league in the category four times. He was also Defensive Player of the Year in the ’84-’85 and ’88-’89 seasons, 1st-Team All-Defensive three times, and played for a Jazz team that was consistently reaching the playoffs. In most eras, this would be enough to get a player multiple All-Star nods, but Eaton had the misfortunate of fighting for a spot on the Western Conference roster with two all-time greats in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Hakeem Olajuwon. Utah’s defensive stalwart finally got a bench nod in 1989, when Abdul-Jabbar was struggling in his final season (the Lakers legend would get eventually added as an injury replacement for Magic Johnson). He was one of three Jazz players on the West team, along with John Stockton and the game’s MVP, Karl Malone. Eaton played just nine minutes but he did log five rebounds and two blocks in a West win. Already 32 years old at that point, Eaton remained Utah’s starting center for four more seasons but with progressively diminishing returns.

25) Juwan Howard (1996)

Though Chris Webber and Jalen Rose eventually had the better overall pro careers, it was Howard who made the first NBA All-Star appearance by a Michigan Fab Five member. It would turn out to be his only such appearance, coming in ’95-’96, when he averaged a career high 22.1 points per game. Howard was actually teammates at the time on the Bullets with Webber, who came close to being named a starter by fans and then was snubbed for the East bench by coach Phil Jackson. Howard played solid minutes off the bench for the Eastern Conference team but tallied only two points and six rebounds in 16 minutes. At just 23 years old, he was the first Bullets All-Star in four years and was rewarded in the ensuing offseason with the biggest contract in NBA history. Though he failed to live up to that salary and was never again an All-Star, Howard did last almost two decades in the league, compiling over 16,000 points and over 7,000 rebounds.

26) Nat Clifton (1957)

At age 34, Clifton became the oldest first time All-Star in NBA history when he took the court in 1957, a record that continues to stand and likely will for a long time. It’s one of numerous interesting superlatives from the career of Clifton, who started in the NBA at age 28 after several years playing with the Harlem Globetrotters, New York Rens, and even some Negro League baseball. He became the first Black Knicks player when he first suited up in ’50-’51 and had an instant impact on the team’s success, helping them reach three consecutive NBA Finals. A muscular and skilled power forward, Clifton averaged 10+ points and eight-plus rebounds per game four times but his stats had dipped by ’56-’57. His inclusion on the All-Star team was partially a nod to his holistic career. He scored eight points in the game, plus a team high 11 rebounds, as the East prevailed, 109-97.

27) Xavier McDaniel (1988)

Though he was one of the most popular and endearing players of the late ’80s and early ’90s, McDaniel made just one All-Star appearance, in 1988. The “X-Man” was almost a starter that year, finishing just a few thousands votes behind Karl Malone and Alex English amongst West forwards. McDaniel’s stats actually dipped slightly in ’87-’88 from his career peaks in ’86-’87, but he was finally getting his due as one of the best two-way forwards in the league after a couple years of relative obscurity, thanks in large part to the SuperSonics making a surprise run to the 1987 Conference Finals. It was unfortunately not a memorable performance for the Seattle star, who shot one-of-nine from the field, scoring just two points. He had similarly impressive overall performances in ’88-’89 and ’89-’90 but was snubbed for a spot each time in favor of Chris Mullin.

28) Reggie Lewis (1992)

At the time that Lewis was named to the 1992 All-Star Game, it was seemingly a coronation of the next great Celtics star, taking the torch from the soon-to-retire Larry Bird. But within a year-and-a-half of this appearance, Lewis’ life was tragically cut short due to a rare, undetected heart defect. Though his stats weren’t blindingly great (20.8 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in ’91-’92), he was also an elite defender and an on-court leader and was arguably the second best guard in the East that season after Michael Jordan. Not that fans outside of Boston seemed to be particularly noticing. Lewis actually finished ninth in fan voting at guard in 1992, behind also-rans like John Paxson and his Boston teammate, Dee Brown (who was at his popularity peak following his 1991 Slam Dunk Contest title but far from an All-Star level performer). Lewis was added to the roster by Phil Jackson and played solid minutes off the bench, finishing with seven points and four rebounds. He was a snub on the 1993 roster (coach Pat Riley went with just two bench guards) and never got another chance, as he suffered his fatal heart attack during a pick-up game in July of 1993. It took the Celtics six years to place another player in the All-Star Game, when Antoine Walker made the team in 1998.