Basketball, Listed

A dedication to basketball history, catalogued and presented in convenient list form.

Unexcused absence: Nine players who missed the All-Star Game for reasons other than injury

Joel Embiid and Julius Randle are joining a long list of players who have sat out the All-Star Game due to injury but here are the more rare examples where other life events and factors got in the way.

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1) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1973 (security concerns)

On January 18, 1973, armed men broke into a Washington, D.C. home and massacred the inhabitants, killing seven and injuring two. This was significant not just as the largest mass murder in D.C. history up to that point but also by virtue of the identity of the house’s owner, Abdul-Jabbar. The Bucks superstar had purchased the residence for his mentor, Hanafi Movement leader Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, and the act was quickly determined to be an escalation of tensions between Hanafi leadership and the Nation of Islam, which believed in a more radicalized version of Black nationalism. Just a few days later, Abdul-Jabbar was scheduled to play in the NBA All-Star Game in Chicago, the base of operations for the Nation of Islam. Though the group denied involvement in the attacks, security was still a major concern and the NBA granted Abdul-Jabbar an exemption from the game. He used that time to help with preparations for the victims’ funeral, at which he served as a pallbearer. Abdul-Jabbar missed the All-Star Game just one other time in his career, in ’77-’78, when he sat out most of the first half of the season after breaking his hand in an on-court fight with Kent Benson.

2) Joel Embiid, 2021 (COVID-19 protocols)
3) Ben Simmons, 2021 (COVID-19 protocols)

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic hung heavy over the 2021 NBA All-Star Game. There was widespread debate and controversy over the potential “superspreader” event being held at all, including LeBron James calling its very existence a “slap in the face” to players. But the NBA was resolute, pushing the exhibition back from mid February to early March, relocating it from Indianapolis to Atlanta, and placing heavy COVID-19 protocols in place, including rules of conduct and regular testing. The NBA would later tout that not a single player, coach, or staff member tested positive during the entire event. True, but it leaves out the part where Embiid and Simmons were forced to sit out due to contact tracing. The two Sixers stars had both visited their barber in Philadelphia before traveling to Atlanta, and he soon after tested positive for COVID-19. Due to the announcement coming on the morning of the All-Star Game, neither player was replaced in the lineup. While Embiid has made three All-Star appearances and counting since this incident, it may have been Simmons’ last chance to participate, as his career began to spiral soon after.

4) Rudy LaRusso, 1962 (Elgin Baylor’s availability)

Baylor averaged 38.3 points per game in ’61-’62, finished fourth in MVP voting, and led the Lakers to a near upset of the Celtics in the NBA Finals. He also missed 32 games due to service in the U.S. Army. Baylor had signed up for the Army Reserve years earlier assuming his duties would be limited to summer assignments, but was called into active duty in January 1962. He worked out a deal in which he could travel from his barracks in Washington state to Los Angeles on the weekends to play in some Lakers home games. It was initially assumed that no deferral would be granted for the All-Star Game in St. Louis, and Lakers coach Fred Schaus named his other starting forward, LaRusso, as the replacement. Just as LaRusso was getting ready for his All-Star debut, Baylor was given travel permission at the last moment and flew to St. Louis to play. Even though he hadn’t even touched a basketball in over two weeks, Baylor was the West’s leading scorer with 32 points in a 150-130 victory. LaRusso watched the game in street clothes but would be named to and play in four more All-Star teams in his career.

5) Allen Iverson, 2010 (daughter’s illness)

For the 11th and final time in his career, Iverson was voted in by fans as an All-Star starter in 2010. But unlike his previous appearances, Iverson hadn’t done much in ’09-’10 to earn the honor. The one-time league MVP was struggling with knee issues and averaging a career low 13.8 points per game. He had also alienated many by clashing with Grizzlies coaches over playing time and “mutually parting ways” with the team after just three games. Iverson returned soon after to the 76ers and was defiantly unapologetic about his All-Star nod, stating his intention to play as a tribute to the fans who voted for him. But just a couple weeks before the All-Star Weekend, Iverson took a mysterious leave of absence from the 76ers. He was granted a dismissal from the All-Star Game due to “personal reasons” and replaced by New York’s David Lee. It was later revealed that Iverson was taking time off to tend to his young daughter, who was suffering from a rare illness called Kawasaki disease. He played three more games for the 76ers that season before stepping away indefinitely and ultimately opting to retire.

6) Karl Malone, 1990 (“injury”)
7) Karl Malone, 2002 (mother’s illness)

Dozens of players have missed the All-Star Game over the years due to hurt knees, feet, and ankles, but Malone is the only one to sit out with an injury to his pride. The Jazz superstar was enjoying a career year in ’89-’90 but when the All-Star starters were announced, the West forwards were James Worthy and A.C. Green, a supposed result of Lakers fans stuffing the voting ballots. The inclusion of Green was especially grievous, as the defensive specialist and first time All-Star was averaging just 13.9 points and 9.5 rebounds per game at the time of the announcement. Malone certainly felt as much, openly announcing that he would boycott the competition when coach Pat Riley selected him for a bench spot. Rather than face the wrath of the league office due to his defiant stance, Malone eventually settled on a different tact at the last minute, claiming that an ankle injury was preventing him from traveling to the Miami exhibition. The NBA also stood down, accepting Malone’s excused absence and replacing him on the roster with Dallas’ Rolando Blackman. Over a decade later, Malone was scheduled to make his 13th and final All-Star appearance in the 2002 edition in Philadelphia but backed out at the last minute. This time it was a lot more reasonable, as Malone wanted to be with his mother, who had been hospitalized back in Salt Lake City.

8) Jimmy Butler, 2018 (coach’s decision)

Befitting a player who typically saves his best performances for the most crucial contests, Butler and All-Star Games have never mixed. He’s been named to the exhibition’s roster six times in his career but has sat out twice and played an average of less than 13 minutes per game in the other four. In 2018, Butler was selected as a member of the Timberwolves but showed up with a sore knee only to spend the entire game on the bench, receiving “DNP – coach’s decision” as an official designation in the box score. We later found out in retrospect that it was actually a player’s decision, as Butler apparently asked coach Mike D’Antoni to bench him. It was a wise decision by Butler, who was putting up the biggest usage stats of his career carrying the moribund T-Wolves into playoff contention, but it didn’t do him much good, as he suffered a knee injury just a few days later and missed essentially the entire stretch run of the season. Perhaps as a response to his self-benching in 2018, Butler was snubbed from the All-Star roster the next year but did make return appearances in 2020 and 2022 as a member of the Heat.

9) Jack Molinas, 1954 (suspended)

A solid power forward with a deft touch and rebounding skills, Molinas was enjoying a terrific rookie season for the Fort Wayne Pistons. The fourth overall pick was one of three Pistons players named to the Western Conference All-Star roster but soon after was not only banned from the game but from the NBA for life. Commissioner Maurice Podoloff brought the hammer down on Molinas in mid January for gambling on his own games, a heavy punishment that reflected the league’s skittishness in the wake of the 1951 NCAA point shaving scandal. He was replaced on the roster by his aging teammate Andy Phillip, who marked his fourth appearance at age 32. Though Molinas never played another NBA game, let alone an All-Star Game, his specter hung over the league for years up until his eventual death (likely in a mob hit). This included 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.

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