The 10 best never-been All-Stars
“I don’t care what nobody says, D-Will is an All-Star.”
That was Chris Paul at last month’s All-Star Media Day, when I asked him if he felt his natural rival, Deron Williams, should have been in Phoenix that weekend making his first All-Star appearance.
While I’ve been over where I think Deron’s zero All-Star nods puts him in the League’s PG hierarchy, I do agree with CP3 that Deron is an All-Star caliber player — he just doesn’t have an All-Star nod yet. In fact, of all the players in the League who have never been All-Stars, Deron tops the list. Here’s the rest of the Top 10 (rookies don’t count) Players To Which Jamaal Magloire Owes An Apology …
1. Deron Williams
2. Al Jefferson
3. Tayshaun Prince
4. Zach Randolph
5. Kevin Durant
6. Josh Smith
7. Stephen Jackson
8. Kevin Martin
9. Andre Iguodala
10. Richard Jefferson
Honorable mention: Andre Miller, Lamar Odom, Rajon Rondo, Emeka Okafor, Hedo Turkoglu.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
ERIC says:
Andrei Kirilenko was an All-Star in 2004
March 6th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
kenadams says:
Deron is the man, and I think Andrei Kirilenko was an all-star in 04?? I might be wrong…..
March 6th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Dmitry says:
RJ has been an allstar…
March 6th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Austin Burton ... now on Twitter says:
You guys are right, I was 100% convinced AK had never made the squad. The list has been fixed.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Bruce says:
West All-Stars
Barring on injuries:
CP3 is the starting PG for the next 10 years.
And as long as Kobe is in the league, he is the starting SG. Forget about it folks!
March 6th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Bruce says:
Durant career is relatively green, so there is still time. He’ll make it.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Big Shot BOB says:
1. Deron Williams – still young
2. Al Jefferson – bad team
3. Tayshaun Prince – should have made it in Detroit’s glory days
4. Zach Randolph – maybe one year in Portland but even that’s reaching
5. Kevin Durant – bad team, still young, but not yet
6. Josh Smith – only room for 12 who do you snub
7. Stephen Jackson – bad team, but good enough numbers this year
8. Kevin Martin – bad team, especially in the west
9. Andre Iguodala – not good enough
10. Richard Jefferson – not good enough, maybe as a Net but got over shadowed by J-Kidd and Vince
There is a good reason why these people have not made it. Allstar is for the best of the best and is elite. Only 12 players can make it so someone always get’s snubbed.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Bruce says:
1. Deron Williams — He will make it but not as a starter.
2. Al Jefferson — When Timmy retires, give him 2-3 years.
3. Tayshaun Prince — By pity one day.
4. Zach Randolph — No way, please. One dimensional player, No D.
5. Kevin Durant — Time is on his side.
6. Josh Smith — He will for his all around game or till he develops a jumper.
7. Stephen Jackson — Nope.
8. Kevin Martin — Not good enough. And as long as Kobe plays in the West Conference, no how. The Sam Cassell on this list and add his former teammate too, M. Biddy.
9. Andre Iguodala — Develop leadership traits or maybe a jumper.
10. Richard Jefferson — See above.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
I think a healthy D-Will will start next year over CP3.
Josh “the tinman” Smith has been the biggest disappointment in the entire L this year. No way is he making an all-star team until he finds his heart. He is closer to being Kwame Brown than Karl Malone.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Mark says:
To be fair, Big Cat played well and had a decent stat line during the All Star game. His career, however, doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Austin Burton says:
No way D-Will ever starts over CP, even if he’s playing better that particular year. CP is too popular with the fans. Whenever Kobe retires there will be an open spot, but I feel like that will be Kevin Durant’s if he stays in the Western Conference.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
rob stewart says:
This should be called the Rod Strickland Award
March 6th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
D-Will will not start an all-star game for the West as long as Chris Paul is in the West. Chris Paul is more popular than D-Will and we all know all-star starters are based on popularity. I don’t necessarily agree with it but that’s how it is. Hell I’d say even Tony Parker is more popular than D-Will.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
ProphetGK says:
D-Will – will start next year.
Al Jefferson – will take Stoudamire’s place next year
Tayshaun Prince – His time has passed
Zach Randolph – no way he’s making it in the western conference
Kevin Durant – will be the next kobe, just wait for it
Josh Smith – if he hadn’t been in this season’s slump, he would’ve made it for sure
Stephen Jackson – Nayy for captain Jack
Kevin Martin – obviously won’t make it competing with kobe, b-roy, cp3, d-will etc.
A.I. 2 – if he gets better, he will take A.I.’s spot
Richard Jefferson – maybe in his glory days, but ain’t no way in hell he’s an all-star now
March 6th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
MoxWestCoastRep says:
@AB- yeah, you are probably right. I should have said “should” start over CP. Kind of sucks to think the D-will may NEVER start an all-star game tho but a lot can happen in that time (injuries, FA, trades).
Durant should be an all-star lock after this year, especially with the team improving.
March 6th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
vince says:
rod strickland!
March 6th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Delonte says:
Mike Bibby back in the early 2000’s. He was runnin that Kings team and they owned cats for a few years. Never got the nod.
March 6th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
YGB(Melo dropped 38. Wonder what he got next? says:
@AB Umm quick question do you think K-Mart 2 can get on the all star team anytime soon? He put’s up crazy numbers. But as we know his sqaud stinks.
March 6th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
kenadams says:
Wasn’t Deron averaging more points and assists than Billups and more assits and almost as much points than Parker? He should’ve been selected as a reserve!
March 6th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
. says:
what about camby?
March 6th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Lets Go Hawks says:
Josh Smith is not and has never performed for a half-a-season, let alone a full year, at a level to where he could be considered an all-star. I like his game(sometimes) but I just can’t see him being an all-star. His play has been disappointing at best this year and, at times, he is absolutely terrible. That being said, I still think he’s got great talent.
March 6th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
thomasmmm says:
zach randolph and s-jax may not make it because of reputation/conduct. d-will should definitely be in.
March 7th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Ian says:
austin like the list but not that last 3 those 3 players just arent good enough kmart is a second or even third guy on a team , same for iggy and lets not even get started on jefferson.
hedo should be in the list over those 3
March 7th, 2009 at 12:29 am
Ian says:
kenadams
denver was the third seed thats why billups got the nod
March 7th, 2009 at 1:50 am
jeremy says:
austin, did you catch mark jackson’s list of the best nba point guards this year during the denver game??
March 7th, 2009 at 2:57 am
Dave says:
Deron was hurt to start the year and really struggled early when he tried coming back to early. You could definitely see his frustration as he would see openings in the defense that normally he would expoit but because he was hurt it would go unaccomplished. Now that he’s hit his stride there is no way CP3 or Kobe or anyone can stop Deron when he needs to score the ball or get someone an open look. Not only that but he doesn’t rattle, never once have I seen Deton get to the point where he’s committing stupid fouls out of frustration. Mentally he’s in Kobe and Michael’s league which is why he owns CP3 head to head. Both teams are equally good, but CP3 and Deron both know that in the heat of battle Deron won’t falter either on offense or defense. Mark my words, Deron will get a chip before cp3 because Paul will never be able to beat Deron in a playoff series.
March 7th, 2009 at 2:58 am
Dave says:
and John Stockton had it, but never had the benefit of the skillset Deron has. This will be a fun ride watching DWill and the Jazz.
March 7th, 2009 at 3:27 am
Brian says:
When CP and D-Will go head to head, Paul gets trashed every time. He has the size, athleticism, mentality, and speed to be one of the all time greats. Not to mention that NASTY crossover. But I think Williams kind of likes to play with a chip on his shoulder. He will bring a championship out to Salt Lake eventually.
March 7th, 2009 at 6:17 am
Austin Burton says:
@jeremy — No, what did he say?
March 7th, 2009 at 9:47 am
heavy d says:
This year Josh Smith has been moving further away from potential all-star status and missed a good chunk of the early season as well, but last year he was headed toward all-star status because of all around game and the team just wasn’t good enough to merit a 2nd All-Star. He has the potential to get straightened out and the East definitely could use bigs for the All-Star bench up front, but it looks far away right now.
It’s like 3 circles that need to intersect for him to become an all-star and I have my doubts they will before his athleticism-based game starts to slip. The 3 circles are Hawks record good enough, Smith playing well enough in all around game, and competition for spots weak enough.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:05 am
joros says:
Turkoglu not in the list? i would put him up right behind prince and eliminate Randolph from the list.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:14 am
Sanpitch says:
@ 22
Mark Jackson holds no credibility with me. He could call me the best player to never play in the NBA and I wouldn’t even give it a second thought. That guy is so hard to listen to.
It’s a sham that Deron hasn’t made an All-Star game yet. Last year was just a joke, this year you could make a strong case for Chauncey and TP at the time. Since the All-Star selections, D-Will has outshined all PG’s, even CP3.
As far as him starting over CP3 in an All-Star game, won’t happen unless CP3 gets injured.
I thought Tayshaun was an All-Star but he was the one guy left out when Detroit had their starting 5 at the All-Star game.
D-Will is undeniably the top player on your list. Big gap between him and Al Jefferson, although Jefferson will get his very soon.
March 7th, 2009 at 10:30 am
doc says:
D Will more than a all star,he a top 10 player.
March 7th, 2009 at 11:55 am
Detroit Dave says:
How about Jason Terry and Ben Gordon, Marcus Camby
March 7th, 2009 at 11:56 am
Detroit Dave says:
Jamal Crawford
March 7th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Dirtball Rotten says:
Tayshaun Prince??? i dont know about that one champ…
Kevin Martin’s J is to ugly to put on an all-star stage for the whole world to see. Keep that in Sac-Town
March 7th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Dave says:
hopefully Deron never starts an All-Star game, he uses slights like that to motivate himself and at the end of the year he’ll be All-Pro again, this year and every year. CP3 can will all the popularity contests, shoe endorsements, fan apprecaition surveys, but at the end of the day Deron is tougher mentally and will continue to win games head to head with Paul.
March 7th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Melo2TDot says:
wats with the hate on Magloire.
if i recall corectly, he was the front runner for MVP that ASG if the east would have won
Rep T-dot
March 7th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Bilal says:
1. Deron Williams – he would have been if it wasnt for the great play by billups and parker, but theres no doubt that he is an all star
2. Al Jefferson – great player, bad team. but who knows if elton brand can make it to the allstar game playin for the clippers then maybe Al does have a good chance soon
3. Tayshaun Prince – should have been when all the other pistons did, dont see it happening though, too much competition at forward in the east (wow never thought id say that)
4. Zach Randolph – overrated
5. Kevin Durant – whats the BIG deal with him not being an allstar yet, come on its his 2nd season and we all know that he’ll become one sooner or later
6. Josh Smith – needs to grow up and get a jumper. in my view gerald wallace is better than josh smith
7. Stephen Jackson – might just be too late for captain jack, definatly has the talent but the attitude…questionable
8. Kevin Martin – maybe, just maybe is the kings start winning.
9. Andre Iguodala – he’s just not there yet, i want to seem something more from him
10. Richard Jefferson – nope never. member of the “i think i’m amazing” group. Kidd made him look great
March 7th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Austin Burton ... now on Twitter says:
Funny story about Hedo: At All-Star this year I met a reporter from a newspaper in Turkey who’s sole mission that weekend was to let everyone know that Hedo got robbed for the last two All-Star Games. Every time I saw him interviewing a player, even if it was somebody random like David West, he was asking them, “Don’t you think Hedo should have been here?”
March 7th, 2009 at 7:07 pm
ab_40 says:
chris paul, tony parker and deron williams will be interchangeble in the all start games over the next 4/5 years. They all have their own strengths and weaknesses and scare the team you’re rooting for one way or another. Al Jefferson, Andrew Bynum, Greg Oden these are the guys that should compete for the center spot with yao ming over the years but unless anyone of these players starts posting dominant numbers that’s 20 and 10 + ór change their nationality in chinese that ain’t gonna happen.
And on hedo I think he’s on the same level as rashard and he should’ve made instead of himt this year… they’re both not all star worthy but who cares it’s the east. plus they were coached by mike brown who has a very thin offensive playbook
March 7th, 2009 at 9:17 pm
Mo says:
Ya’ll must’ve forgot that Magloire was playing damn good that season in the weak ass Eastern Conference when he made that All-Star team.
March 7th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Yoshi says:
@ Dmitry
Could you specify the year RJ was an all star???
Apparently all the websites I’ve been looking at, NBA.com included have no records to RJ being an All Star, they all go their facts wrong
That or
GET YOU FACTS STRAIGHT FOOL!!! RJ has never been an all star!
March 7th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
matt says:
I honestly thought that Hedo made the all-star list last year with Howard, but I guess not, he was just in the running to take up one of the injured spots I guess?
The All-Star starters are based on popularity. Hence Deron Williams will never start unless he absolutely destroys it one year and leads Utah to a ’ship and gets the Finals MVP trophy, and even then, since Utah is a small market, even then not that many people will probably pay much attention to him.
As for the other guys on the list, Kevin Durant and Josh Smith are probably the guys that will get off this list next year along with D-Will
March 8th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Lanfeas says:
Marcus Camby should be on this list.
DWill was hurt towards the start of the year and that hurt his chances.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:34 am
YGB says:
@AB It would have been cool if you would have answered my quesiton.Not cool at all dude.
March 9th, 2009 at 4:24 am
Austin Burton says:
@YGB — I didn’t see your question until now. I think K-Mart’s only chance of making an All-Star roster in the West is if he has a year where he’s in the Top-5 in scoring come All-Star time and somebody out of the Kobe/CP/Roy/Billups/Parker/Deron group is either hurt or having a down year.
March 9th, 2009 at 8:21 am
rena the great says:
Funny how Tayshaun Prince is good enough for the Olympic team, but not the All Star Game. Oh, right, that team was chosen by a coach who knew what he was doing, not fans.
March 9th, 2009 at 10:04 am
budz says:
josh smith????
are you kidding me?
March 9th, 2009 at 11:30 am
MissChick says:
1. Deron Williams – Will make it next year. He’s more explosive than CP3 and has a slighty better J
2. Al Jefferson – Might make it next year depending on how his knee heals
3. Tayshaun Prince – Unfortunately will never make it since defense is never glorified in the NBA.
4. Zach Randolph – no way, should never make it. Too many PFs way ahead of him.
5. Kevin Durant – bad team, still young, but not yet
6. Josh Smith – still young, will make it someday
7. Stephen Jackson – Ok number wise, but attitude and precieved image will snub him every year, thankfully.
8. Kevin Martin – bad team, especially in the west
9. Andre Iguodala – All around good stats, doesn’t excel in anything in particular. Just an “average” player.
10. Richard Jefferson – window has closed for RJ to make All-Stars, especially now that he is on a bad team.
March 9th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
YGB says:
@AB Thanks dude. Apperciate it. Umm quick question. Does RJ Still have a chance? In your opinon?
March 9th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Austin Burton says:
Nah, RJ is done. Not done as an NBA player, but he’d have to put up career-highs (especially in Milwaukee) to get consideration now.
March 9th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
YGB says:
@AB Thanks again dude. Eh what about Greg Oden? I know he get’s hurt constantly. But do you see him in any all star games?
March 10th, 2009 at 1:20 am
NYCBalla says:
D-will would have been an all-star the last two seasons if he played for a bigger market team. I’m pretty confident that if CP3 went to Utah and D-Will went to NO that D-Will would get the all-star nod and have more “street cred” if you will.
If I could pick anybody in the leage not named Lebron or Kobe to build my Knicks around it would be D-Will.
March 10th, 2009 at 4:03 am
Austin Burton ... now on Twitter says:
I think Oden will be an All-Star someday. He won’t start as long as Yao is around, and he has some tough competition with guys like Bynum, Jefferson, Nene and Okur around, but if he stays healthy he has All-Star talent.
March 10th, 2009 at 10:27 am
kenadams says:
What about Paul Millsap? He was putting up about 20 and 10 while Boozer was injured…
March 10th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
SoulOnIce says:
If Okur makes another All-Star team, it’s because Deron Williams will continue to set the table for him.
Same with Millsap, AK-47, and Boozer.
No disrespect to their games; Deron just makes life much easier for them on the court.
AB, do me a favor, and check out the latest post (click on my name), and tell me what you think…
March 11th, 2009 at 2:16 am
YGB says:
@AB Thanks for the all the feedback. Apperciate it.
May 4th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Mike Bibby says:
MIKE BIBBY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 27th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Seven Duece says:
How in the hell is Josh Smith on this list?
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Raymond says:
I agree about Bibby. Why the hell hasn’t he ever been an all-star? In 04-05, he put up better stats than Billups.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
JG says:
marcus camby!!!!! one of the best shot blockers and rebounders ever. he’s gotta be on this list. probably in the top 5. 2.5 blks a game and 10 rebs a game for his career