The All-Not-Quite team

Taking a look at the best non-All-Stars ever

By John Hollinger, CNNSI.com

All-Star Game reserves were announced Tuesday, and 14 freshly minted All-Stars are getting their plane tickets to Atlanta.

But every year, there are a few guys left out who feel they deserve to be there, and that brings up an interesting question: Who is the best player never to make an All-Star Game?

First, let's set the rules of the debate. I'm intentionally ignoring the the Shawn Marions, Pau Gasols and Mike Bibbys of the world, who have yet to make the squad but will at some point in their still-nascent careers. I'll look only at players who are either retired or currently in their 30s.

Access Denied Top scorers to never play in an NBA All-Star Game Player  Points  Eddie Johnson  19,202  Derek Harper  16,006  Sam Perkins  15,324  Byron Scott  15,097  James Edwards  14,862  Ron Harper  13,910  Chuck Person  13,858  Rod Strickland  13,733*  Orlando Woolridge  13,623   Wayman Tisdale  12,878  * - active

A good place to start is the all-time scoring list. The leading scorer never to get picked for the midseason classic is Eddie Johnson, a high-scoring forward who put together 17 years of close-but-no-cigar efforts for the Kansas City and Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and four other clubs.

Johnson averaged more than 20 points a game only three times, however, and scoring was his only skill, so his omission isn't terribly surprising.

That may be why, when folks are nominating their choices for the best never to make the midseason classic, Johnson is rarely the pick. Two other prominent players from the 1980s are mentioned more often: Derek Harper and Byron Scott.

Scott is fourth on the non-All-Star scoring list. The guard from the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s and current New Jersey Nets head coach had one particular season when his exclusion was bizzare. He averaged 21.7 points on 52.7 percent shooting for the 1987-88 Lakers, but was bypassed in favor of the not-quite-immortal James Donaldson. While his omission was glaring that year, Scott averaged more than 17 points in only one other campaign.

Harper is second on the list and has a strong case all around. He averaged between 16 and 19 points seven straight years for the Mavericks, and better than seven assists in five of them. His Mavericks were winners as well, and, unlike most of the other players in this discussion, he played excellent defense.

Passed Up Top assist men to never play in an NBA All-Star Game Player  Assists  Rod Strickland  6,986*  Tyrone Bogues  6,726  Derek Harper  6,577  John Lucas  6,454   * - active

There's one other point guard can make a strong case and is making it stronger every year. Last season, Rod Strickland of Minnesota passed Muggsy Bogues for the all-time lead in assists among non-All-Stars, and he's moved up to sixth on the scoring list.

Unfortunately, Strickland had the bad habit of getting arrested or in spats with coaches in the weeks leading up to the voting, which resulted in his exclusion despite a five-year string in Portland and Washington in which he never averaged fewer than 17.2 points or 8.8 assists. His aversion to defense probably didn't help his case, either.

There are a few other players worth mentioning. Before he earned five rings following Phil Jackson around, Ron Harper had three 20-point-per-game seasons for the Cavaliers and Clippers. But he suffered a knee injury just when he was about to get his due and was never the same afterward.

Big men like James Edwards and Sam Perkins also had solid careers, but never had a year that could be pointed out as worthy of selection. Similarly, rent-a-gunners like Chuck Person and Dell Curry show up high on the scoring list, but they were one-dimensional talents who didn't merit inclusion.

Harkening back a few decades, some older fans nominate K.C. Jones. He was a fantastic defensive stopper for the Celtics, but it was tough for him to get named an All-Star since he never averaged double figures despite playing in an era in which 125-120 games were common.

Instant Poll Who is the best player never to play in the NBA All-Star Game? Sam Cassell Derek Harper Ron Harper Eddie Johnson K.C. Jones Drazen Petrovic Aryvdas Sabonis Byron Scott Rod Strickland View Results

Besides Jones, there are three players to rival Scott, Strickland and Harper who aren't anywhere near the top of the scoring chart.

The first two had their careers shortened at one end by the Cold War and at the other by tragedy: Arvydas Sabonis and Drazen Petrovic. Sabonis was damaged goods by the time he joined the Trail Blazers, while Petrovic was just coming into his own as a scorer when he was tragically killed in a car accident. Petrovic averaged 22.3 points a game in his last season, and it was just his fourth in the league.

So who's the best player never to make it? It may not be any of these.

This season, as with four of the five previous seasons, Milwaukee's Sam Cassell has played just well enough to not quite make the All-Star team. It's the fifth in the past six years in which he's averaged at least 18 points and six assists, and, given that he's averaging a career-high 19.7 points per game, it might be the best of the bunch. But at 33, Cassell's All-Star days are probably behind him, especially with high-scoring teammate Ray Allen around to poach votes.

Best of the Rest
	Career				Best Season
Player	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%	Year	PPG	RPG	APG	FG%
Sam Cassell	15.7	3.3	6.2	44.9	1999-00	18.6	3.7	9.0	44.6
Derek Harper	13.3	2.4	5.5	46.3	1990-91	19.7	3.0	7.1	46.7
Ron Harper	14.1	4.3	4.0	44.5	1986-87	22.9	4.8	4.8	45.5
Eddie Johnson	16.0	4.0	2.1	47.2	1984-85	22.9	5.0	3.3	49.1
K.C. Jones	7.4	3.5	4.3	38.7	1965-66	8.6	3.8	6.3	38.8
Drazen Petrovic	15.4	2.3	2.4	50.6	1992-93	22.3	2.7	3.5	51.8
Arvydas Sabonis	12.5	7.6	2.1	50.1	1997-98	16.0	10.0	3.0	49.3
Byron Scott	14.1	2.8	2.5	48.2	1987-88	21.7	4.1	4.1	52.7
Rod Strickland	13.9	3.8	7.6	45.6	1992-93	18.9	5.0	8.8	46.6

John Hollinger covers the NBA for CNNSI.com and is the author of Pro Basketball Prospectus