The most notable NBA players to never make an All-Star team

Bibby was part of some special teams in Sacramento during the first decade of the 2000s. Already a solid point guard and floor leader, Bibby came into his own as a scorer while with the Kings. He averaged 18.4 points in 2003-04, 19.6 the next season and a career-best 21.1 in 2005-06. For his entire 14-year NBA career, Bibby averaged 14.7 points and 5.5 assists, while also playing for the Grizzlies franchise, Atlanta, Washington, New York and Miami. However, he had no All-Star nod to boast about.

One of the NBA's all-time great shot blockers, Camby totaled 2,331 blocks (for a 2.40 per-game career average), during his 17-year NBA career. Four times, the 6-foot-11 Camby was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team — twice a first-teamer (2007 and '08 with Denver). Following that 2006-07 campaign, Camby was honored as the NBA Defensive Player of the Year while pulling down 11.7 rebounds and posting 3.3 blocks per game. Six times Camby averaged a double-double for points and rebounds, and recorded four triple-double games, but never received an All-Star nod.

Though he never passed up a shot he didn't like (41 percent career shooter), Crawford played parts of 20 NBA seasons from 2001-2020, and is one of the game's most-noted scorers. When all was said and done, Crawford scored 19,419 career points and was honored as a three-time recipient NBA Sixth Man of the Year (2010, '14, '16). He averaged a career-high 20.6 points with the New York Knicks in 2007-08 and is the second player in league history to produce at least 10,000 points as a bench player, but he retired without an All-Star appearance. 

When it came to Ford, it seemed his best opportunity to make an All-Star team came early in his NBA career. The first three seasons from 1979-81, to be exact, with the Kansas City Kings. That's when Ford averaged 15.9 points, 16.2 and 17.5 per game in each of his first three seasons, respectively, also earning Rookie of the Year honors at the conclusion of the 1978-79 season. By the end of the 1981-82 season, Ford failed to average double-digit scoring, and by the fall of 1985 he was out of the league. Still, early in his career, Ford was an exciting guard with seemingly endless potential.

This is a no-brainer. One of the league's top guards from 1985-93, Harper and Rolando Blackman (a four-time All-Star) formed one of the best backcourts in the game while starring for the Dallas Mavericks. Harper scored more than 16,000 points and recorded better than 6,500 assists during his stellar NBA career, and was consistently one of the Association's best defenders. That said, the two-time NBA All-Defensive second teamer, whose No. 12 was retired by the Mavericks, was criminally left off an All-Star roster during his pro tenure.

At the end of the day, failing to earn an All-Star nod might not be all that bad in Harper's world. Come on, the guy was part of five NBA Championship teams (three with Chicago, two with the Los Angeles Lakers) during his 15-year career (1987-2001), but certainly enjoyed some individual success. The consummate team player, Harper averaged 18 or more points seven times in his first eight NBA seasons, which he spent between Cleveland and the Los Angeles Clippers. Harper also averaged nearly 4 assists per contest during his career.

Ibaka might not be an obvious name to make this list when it comes to the casual NBA fan. But the 7-footer, who was in the league as recently as 2022-23, built a pretty impressive resume as a versatile NBA big man. While he averaged 12 points — and made 35.9 percent of his 3-point attempts — and 7.1 rebounds per game in 14 seasons, Ibaka was best known for his interior defense. He averaged 1.9 blocks for his NBA tenure, and was the league's leader in blocks four times consecutively with Oklahoma City between 2010-14 and twice recognized as the league leader in blocks per game in that span. Ibaka was also named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in '12, '13 and '14, but never an All-Star, though he did won a championship with Toronto in 2019.

Jumping straight from high school to the NBA, the 6-10 Jefferson spent 14 seasons in the league, playing for five different teams, and averaging 15.7 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. During the 2013-14 campaign while in Charlotte, Jefferson averaged a double-double for the fourth and final time in his career, with 21.8 points and 10.8 boards per game, to earn All-NBA Third Team honors. Yet, Jefferson was not named an All-Star that season, nor any of the other three when he averaged better than 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Following a successful collegiate career at Illinois, Johnson enjoyed a 19-year NBA run, where he posted more than 19,200 points, 4,800 rebounds and 2,500 assists. Three times Johnson averaged more 21.5 or more points per game, and he shot 47.2 percent from the field while playing for six different franchises. He was even named NBA Sixth Man of the Year with the Phoenix Suns for the 1988-89 campaign. Yet, Johnson was never considered the "star" of his team. Not only is it a surprise that Johnson was never named an All-Star, there are some NBA experts and insiders who believe he should be in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, too.

At various points in Kukoc's successful 13-year NBA career, he was overshadowed by the likes of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Still, Kukoc's best NBA seasons came with the Chicago Bulls from 1993-94 through 1998-99, when he averaged better than 13.1 points per game in five consecutive campaigns, was the league's Sixth Man of the Year (1996) and won three titles. In 1998-99, Kukoc averaged career highs of 18.8 points and 7.0 — both leading the team — and was not an All-Star. Then again, the Bulls were 13-37 that season.

Martin averaged 17.4 points during his 12-year NBA career (2005-16), with a majority of his success coming as a member of the Sacramento Kings, and then the Houston Rockets. From 2006-07 to 2010-11, Martin averaged 22.5 points and shot 38.5 percent from 3-point range. While Martin certainly made a name for himself by his third season in the league, he was overshadowed by other notable guards in the Western Conference (like Kobe Bryant, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Brandon Roy) during the first decade of the 2000s. Not to mention, he played in Sacramento, where the Kings were competitive but far from nationally prominent.

Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell played 11 seasons in the NBA, including his first eight with Boston, where he won a pair of world championships (1981, '84). In fact, he was named NBA Finals MVP in 1981, when he averaged 17.7 points, on 56.8-percent shooting, and 9.5 rebounds as the Celtics dispatched the Houston Rockets in six games. Overall, Maxwell — one of the most dependable, yet underrated players in NBA history — averaged 12.5 points on 54.6-percent shooting, and 6.3 rebounds for his career.

The only active player we'll highlight on this list. The 2023-24 season is the 11th in the NBA for McCollum, who averages more than 19 points per game — while shooting better than 45 percent — for his career. In eight of those seasons, McCollum averaged 20.8 points or better while starring for Portland, before landing in New Orleans. Unfortunately for McCollum, he's spent most of his career playing in the shadow of Damian Lillard while in the Pacific. Currently, he finds himself alongside All-Stars Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson with the Pelicans.

Another under-the-radar and underappreciated performer, Miller played 1,304 games during 17 impressive NBA seasons (2000-16). And for that tenure, Miller totaled 16,278 points, 8,524 assists and 4,795 rebounds while starring for nine NBA teams. Thus, that makes Miller the only player in league history to record at least 16,000 points, 8,000 assists and 1,500 steals without being selected or named to an All-Star team. In 2001-02 with Cleveland, Miller led the NBA averaging 10.9 assists, while also scoring 16.5 points per game.

All but two of Odom's 14 NBA seasons were played in Los Angeles between time with the Clippers and Lakers. He won back-to-back titles with the Lakers in 2009 and '10, and was the NBA Sixth Man of the Year in 2011. Twice during his career, Odom averaged a double-double for points and rebounds. And for his career, he averaged 13.3 points, 8.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists per contest, but never managed to be named an All-Star, He did provide plenty of drama off the court, though, so Odom was quite the NBA celebrity during and after his playing days.

Steady and solid, Perkins was as dependable as they came during his 17-year NBA career, which ran from 1984-85 all the way to 2000-01. That career spanned 1,286 games for Perkins, who recorded 15,324 points, 7,666 rebounds, 1,975 assists, 1,105 steals and 933 blocks. Perkins was an exceptional team player and usually delivered for his teams — notably Dallas, the Los Angeles Lakers and Seattle — he was never really the star of those squads. Perhaps that's all why he was never privy to an All-Star nod. 

Scott was nothing but solid during his 14-year NBA career. He won three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers (1985, '87, '88), averaged 14.1 points and shot 48.2 percent in the NBA. He averaged a career-high 21.7 points in 1987-88 and 19.6 the next season. However, Scott was usually in the shadow of Magic Johnson — and the other Lakers superstars, to a certain extent — which makes sense as to why he was never named to an All-Star team. By the time he left L.A. in the mid-1990s to play for the Indiana Pacers, Scott was a role player nearing the end of a successful career.

Strickland (Kyrie Irving's godfather) played 17 seasons (1989-2005) in the NBA and scored more than 14,000 points while dishing out nearly 8,000 assists across 1,094 career games. The guard was a second-team All-NBA selection in 1997-98 for averaging 17.8 points and a league-leading 10.5 assists per game (801 total) for Washington. Yet, Strickland was not named an All-Star that season, or any other time during his career, which, among NBA critics, pundits and experts, makes him one of the best players never to earn such a distinction.

In 2009, Terry was named NBA Sixth Man of the Year for averaging 19.6 points for the Dallas Mavericks. Then two years later, he helped the Mavs win the NBA title. In 19 NBA seasons, Terry proved himself to one of the top combo guards ever to play the game, averaged a career 13.4 points and has long been considered one of the league's top 3-pointer shooters — making 2,282 baskets from beyond the arc as 38-percent shooter in that department. All that, but no All-Star honor to boast about. 

Like the aforementioned Jamal Crawford, Williams is one of the great all-time sixth men to ever play in the NBA. Williams, who played 17 seasons, joins Crawford as the only players to win the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award (2015, '18, '19) three times, and made just 122 starts over 1,123 official regular-season contests. Williams, who totaled 15,593 career points (but shot just 41.9 percent), averaged a career-high 22.6 for the Los Angeles Clippers in 2017-18 and 20.0 the next season. He also recorded more than 3,700 assists, 2,400 rebounds and 950 steals — without ever getting an All-Star selection.