We recently broke down the most talented and best players never selected to a NBA All-Star Game who deserved it and today we want to shed light on five whose one-time selection means a whole lot.
It just wouldn’t make sense if the following players (and a few more listed below) couldn’t call themselves an NBA All-Star. It would be a travesty for a couple (including one hall of famer) and is a nice touch on the career for a few others.

(Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
1. Reggie Lewis, small forward (1988-1993)
- All-Star Season: 1991-1992 (20.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.5 spg, 1.3 bpg)
What Makes It Special: The skinny reserve from famed Dunbar (Baltimore, Md.) was a gem of a recruit for Jim Calhoun at Northeastern and a hell of a draft pick for Red Auerbach in 1987 at No. 22 overall, the third Dunbar player off its magical 1982-83 team to be drafted in the first round that year. By Lewis’ second season, it was clear he was a major player and seemed destined for multiple all-star games and was hoping to captain the Celtics to contention after its 1980s nucleus aged.
His selection to the 1992 game in Orlando solicited Lewis’ status as the Celtics’ new star, but it all came crashing down when he collapsed on the court vs. the Charlotte Hornets in a 1993 playoff game and died during an off-season workout from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. It’s a nice ring to say he will always be remembered as an All-Star after his life was snuffed out at age 27.
2. Calvin Murphy, point guard (1971-1983)
- All-Star Season: 1978-1979 (20.2 ppg, .496 FG, .928 FT, 4.3 apg, 1.4 spg)
What Makes It Special: Murphy was a dominant player on all these levels of the game and is in the Naismith Hall of Fame, so it’s nice to say he made one all-star team. Looking over his numbers season-by-season, it’s incredible he only made it once. Murphy averaged over 18.2 ppg seven times, peaking at 25.6 ppg in 1977-78, and was very durable, playing over 76 games or more for his first 11 seasons.
Considering he was already a legend at Norwalk (Conn.) High School recruited by 300 colleges and a three-time All-American at Niagara University, not making one all-star team would have been a huge oversight. After all, Murphy was one of the best guards in the league during the 1970s.
3. Antonio McDyess, power forward (1996-2011)
- All-Star Season: 2000-2001 (20.8 ppg, 12.1 rpg, 1.5 bpg)
What Makes It Special: If Dice didn’t make that all-star team at 26, he might be even more forgotten and under appreciated than he already is. Trust us when we tell you if it weren’t for the crippling injuries, McDyess is a likely hall of famer.
McDyess actually made third team All-NBA in the strike-shortened campaign in 1998-99, and should probably have made the all-star game in 1999-2000 as well. He is well respected by his peers and can always look up and say he’s an NBA all-star.
4. Lionel Hollins, point guard (1976-1985)
- All-Star Season: 1977-1978 (15.9 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.7 apg, 1.9 spg)
What Makes It Special: The L-Train is well known as a coach, but many don’t realize he was a talented young point guard on a NBA championship team. He was a quarterback and a defensive menace on a team that won the 1977 NBA title as one of its youngest teams.
The next season when he was just 24 years old, the Blazers were on a historic pace when Hall of Fame center Bill Walton went down with injury. Many feel the Blazers were on the verge of a dynasty and Hollins would have been a key cog accumulating major accolades in his prime. As it is, Hollins also played at an all-star level in 1978-79, but was traded by Portland in 1979-80.

5. Danny Ainge, shooting guard
- All-Star Season: 1987-1988 (15.7 ppg, .415 3pt, .854 FT, 3.1 rpg, 6.2 apg, 1.4 spg)
What Makes It Special: The four players he eventually started with on the Boston Celtics 1980s dynasty are all in the Hall of Fame (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson) and since he’s not quite to that level as a player, it has a nice ring to say he made the all-star game once. That came in 1988, the last year when that core was a major championship contender. Ainge helped Boston win the title in 1984 off the bench as was a starter of its great 1986 team.
Ainge also was a key sixth man on some fine Portland teams in the early 1990s and helped the Suns reach the 1993 NBA Finals when he was runner-up for NBA Sixth Man of the Year. A winner and great athlete, not many can say they were an all-star in one pro sport and a pro athlete in another (MLB) as Ainge can. He’s also known for being a terrific NBA executive.
Other Notable One-Time All-Stars
- Alvan Adams
- Kenny Anderson
- Fred Brown
- Tyson Chandler
- Sleepy Floyd
- A.C. Green
- Steve Johnson
- DeAndre Jordan
- Calvin Natt
- Cliff Robinson
- Lonnie Shelton
- John Starks
- Gerard Wallace