NBA All-Star Game: 15 Players Who Could Make Their First All-Star Appearance
This slideshow will take a look at 15 players who have emerged this year as legitimate All-Star candidates.
Obviously, with only 24 players making the All-Star team and many repeat players getting voted in by fans or selected by the coaches, not all of these players can make the All-Star team, but this will look at some who maybe should.
15. Darren Collison
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Darren Collison burst onto the scene last year when Chris Paul went down with a knee injury. Filling in for Paul, Collison did his best impersonation of him, averaging near a double double with 19 points and nine assists per game.
While he isn't quite putting up numbers that good this season (14 and four), he is still playing well. It doesn't look like this year will be his year, but you have to figure eventually that Collison will be an All-Star.
14. Jrue Holiday
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Another second-year point guard like Collison, Jrue Holiday is having consistency issues, but from time to time he is having big games.
His scoring is similar to Collison's (13.7 ppg), but he is getting more assists with 7.1 a game, and he is playing solid defense (1.6 steals a game).
13. Nenê
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Nenê has been injured most of this year but made the list simply because he has been overlooked for years for some reason.
I guess his stats aren't all that flashy, but they are very solid, and he is the kind of guy that really helps a team win. You'd think the coaches would realize that.
12. Jeff Green
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Playing in the shadow of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant, Jeff Green seldom gets the respect and notice he deserves. He's a bit of a tweener but is one of the better forwards in the league and should eventually make a few All-Star teams, if not this year.
11. Brook Lopez
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Lopez would have made it last year if not for being on the second worst team in NBA history. He's solid as they come, and though he isn't rebounding it well enough this year, he is still the best player on the Nets and one of the best centers in the game.
10. Eric Gordon
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Like most of the players from Team USA this summer, Eric Gordon is having a great season. The problem here, like it was for Lopez last year, is that the Clippers are absolutely horrendous. It's hard to overlook Gordon, but I have a feeling he will be overlooked.
9. Roy Hibbert
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Hibbert is now arguably the second best center in the league behind Dwight Howard. While he hasn't been at the top long, he has made gigantic strides this year. His 18 and nine a game is helping the Pacers, who look to be a playoff team this year.
8. Blake Griffin
8 of 15Seldom do "rookies" make the All-Star team, but Blake Griffin has been turning heads and dropping jaws all year long. Some of his dunks already have gone down as the greatest of all time, like the head-popping jaw over Timofey Mozgov.
7. John Wall
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Alongside Blake Griffin, we're seeing two of the biggest impact rookie seasons in quite a while. Wall isn't making the Wizards relevant, but he is making himself into a household name rather quickly. He's averaging 18 points, nine assists and 2.8 steals so far.
6. Luis Scola
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Scola has cooled a little since his ridiculous start but is still a legit All-Star candidate. He's nearly having a 20-10 season (20.6 and 9.1) and is making Rockets fans forget Yao Ming altogether.
5. Kevin Love
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Putting up a 30-30 game pretty much speaks for itself. Even Dwight Howard hasn't dominated one like that. It's hard to see how Love doesn't make the All-Star team as a reserve this year.
4. Rudy Gay
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Some balked when Gay received a max contract this summer, but he has silenced those doubters by averaging 21 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.4 spg and 1.1 bpg. There's absolutely no way he gets overlooked this year.
3. Paul Millsap
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Millsap has had a great season so far, but most impressive was his outburst against the Miami Heat, a game in which the Jazz trailed big at the half. That night, Millsap had 46 points and nine boards against one of the toughest defensive teams in the league.
2. Joakim Noah
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I have to admit, when Noah was at Florida, watching him my thoughts were that he would "make a good backup center in the NBA" when his time at Florida was done.
He's not the most fluid, but he is one of the hardest workers and best rebounders in the NBA. This year he is averaging 15 ppg and 13 rpg.
1. Raymond Felton
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It's really hard to say why Felton is overlooked by so many—still. Granted, in Charlotte he didn't put up the numbers he is now, but why isn't he receiving the attention now, especially playing in the Big Apple?
He's averaging 18.2 ppg, 4.1 rpg and 8.1 assists per game. His averages show he is one of the best point guards in the league, so why doesn't anyone recognize it?
