This is a basketball site, but if you’ll indulge me for a moment, here’s a quick football story. The NFL just had its Pro Bowl, the equivalent of the NBA All-Star Game. Because football is such a violent sport, players will often skip participating.
To soften the physical impact, the NFL did away with a full-contact game, opting for things like flag football, dodgeball, and various skills contests.
Yet many players (AFC quarterbacks, in particular) are still opting out. None of the originally selected AFC quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow — are attending Las Vegas for the Pro Bowl. Mahomes is preparing for the Super Bowl, while Allen and Burrow have decided not to play as they recover from rough postseasons.
Thanks to several other injuries, Baltimore’s Tyler Huntley is officially a Pro Bowler — he made it as the fourth alternate.
Huntley threw passes in six regular season games. He amassed fewer than 700 passing yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. And he’s an NFL All-Star. Wild.
With the NBA All-Star Game coming up next week, it made me wonder…who are some of the most obscure NBA All-Stars?
Theo Ratliff, Philadelphia 76ers, 2001
Theo Ratliff led the league in blocks three times over a five-year span.
The first of those years was during the 2000-01 season. He averaged 3.7 blocks per game while putting up career-high averages of 12.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 36 minutes per game.
Ratliff also benefitted from playing with Allen Iverson at his peak. The 76ers would go on to reach the NBA Finals later this season.
Yet no one comes to All-Star Weekend and looks forward to defense, so it was still odd to see Ratliff making the team.
And perhaps most bafflingly, Ratliff, who only played in 50 games during the 2000-01 season, decided to skip the All-Star Game festivities entirely.
Maybe he thought future opportunities would be out there — but they never came.
James Donaldson, Dallas Mavericks, 1988
Much like Huntley, James Donaldson was an injury replacement. Pat Riley selected the 7’2″ center even though his averages of 7.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game don’t leap off the page.
Donaldson’s journey to All-Star status really started two years earlier. He went from the Los Angeles Clippers — probably the most dysfunctional team ever — to the Dallas Mavericks, who were very good during the mid-late 80s.
When asked how he felt about leaving the Clippers for the Mavericks, Donaldson said it was like dying and going to heaven.
Kyle Korver, Atlanta Hawks, 2015
There’s no question Kyle Korver is one of the best shooters in league history. There’s also no doubt he’s among the top knee sock guys the NBA has ever seen.
Those two skills alone typically don’t translate into All-Star Game inclusion. But the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks were the top team in the Eastern Conference, so voters and coaches alike went wild.
Korver was among four Hawks selected that year despite his fairly pedestrian stats: 12.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists.
Jamaal Magloire, New Orleans Hornets, 2004
Sometimes you just need to put up one strong season. Jamaal Magloire had that season in 2003-04.
Magloire became only the second Canadian (after Steve Nash) to make an All-Star Game. He posted career-highs in points (13.6), rebounds (10.3), and minutes (33.9).
In the game itself, Magloire effectively used his time, scoring 19 points and grabbing eight rebounds in 21 minutes.
Chris Gatling, Dallas Mavericks, 1997
Chris Gatling spent more than a decade in the NBA, bouncing around eight different teams. For the most part, he was a classic journeyman: A solid player but never a star.
His career averages shook out to 10.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and a 17.6 PER, or player efficiency rating. Again, solid numbers, but nothing you’d call your friend about, and then they’d ask why you were calling just to shout stats at them.
During the 1996-97 season, Gatling suddenly became MUCH more proficient on the court. He averaged 19 points and 7.9 rebounds while posting a 23.9 PER.
The Mavericks ultimately traded Gatling shortly after the All-Star break. Beyond this season, he never found his groove again.
HOWEVER, he can lay claim to having one of the best reactions to being posterized, which happened when Shawn Kemp demolished him with this dunk.
Remember — always be a good sport out there.
This issue is presented by Craig Leener.
Lawrence Tuckerman is a fan of probabilities — well, any numbers and math, really. It’s an interest that goes hand-in-hand with his autism. It’s also how he met his best friend Zeke, who is off fulfilling his dream of playing basketball at the University of Kansas. Now Lawrence expects his life in Los Angeles to become even less social and more routine — just the way he likes it. He plans to finish high school as he pursues his own far-off dream of manning Earth’s first mission to Mars…
Then the improbable happens: Lawrence is recruited for a top-secret mission of cosmic proportions! The whole operation relies on him realizing the full potential of his 1-in-6-billion mind—without freaking out. The rocket-science math is a no-brainer, but is he made of the right stuff to manage the communication and cooperation of a team effort… without his best friend?
Grab There’s No Basketball on Mars at craigleener.com.
