To be All-Star throughout a career is not given to everyone in the history of the NBA. Even monuments of their generation like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James have at least had a season without the pangs of the league’s grand gala. They are only five to have been All-Stars every year, from the first to the last year of their career.
Let us immediately set aside the special case of Yao Ming, who only played 8 seasons in the NBA but was always retained thanks to the massive vote of the fans of his country, even on the seasons during which he played very little. In his last season, the Chinese only appeared five times but was still invited to the All-Star Game.
The player with the longest career consistently crowned with appearances in the All-Star Game is none other than Julius Erving. Dr J played 16 years between 1971 and 1987 and did not miss a single appointment.
Jerry West spent 14 seasons in the NBA between 1960 and 1974, three more than Bob Pettitthe St Louis superstar, the only team to defeat Bill Russell’s Celtics in a title campaign.
Finally, Paul Arizinanother member of the NBA’s Top 75 All-Time Players list, used his 10 seasons in the league (with a two-year hiatus to fight in the U.S. Army for the Korean War) by also being All-Star all the time.
Among the glories to have missed the cut for a single short season, we will therefore note, in bulk:
- Michael Jordan (in 1995, since he had only played 17 regular season games)
- Larry Bird (in 1989 due to Achilles tendon surgery)
- Magic Johnson (for a cartilage injury during his sophomore season in 1981)
- LeBron James et Kobe Bryant (during their rookie season in 2004 and 1997)
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (in 1978, because of a fight and a suspension for 20 matches)
- Wilt Chamberlain (1970, due to injury)
- Bill Russell (1957, his rookie season marked by 24 absence matches through injury)
- Isiah Thomas (1993, hand injury after hitting Bill Laimbeer in practice)
- Bob Cousywho came out of retirement for 7 games in 1970 and screwed up his membership card with the must-have All-Stars club.
