With the NBA All-Star Weekend coming up, Diminishing Skills will be dedicating an entire week to the festivities. Today, we start things off with part 2 of our riveting 50 Most Wanted NBA Jerseys series. Appropriately, this installment's focus is on desirable All-Star Game jerseys. Enjoy.
11. 2004 Jamaal Magloire, New Orleans Hornets
The poster boy for terrible All-Star selections, Magloire actually performed quite well in the game, leading the East with 19 points.
12. 1995 Dan Majerle, Phoenix Suns/13. 1994 B.J. Armstrong, Chicago Bulls
These guys both started, which Western Conference shooting guards from 1995 and Eastern Conference point guards from 1994 should take as a slap in the face. Armstrong averaged 14.8 points and 3.9 assists per game in 1993-94, and his PER was a below-average 14.5. Eric Murdock would have been a better pick to start (20.3 PER), but he didn't even sniff the All-Star game (Mark Price actually finished the season first in PER among point guards--22.7--so he was probably a pretty good alternative to Armstrong, as well). Majerle, while better than Armstrong, was still very average (15.1 PER) while betraying his reputation as a long-range marksman with 36.3% shooting from downtown. Ricky Pierce (like Murdock, an All-Star snub) would have been a better choice to start, as evidenced by his 20.8 PER, first in the NBA among shooting guards.
14. 1989/1991 Kevin Duckworth, Portland Trailblazers
This dude was just so fat, I laugh whenever I think of him as an All-Star. I don't have time to do the research, but I would be shocked if there is another two-time All-Star who has a worse career PER than Duckworth's 11.9. This jersey would of course have to be in XXXL.
15. 1990 Fat Lever, Denver Nuggets
A solid player who's stats were inflated by Doug Moe's breakneck style, Lever had a tremendous four-year peak from 1986-90, averaging a 20.45 PER per season. Which is great, but I only want his jersey because of his awesome name.
16. 2003 Isiah Thomas (coach's suit), Indiana Pacers/17. 2007 Eddie Jordan (coach's suit), Washington Wizards
It's hard to imagine a world where Thomas and Jordan were eligible to coach the NBA All-Star game. But never forget, this is the same world where Byron Scott did it twice, and Mike Brown at least spit into his cup once on the All-Star game sideline(it is debatable if any of the East All-Stars actually knew he was their coach).
18. 2001 Anthony Mason, Miami Heat
Isn't it strange that what is widely considered the greatest All-Star game of the past 20 years and one of the best ever featured an Eastern Conference starting lineup of Allen Iverson (awesome), Vince Carter (it was 2001, so he was still Air Canada), Tracy McGrady (in his first year on his own in Orlando), Antonio Davis (what?), and Anthony Mason (?!!!). I don't even remember Mason playing for the Heat, let alone meriting an All-Star Game start. (Upon further review, 2000-01 was Mason's last good year, as he posted a 17.4 PER before completely falling off in his last two seasons in Milwaukee.)
19. 1997 Chris Gatling, Dallas Mavericks
I initially scoffed at this selection, because I seem to remember Gatling never starting for those Mavs (and I'm right; he started only one game all season), and the guy getting traded right after the All-Star Game (again, I'm right, as he was shipped to New Jersey 8 days after the game, where he played 3 games and then was injured for the rest of the season). But boy, was he awesome while with Dallas, putting up 19.1 points per game in only 27 minutes per contest, leading to an absurd PER of 24.4. I apologize, Mr. Gatling.
20. 1987 James Donaldson, Dallas Mavericks
Donaldson may be the most random All-Star selection ever. I vaguely remember his Upper Deck card, but other than that, I've never heard of him. His value appears to have been in his rebounding (10.3 boards per game for his career) and his shot-blocking (1.3 career blocks per game), especially when you consider he never averaged more than 11.8 points per game. He did league the lead in offensive rating in his All-Star year, though, so maybe somebody in 1987 was way ahead of their time when it comes to advanced statistics (especially considering that I have no idea what Donaldson's 132 Ortg means).
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