Listing the Top 10 Rookie NBA All-Stars since 1980
Also read: 5 'NBA Rookie of the Year' since 2000 who went off-track
Being named to the NBA All-Star team is one of the highest individual honors a player can receive over the course of the regular season. It is a prestige to be named to the team and is something that every player would set out to accomplish at the start of the season. With the league being so competitive and new stars emerging year on year, it is tough to pick the best players from each conference without any controversy.
Many players in past have questioned the process in which the All-Stars are picked. Last year we saw Damian Lillard, who was quite outspoken about how he felt about his exclusion from the game. This year it was rookie Ben Simmons who felt he deserved a place on either two star-studded lineups. Simmons may have a point. He's had a fantastic season and is most likely to win the Rookie of the Year award.
If Simmons was picked as an All-Star, he would have been the forty-sixth rookie to play the most glamorous game of the regular season. The first was Bob Cousy back in 1951 and the most recent pick was Blake Griffin back in 2011.
Although there have been forty-five rookies to play the All-Star game, there have only been sixteen since 1980. This is due to the vast improvement in talent in the NBA and the level of competitiveness that has increased throughout the league as the sport has matured and grown globally.
Due to these factors, I have not included players that were named Rookie All-Stars before 1980. Here are some of the names that fall into that category. Remember that this takes absolutely nothing away from them and most of these players would almost certainly have achieved the same in any era, it is just tough to leave out other names due to the competitiveness of the league and the probability of becoming an All-Star being much lesser through the years of the game's evolution.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Cousy, Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Petit, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Rick Barry and Oscar Robertson were all named All-Stars in their Rookie season.
Now let's take a look at the top ten Rookie All-Stars of the modern era. This list was made based on how good players were as rookies along with the impact they made on their team.
#10 Blake Griffin - LA Clippers (2011)
Rookie Stats:- 22.5 PPG, 12.1 RPG
Career Stats (so far):- 21.5 PPG, 9.3 RPG
Back in 2011, the league was taken by storm. Blake Griffin was an athletic freak of nature and when he was finally fit to play, he instantly made the Clippers must-see TV. He led the rookies in both points and rebounds. He won the Rookie of the Year award and the Slam Dunk competition as well. But the most impressive statistic for Griffin that season was that he had twenty-seven consecutive double-doubles. This was the most a rookie had managed since Elvin Hayes back in 1968.
Although the Clippers had a very mediocre season and only won thirty-two games, Griffin's individual performances made him the first rookie All-Star since Yao Ming in 2003.
Griffin has made four All-Star appearances since his rookie season and made the All-NBA second team thrice. He along with Chris Paul and Deandre Jordan made the Clippers a formidable task to beat for the following years but unfortunately was not able to get beyond the second round of the playoffs.
Griffin was traded to the Detroit Pistons in 2018.
#9 Patrick Ewing - New York Knicks (1986)
Rookie Stats:- 20 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.1 BPG
Career Stats:- 21 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 1 SPG, 2.5 BPG
When Patrick Ewing entered the draft in 1985, everyone was certain that he would be taken with the first pick. The New York Knicks who were struggling at the time landed him under controversial circumstances.
Controversies aside, Ewing was undoubtedly one of the best rookies to ever play the game. He soon became the face one of the biggest franchises in the NBA and was expected to bring a title back to New York after almost 12 years.
Ewing soon showed his quality by leading the rookies in rebounds. The earnt him the Rookie of the Year award and also his first call-up to the All-Star game. In his first six seasons, Ewing was named an All-Star five times and took his team to the Playoffs thrice. But it was the signing of Pat Riley as head coach that really made the Knicks a force to be reckoned with.
Under Riley, the Knicks were perennial contenders and made the NBA Finals in 1994. They would lose to Houston in Game Seven. Ewing would return to the finals again in 1999 but he was way past his prime and the Knicks lost to the San Antonio Spurs in five games.
Ewing was an eleven-time All-Star and was named once to the All-NBA first team.
8 Isiah Thomas - Detroit Pistons (1982)
Rookie Stats:- 17 PPG, 7.8 APG, 2.1 SPG
Career Stats:- 19.2 PPG, 9.3 APG, 1.9 SPG
When the Pistons drafted Thomas out of Indiana in 1981, it started a revolution in basketball for the city of Detroit. Thomas had a stellar rookie season but did not win the Rookie of the Year award. This was quite controversial since Buck Williams who won the award was not named an All-Star starter while Thomas, on the other hand, started the All-Star game for the East.
Isiah Thomas would go on to make eleven All-Star games in the next eleven years following his rookie season. He was also the league's leader in assists in 1985.
Thomas was also the leader of the Detroit Pistons in the 80s. They were known as the "Bad Boys" due to their hard-nosed and no-holds barred style of defensive play. Although they are fondly remembered today, that wasn't the case when teams came up against them and were faced with serious outrage from opposing players, fans and the media.
Isiah along with Joe Dumars led the Pistons to back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. Thomas was named finals MVP in the second title run.
#7 David Robinson - San Antonio Spurs (1990)
Rookie Stats:- 24.3 PPG, 12 RPG, 3.9 BPGCareer Stats:- 21.1 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 3 BPG
After the years of George Gervin, the Spurs struggled in the NBA. The 80s were a torrid time for them. In 1987 the Spurs drafted David Robinson who had committed to serving two years in the navy. He eventually signed with San Antonio in the 1989/90 season.
The previous year San Antonio slumped to a 21-61 record. That changed when Robinson arrived. They finished 56-26 in his first season and became playoff contenders every year from then on.
Robinson during this time had a stellar individual career and led the league in rebounding (1991), blocks (1992) and scoring (1994) all by his fifth year in the league.
Robinson had to wait much longer for a championship though. He eventually reached the promised land in 1999 after the team drafted Tim Duncan. Robinson won the title again in 2003 but played a much lesser role due to his age.
He ended up as a ten-time All-Star. Four-time first team All-NBA. League MVP in 1995 and Defensive Player of the Year in 1992. More importantly, the signing of David Robinson was the start of a new successful era for the San Antonio Spurs that is still to end (barring a season or two where he was injured).
#6 Hakeem Olajuwon - Houston Rockets (1985)
Rookie Stats:- 20.6 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 1.2 SPG, 2.7 BPG
Career Stats:- 21.8 PPG, 11.1 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 3.3 BPG
In 1984, the Houston Rockets had finished at the bottom of the league for the second year in a row. This led to them holding the first pick in the draft for the second consecutive time as well. After drafting Ralf Sampson the previous season, Houston decided to draft another big man and chose Olajuwon ahead of a host of extremely talented players in the draft including Michael Jordan.
In Olajuwon's first season, his team saw immediate success by having a nineteen game turnaround and finished third in the West. Olajuwon finished behind Jordan in the Rookie of the Year voting.
The Rockets did make the NBA finals in his second season but struggled after to build a genuine title contending team around Hakeem. By 1993, he had already led the league in rebounding twice, blocks thrice and won the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The following season was when both Olajuwon and the Rockets reached their pinnacle. He was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive time and also won his only league MVP award. His biggest achievement in this year was winning his first NBA title by beating the Knicks in a thrilling seven-game series. In 1995, the Rockets finished sixth in the West but amazingly were able to go on to win the title after sweeping the Orlando Magic in the finals.
#5 Michael Jordan - Chicago Bulls (1985)
Rookie Stats:- 28.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.9 APG, 2.4 SPG
Career Stats:- 30.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 5.3 APG, 2.3 SPG
By the time the Bulls drafted Jordan with the third pick in the 1984/85 season, they were in no man's land. They had just gone 27-55 and really didn't look like they were bound for any success. Luckily for them, their pick turned out to be the greatest player of all-time.
In Jordan's first season, he was named an All-Star starter and won Rookie of the Year. He also finished third in scoring and fourth in steals in his rookie season.
Although his first few years were tough in terms of playoff runs, Jordan was incredible from the start and once Scottie Pippen developed into an All-Star in his own right, there was no stopping Chicago. They dominated the 90s by winning six titles. Jordan was named Finals MVP every time.
Jordan finished his career as a fourteen-time All-Star, ten-time scoring champion, three-time steals leader. He won the league MVP award an astonishing five times and was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1988.
#4 Tim Duncan - San Antonio Spurs (1998)
Rookie Stats:- 21.1 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 2.5 BPG
Career Stats:- 19.0 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 2.2 BPG
Around a decade after they drafted David Robinson, the Spurs once again found themselves having an all-time low season. With David Robinson injured, the Spurs slumped to a 20-62 record in 1997. This led to them receiving the first pick in the 1998 draft that included Duncan.
Their decision to draft Duncan with that pick would be their turning point as a franchise. In his first year, Duncan won the Rookie of the Month award in every month of the season. He was also the first rookie since Larry Bird (1980) to be named to the All-NBA first team.
Duncan was the leader of the Spurs for almost two full decades and finished as one of the most successful players to ever play in the league. He finished as fifteen-time All-Star and was named to the All-NBA first team ten times and to the defensive first time eight times. Duncan was named the regular season MVP in 2002 and 2003. He also finished with a total of five championships and won three finals MVP awards as well.
Tim Duncan eventually retired in 2016 after making the playoffs in every season he played.
#3 Shaquille O'Neal - Orlando Magic (1993)
Rookie Stats:- 23.4 PPG, 13.9 RPG, 3.5 BPG
Career Stats:- 23.7 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 2.3 BPG
The Orlando Magic played their first season in 1989/90. They were an exciting team but not consequential. By the end of the 1992 season, they finished with a 21-61 record and held the top draft pick. It was no doubt in anybody's mind that they would pick O'Neal, and they did. This pick along with their pick (Penny Hardaway) from the following draft started a storm that no one saw coming.
In O'Neal's first season he led the rookies in points, rebound and blocks and became the first rookie to start the All-Star game since Michael Jordan. The Magic narrowly missed the playoffs that season.
In 1995, O'Neal who was only in his third season took the Magic to the NBA finals but were swept by Houston.
Shaq eventually found most of his success after he left the Magic in 1996 and joined Kobe Bryant with the Los Angeles Lakers. He won three consecutive titles and finals MVP awards in L.A and won another title with Miami in 2006.
O'Neal made fifteen All-Star appearances and was named All-NBA first team eight times. He was a two-time scoring champion and was named the league's MVP in 2000.
#2 Larry Bird - Boston Celtics (1980)
Rookie Stats:- 21.3 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.7 SPG
Career Stats:- 24.3 PPG, 6.3 APG, 10 RPG, 1.7 SPG
After the John Havlicek era of the 70s, the Celtics were looking to rebuild once again. They had a tough 1978/79 season and went 29-53 with Bird playing his final year of college. The next season, Bird first, saw a much-improved performance. They finished first in the East after winning sixty-one games and made the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Philadelphia 76ers. Bird had a stellar year and was named Rookie of the Year ahead of Magic Johnson. He was also named to the All-NBA first team.
The following season saw the Celtics draft Kevin McHale and trade for Robert Parrish. The trio formed one of the most formidable and successful front-courts ever seen. They won three titles together and Bird won two finals MVP awards in the process.
Bird also won a host of individual honors. He was named an All-Star twelve times and received nine All-NBA first team honors. He also joined the 50-40-90 club on two occasions. The biggest of Bird's personal achievements was being the last person to date to win the league's MVP award three consecutive times when he did so from 1984-86.
#1 Magic Johnson - Los Angeles Lakers (1980)
Rookie Stats:- 18 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 7.3 APG, 2.4 SPG
Career Stats:- 19.5 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 11.2 APG
After Jerry West's career, the Lakers were in a bit of a slump. Although they had signed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975, they weren't able to surround him with enough talent to make a title run. That was until 1979/80 when they drafted Earvin Magic Johnson.
At first, the Lakers found it tough to understand Johnson's flashy style and no-look passes. When they figured it out, they were scary. He along with Kareem led the Lakers to a 60-22 and reached the finals in his first season in the league. They faced Philadelphia in the finals and led 3-2. In game six, with Abdul-Jabbar injured, Earvin Johnson started the game at the center position. The Lakers won the match and the title with Magic finishing with 42 points, 15 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals to become the only rookie to ever win the finals MVP award.
This started a decade of dominance for Johnson and the Lakers. He finished his career with a total of twelve All-Star appearances and nine All-NBA first team honors. He led the league in assists four times and steals twice. Magic also won the NBA title on five occasions and won the finals MVP as well as the regular season MVP thrice in his stellar career.