All-Star Shotcharts: Do you like Dunks?

Feb 13, 2015; New York, NY, USA; World Team center Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz (27) dunks the basketball against the U.S. Team during the first half at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Whether it’s Saturday night at the dunk contest or Friday evening at the Rising Stars Challenge, All-Star Weekend is all about rim-rattling dunks.

So is it any wonder that nearly half of all shots taken in the All Star Game come from within 8 feet of the rim? Or that Blake Griffin has feasted during past All-Star breaks, hitting 86% of his attempts at the rim?

No recent player with more than 50 shot attempts has been quite as dominant as Blake, but hitting more than 80% of your shots near the rim is not uncommon for an all-star player. For the first time you can take a look at 18 players’ career All-Star shot charts on my Shot Chart app, Swish (choose All Star from the season type dropdown). You can also view and filter yearly shot charts for the West and East teams going back to the 2001 All Star Game. Here’s Kobe, holder of 4 All Star MVPs:

As for the teams themselves, you will probably not be surprised to learn that the East and West All Star teams play atrocious defense. Both teams allow plenty of easy looks (47% of shots taken near the basket) and of course those looks go in at way above league average rates (nearly 70%).

Maybe Roy Hibbert should get some more burn? Check out shotcharts for LeBron, Vinsanity, Ray Allen and more at Swish.