How would the NBA All-Star Game Draft have looked in the past?

The NBA All-Star Draft has injected new life into the NBA’s annual showcase. How would it have played out in the past?

The NBA All-Star Game got an interesting facelift two years ago when the league debuted the All-Star draft to decide how teams would be split up. Riffing off an idea that the NHL used from 2011-2015, 22 All-Stars are thrown into a draft pool that the leading vote-getters for each conference choose from to form their own teams, rather than the sometimes lopsided East vs. West dynamic.

The intrigue of this was obviously that it would promote more balanced rosters, and more importantly, bring out petty beef between the league’s elite. In year one, there was plenty of speculation with LeBron James and Steph Curry as captains — would LeBron pick Durant first so Curry couldn’t? How many Warriors would Curry grab? Was a LeBron/Kyrie reunion likely? And who would be picked last?

The drama ended up being minimal in year one, but it brings up an interesting thought experiment. The NBA has always been a petty league, and ego and beef have added a dynamic to following the sport that we don’t see to the same degree in other sports. So that begs the question – what would the All-Star draft have looked like in the past?

Using historical voting data from Basketball-Reference, we determined the captains for each year from 1975-2017, with the leader in votes picking first. From there, we looked at the rest of the starters and tried to make our best guess at who would have been picked first that year. Strategies varied, from best player available, to strategic considerations to thwart the other captain, to outright silliness.

Follow along here for voting results, to see who the starter pool is and make your own arguments!

1975

Captains: Bob McAdoo (East), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (West)

First pick: Walt Frazier

McAdoo starts off by grabbing the player who would be this game’s MVP. Frazier was probably the best point of attack defender the league had seen pre-Gary Payton, and was one of the better table-setters of the era as well, a must for quality All-Star Games.

1976

Captains: Rick Barry (West), John Havlicek (East)

First Pick: Brian Winters

Rick Barry, notorious curmudgeon and problematic belief-holder, very likely takes Winters from the Milwaukee Bucks first if given the opportunity with the 1976 draft pool. If you’ve read Bill Simmons’s The Book of Basketball, you’re probably thinking this is not the guy you want picking first in the second year of fan voting! And you’re correct!

Moving on! Very Quickly!

1977

Captains: David Thompson (West), Julius Erving (East)

First Pick: George McGinnis

The ABA merger has happened, and we’re going to let the league the truly invented All-Star Weekend handle our proceedings. Skywalker grabs former ABA MVP McGinnis away from his teammate Dr. J to set up what would be an excellent ABA-infused battle.

1978

Captains: Julius Erving (East), David Thompson (West)

First Pick: Bill Walton

Walton was still healthy at this point and the Blazers looked like today’s Warriors. Erving’s definitely going with the People’s Champion here.

1979

Captains: George Gervin (East), David Thompson (West)

First Pick: Marques Johnson

This was the year after Gervin stole the scoring title from Thompson despite the latter scoring 73 points in the last game of the season. Gervin adds insult to injury by taking Johnson, the best perimeter defender in the starter pool, to try to lock up Skywalker. Quality beef decision here.

1980

Captains: George Gervin (East), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (West)

First Pick: Moses Malone

Kareem’s the most dominant center in the league and is on his way to his second title this year. Gervin picking the other center available in reigning MVP Moses makes too much sense.

1981

Captains: Julius Erving (East), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (West)

First Pick: George Gervin

Dr. J’s turn to figure out what to do with Kareem, so we’ll have him take a different approach and snag Gervin to pair the game’s two best scoring guards.

1982

Captains: Julius Erving (East), George Gervin (West)

First Pick: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Repetitive, yes, but this was a down year talent-wise — Isiah’s a rookie, Bird and Magic are not fully functional yet, and we’re a year away from Bernard mania. Kareem makes the most sense.

1983

Captains: Julius Erving (East), Magic Johnson (West)

First Pick: Larry Bird

1983 is when the rivalry officially gets in line, as Bird proved himself with the 1982 All-Star MVP and Magic grabbed his second title. Since Magic’s a captain, Erving grabs his rival and dares Magic to try and stop them with an Alex English/Maurice Lucas combo. That did not go well in reality.

1984

Captains: Moses Malone (East), Magic Johnson (West)

First Pick: Julius Erving

Things weren’t completely rosy in the title defense year for the Sixers, but it’s hard to see Moses grabbing anyone but his teammate in 1984.

1985

Captains: Magic Johnson (West), Moses Malone (East)

First Pick: Ralph Sampson

An important move for Magic because of Moses’s presence on the other side. Sampson was destroying people in 1985, and would either drag Kareem out of the paint or force Moses to defend in space, both good outcomes.

1986

Captains: Magic Johnson (West), Michael Jordan (East)

First Pick: Larry Bird

Get ready for a lot of Jordan captain decisions, as he was the leader or second eight straight times. For this one Magic edged him, meaning he gets first dibs on Larry Bird at his apex. The Bird/Magic pairing has probably happened by now in this universe, but here’s where we make it official.

1987

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Magic Johnson (West)

First Pick: Larry Bird

Jordan and Magic flip, so we get Jordan and Bird teamed up this year. Not that it matters, because this is the year that Tom Chambers turned into Hercules, so whoever ends up taking him, probably No. 7 or No. 8, steal this one.

1988

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Magic Johnson (West)

First Pick: Isiah Thomas

Point guards became vital to the aesthetics of the All-Star Game with the emergence of Isiah and John Stockton. A good distributor that can keep everyone involved and set up highlight plays is huge. Since Magic has been that guy as one of the captains for almost a decade now, Jordan opts to take Thomas to ensure that the rest of his team is well fed.

1989

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Magic Johnson (West)

First Pick: Dominique Wilkins

We have made Jordan look pretty reasonable so far, so for Jordan/Magic IV, Jordan will pick on his Dunk Contest rival. Imagine three years of Jordan/Nique in the dunk contest, then Jordan teaming with Nique specifically, hoping for some amazing highlights from those two, and then watching Jordan freeze Nique out. That sounds much more like the guy we know.

1990

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Magic Johnson (West)

First Pick: James Worthy

Three Lakers were starters in the West this year, so it would be pretty on brand for MJ to grab Worthy and A.C. Green to try to beat Magic with, ignoring Charles Barkley and Isiah in the process.

1991

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), David Robinson (West)

First Pick: Karl Malone

A blossoming Malone was probably the best player on the board this year, outside of Ewing, who Robinson probably wouldn’t pick, and Isiah, who MJ was openly feuding with. Easy call.

1992

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Karl Malone (West)

First Pick: Magic Johnson

Given the HIV diagnosis and the fact that he was coming back for one last run in what would also be Bird’s last appearance, this is a no-brainer ceremonial pick.

1993

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Charles Barkley (West)

First Pick: Scottie Pippen

Pippen at the peak of his powers would be an easy and smart choice opposite Barkley. Have to think Jordan goes for his teammate here.

1994

Captains: Charles Barkley (West), Shaquille O’Neal (East)

First Pick: Shawn Kemp

With Jordan gone the best course of action would be for the Barkley/Kemp tandem to run fast break armaggedon on the rest of the All-Star Game. In reality, you could end up with Kenny Anderson, Clyde Drexler, Barkley, Kemp, and Derrick Coleman with this group. That would be absurd entertainment value.

1995

Captains: Grant Hill (East), Hakeem Olajuwon (West)

First Pick: Shaquille O’Neal

Setting up Shaq vs. Hakeem four months before their finals duel is a fun proposition. The second-year pro Hill starts a youth movement here.

1996

Captains: Grant Hill (East), Charles Barkley (West)

First Pick: Michael Jordan

I mean, duh.

1997

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Charles Barkley (Rockets)

First Pick: Gary Payton

Payton isn’t an obvious pick, but he’s the first step in what could be one of the angriest five-man units ever assembled: Payton, Anfernee Hardaway, Jordan, Pippen, Hakeem. Team Jordan by 50.

1998

Captains: Michael Jordan (East), Karl Malone (West)

First Pick: Kevin Garnett

Jordan’s last act of malice in these drafts is to secure Garnett to terrorize the guy who stole the 1997 MVP award from him.

2000

Captains: Vince Carter (East), Shaquille O’Neal (West)

First Pick: Kobe Bryant

Shaq and Kobe hit the peak of their powers in 2000, but Vinsanity was real and palpable, so it’s Carter with the first pick. That pits Shaq and Kobe against each other, which I’m sure in no way would foreshadow the events of 2-3 years later!

2001

Captains: Vince Carter (East), Shaquille O’Neal (West)

First Pick: Allen Iverson

Iverson was one of the most underrated All-Star game players ever, peaking with a 35/5/7/5 in 2003. Given that this was his MVP year, it’s an easy pick to have him team up with Carter in a duel with Shaq.

2002

Captains: Vince Carter (East), Shaquille O’Neal (West)

First Pick: Michael Jordan

Even if he was 38 years old, if Jordan’s in the player pool, you take Jordan. The world needed to see these two together, especially if we can add Kobe and/or Tracy McGrady from the reserves.

2003

Captains: Kobe Bryant (West), Tracy McGrady (East)

First Pick: Ben Wallace

Shaq/Kobe was already a massive problem for the Lakers, so the cold move of taking Wallace first is optimal drama.

2004

Captains: Vince Carter (East), Kevin Garnett (West)

First Pick: Tim Duncan

Vince is probably targeting peak feud Shaq or Kobe at some point, and wasn’t exactly happy with his lot in life at this point either. Taking Duncan to keep Team Carter focused stable is a smart business decision.

2005

Captains: Yao Ming (West), Shaquille O’Neal (East)

First Pick: LeBron James

Yao understands branding (see: Yao winning consecutive All-Star votes), so a logical pick would be the anointing of a young LeBron to the throne of Next Obvious All-Star Legend.

2006

Captains: Yao Ming (West), LeBron James (East)

First Pick: Kobe Bryant

Kobe’s about two weeks out from the 81-point game when this draft happens, so yeah, he’s the top pick here.

2007

Captains: LeBron James (East), Yao Ming (West)

First Pick: Kobe Bryant

Same trio, opposite pairing, this giving us the much desired Kobe/LeBron team-up a year before the 2008 Olympics.

2008

Captains: Kevin Garnett (East), Kobe Bryant (West)

First Pick: Dwight Howard

Yes, LeBron is on the board, but we’re also getting peak Dwight when the other bigs are a banged up Amar’e and old Yao. Grab Dwight and let him leak out every time he doesn’t grab a rebound, and just let him loose.

2009

Captains: LeBron James (East), Kobe Bryant (West)

First Pick: Dwyane Wade

Why? Oh, no reason. No thought at all put into this. Not preparing for anything based on how my experience at the 2008 Olympics went, nope, just hear this Wade fellow is pretty good at the basketballs

2010

Captains: LeBron James (East), Kobe Bryant (West)

First Pick: Allen Iverson

That sound you hear is the symphony of a hundred old, cranky sports writers furiously typing their takedowns of LeBron for making a ceremonial pick and giving Iverson one last glory day in his final season. Jordan would never, even though we had him do this same thing 18 years earlier.

2011

Captains: Kobe Bryant (West), Dwight Howard (East)

First Pick: Chris Paul

Given that we’re in the Evil LeBron phase after the decision, we will cede the floor to the table-setter idea, picking up Paul to dish assists and manage a team captained by Kobe.

2012

Captains: Dwight Howard (East), Kobe Bryant (West)

First Pick: Blake Griffin

Dwight with the first pick is a dangerous proposition, but this year it’s easy to just go with Blake in his first All-Star game. CP3, LeBron, and Wade are all available later to get the requisite alley oop partners.

2013

Captains: Kobe Bryant (West), LeBron James (East)

First Pick: Kevin Durant

Best player available, and we get a Durant/LeBron matchup the year after the Finals battle. Sign me up.

2014

Captains: LeBron James (East), Kevin Durant (West)

First Pick: Paul George

This is Durant’s MVP year, so LeBron’s going to need help stopping him. Getting George to be a pain in Durant’s behind seems paramount with this starter roster.

2015

Captains: Steph Curry (West), LeBron James (East)

First Pick: Anthony Davis

Several good options here like Griffin, peak John Wall, and Kobe, but this is the Anthony Davis coming out party — Even though he missed the game itself due to injury. I’d consider it a wash given Steph is getting James Harden or Klay Thompson in his place.

2016

Captains: Kobe Bryant (West), LeBron James (East)

First Pick: Russell Westbrook

Russ stat lines from 2015-2017: 41 points, five assists, three steals; 31-8-5-5; 41-5-7. There is no valid argument to not taking him here even with Curry and Durant on the board.

2017

Captains: LeBron James (East), Steph Curry (West)

First Pick: Kevin Durant

Just like 2018, it’s hard to pass on Durant to keep him off Steph’s team. Plus, you’re guaranteed Russ with the first bench pick, so does anything else matter?