17) Mychal Thompson (came closest: 1982)
Remembered more by fans now for his later years as a role player with the Showtime Lakers, Thompson was actually a focal point of the Blazers offense early in his career. Drafted first overall by Portland in 1978, Thompson struggled with injuries early on, but his '81-'82 season was a revelation, with 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Though two center spots in the West were obviously locked up in the early '80s by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Moses Malone, it's hard to understand why Thompson was passed over in 1982 for Jack Sikma. He never reached those statistical heights again, but Thompson is the one person on this list whose son has made an All-Star team, with Klay getting the nod the last four seasons in a row.
16) Jamal Crawford (came closest: 2013)
A three-time Sixth Man of the Year winner, Crawford has found it difficult to make it onto an All-Star roster while playing on his own team's bench. His best statistical season came in '07-'08, when Crawford was the starting shooting guard for the struggling, Isiah Thomas-coached Knicks, but he hardly stood a chance of making the All-Star roster over Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, or Rip Hamilton. Though his scoring rate dipped from there as he became a sixth man, Crawford garnered some serious All-Star hype in 2013 as a member of the surging Clippers, but was left off a roster that featured his teammates Chris Paul and Blake Griffin as starters.
15) Byron Scott (came closest: 1988)
Like several other players on this list, Scott's greatness as a player came less as an individual standout and more as a well-placed cog in a championship-winning machine. He probably would have excelled as a high-scoring shooting guard for the Clippers team that drafted him out of Arizona State in 1983, but his career took a turn when he was dealt to the Lakers right before his rookie season. Blending perfectly into the Showtime offense with his shooting touch, Scott also provided some much-needed defensive intensity on the perimeter and was part of three championship teams. During the last of those title seasons, '87-'88, Scott actually led the Lakers in regular season scoring with 21.7 points per game, and arguably should have been included on the All-Star roster that year over San Antonio's Alvin Robertson. He had to settle for a spot in the Three-Point Shootout instead, finishing third behind Larry Bird and Dale Ellis.
14) Marcus Camby (came closest: 2006)
A ferocious defender and terrific team player, Camby was Defensive Player of the Year in '06-'07 but never really considered an All-Star talent due to his lack of consistent scoring. Though he regularly averaged double-digit rebounds and led the NBA in blocks per game three times, Camby topped 13+ points per game just once, in his rookie season. It's arguable that his rookie campaign with Toronto was Camby's best chance at All-Star status, but the East was stacked that year at center with Dikembe Mutombo, Chris Webber, and a not-yet-washed-up Vin Baker. In '05-'06 Camby was getting attention on a Nuggets team that was rounding into a contender around Carmelo Anthony, but the West fielded just two centers that year in Yao Ming and Pau Gasol.
13) Al Jefferson (came closest: 2014)
Another case of a player whose best seasons went largely overlooked because he was stuck on a bad team, Jefferson's All-Star aspiration were also hampered by virtue of his being a traditional center in a league that was gradually phasing out that role. It's safe to assume that Jefferson, who has averaged 20+ points and 10+ rebounds in a season five times in his career, would have made at least one All-Star roster had he played in the '70s, '80s, or '90s. Instead, he just missed out on spots in 2008, 2009, and 2010 while toiling for the last place Timberwolves. After switching to the Eastern Conference in 2013 by signing with the Bobcats, Jefferson probably deserved an All-Star spot in 2014, as he was on his way to a 3rd-Team All-NBA selection. But the Eastern Conference centers were Roy Hibbert and Joakim Noah, as Jefferson missed out on his last good shot at making the team.
12) Sam Perkins (came closest: 1992)
Though he was overshadowed at North Carolina by teammates Michael Jordan and James Worthy, Perkins was considered a burgeoning star in his own right when he was drafted fourth overall in the 1984 Draft by Dallas. His career can hardly be called a disappointment, but Perkins never did top off at an All-Star level during his stops in Dallas, Los Angeles and Seattle. Perk's top asset was his consistency, averaging 13+ points and 7+ rebounds per game for eight straight seasons early in his career, but his best case for All-Star status came in '91-'92. After Magic Johnson's sudden retirement left the Lakers in disarray, Perkins was one of their top performers, finishing with career highs in scoring (16.5) and rebounding (8.8), but missed out on a roster spot to Otis Thorpe, who was producing slightly better stats for Houston. That 1992 All-Star Game is now best remembered for Magic returning and winning MVP honors.
11) Jason Terry (came closest: 2002)
Often a difficult player to pin down, vacillating as he did between both guard spots, and between the starting lineup and the bench, Terry's career is a story of consistency that drew only scattered attention despite his boisterous personality. And much of his attention came in the postseason, especially during Dallas' title run in 2011, when there was a decent argument to be made for Terry as Finals MVP. Terry averaged a career high 19.7 points per game in his second season, '00-'01, with Atlanta and put up similar numbers again the next year. Even though the East was bereft of talent at the turn of the century, one position where the conference had a surfeit of good players was shooting guard, and Terry was consistently left off the All-Star roster in his prime behind the likes of Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, Latrell Sprewell, and a back-from-retirement Michael Jordan (plus Allan Houston and Jerry Stackhouse in 2001, for good measure). His other best chance came in 2010, when the West was missing Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Brandon Roy due to injury, but Terry was left off in favor of two ancient point guards, his Dallas teammate Jason Kidd, and Chauncey Billups. Though he was never in the All-Star Game, Terry did compete in the Three-Point Shootout twice, finishing second in the contest in 2007 behind Jason Kapono.
10) Mickey Johnson (came closest: 1980)
Like many others on this list, Johnson makes an appearance for having a great overall career but never any individual season where he was truly amongst the league's best. Johnson spent most of his time on teams ranging from decent to truly bad, and never played in the second round of playoffs in his 12-year career. He averaged a double-double in '76-'77 for the Bulls (then in the Western Conference) with 17.3 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and peaked in scoring in '79-'80 for the Pacers with 19.1 points. That 1977 Western Conference team was one of the weakest in All-Star history, but featured no room for Johnson, as Nuggets power forward Bobby Jones was in the starting lineup and Blazers power forward Maurice Lucas was on the bench. An arguably even stronger case could be made for Johnson on the 1980 East team, but he was passed over for Atlanta's Dan Roundfield.
9) Ron Harper (came closest: 1994)
Harper's non-inclusion from All-Star rosters happened in large part due to his historical context as a talented player during the NBA's most talent-laden era. Early in his career with Cleveland, Harper was going to have a difficult time cracking an Eastern Conference lineup that was fielding Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Julius Erving at the wings, while later on with the Clippers, Harper was stuck behind a shooting guard logjam of Clyde Drexler and Mitch Richmond. Injuries also played an unfortunate part, as Harper blew out his knee early on in what was shaping up to be a career year in '89-'90. He came back with his athleticism sapped, but far from completely gone, and arguably deserved a spot over Latrell Sprewell in 1994. Harper then immediately shifted into the third act of his career as a role player, off the All-Star map, for championship teams in Chicago and Los Angeles. He was a two-time participant in the Slam Dunk Contest, including in 1987 when he faced off against Jordan.
8) Mike Bibby (came closest: 2005)
Though the Western Conference was stacked with overall talent during Bibby's prime with Sacramento, point guard was arguably the weakest position. This led to an especially egregious snub of Bibby in 2005, when Nash was the only point guard on the West roster. The voted-in starters at guard for the West that year were Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady, but shooting guards Ray Allen and Manu Ginobili were also added to the bench. This was something of a theme in Bibby's long but ultimately indistinctive career, playing for easily overlooked teams (no matter how talented) against tough competition, making his biggest impact typically in the playoffs.
7) Monta Ellis (came closest: 2010)
It's a bit shocking in retrospect that Ellis didn't make at least one All-Star team during his prime, as he averaged 22.7 points per game during a four year stretch with Golden State. Granted, those were some weak Warriors teams that, like Ellis, could score at will but struggled defensively, and lost most of their games as a result. Still, Ellis was undeniably an All-Star level talent during that stretch, but missed the Western squad each time, losing out on the last guard spot to Chauncey Billups in 2009, Deron Williams in 2010, and Manu Ginobili in 2011. That 2010 snub sticks out the most, as Ellis finished sixth in the league in scoring that season with 25.5 points per game. After a couple down years, Ellis made one last push for an All-Star designation in 2015, when he was clearly the best player on a solid Mavericks team, but there was no room for him on a packed roster that included Stephen Curry, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, and Chris Paul in the back court.
6) Lamar Odom (came closest: 2011)
It was a troubled but fruitful career for Odom, who was the third best player on back-to-back Lakers title teams in 2009 and 2010. Though his scoring average never rose above 18 points per game, Odom did average double-doubles for the Lakers on two separate occasions. After a rocky start on and off the court to his career with the Clippers, his reputation led to a fair amount of underestimation of his talent level and court intelligence, which was eventually rectified late in his career. 2011 seemed like Odom's best chance, as he was playing well that way and had gained attention the summer before for his star turn on the U.S. national team at the FIBA World Championships. But Odom was overlooked in favor of young stars Kevin Love and Blake Griffin each making their first appearance, and had to settle for winning Sixth Man of the Year that season.
5) Josh Smith (came closest: 2012)
Perpetually considered an underachiever until he finally got his due once his prime had passed, Smith put in nine great and somewhat overlooked seasons for the Hawks to begin his career. To the disdain of Atlanta fans, his annual snubbing from the All-Star roster became a yearly tradition starting around 2008, even as Hawks teammates Joe Johnson and Al Horford made appearances. Smith was almost single-handedly carrying the Hawks in the '11-'12 season due to injuries to Johnson and Horford, but was left off the Eastern Conference team despite putting up better stats than the selected Luol Deng and Andre Igudala. Even worse, Johnson actually made the team again that year, his sixth straight appearance, despite missing the first month of the season. And to add insult to injury, when Johnson pulled out of the game with an injury, commissioner David Stern replaced him on the roster with Rajon Rondo instead of Smith, a move that TNT analyst Charles Barkley derided.
4) Derek Harper (came closest: 1991)
Being a defensive specialist is typically not an easy ticket to stardom, especially when your defensive aptitude doesn't shine in the stat sheets. Such was the case for Harper, who was one of the steadiest point guards of the late '80s and early '90s, but found himself consistently overlooked for flashier players like Tim Hardaway and Kevin Johnson. After taking over the starting job in Dallas in '85-'86, Harper had a hard time making the West roster where the top two point guard spots were consistently locked down by Magic Johnson and John Stockton. An opportunity presented itself in 1989, when Johnson was injured and pulled out of the game, but Harper was passed over for a 41-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in his final season, who became the fourth center on the roster for the West, leaving Stockton as the only point guard. Maybe even more puzzling was 1991 when the West fielded four point guards, but went with Portland's Terry Porter over Harper, even though the two had similar stats and Harper was the obviously superior defender.
3) Eddie Johnson (came closest: 1985)
As of this writing, he holds the record for most total career points scored without an All-Star appearance, 19,202, though Jamal Crawford is poised to soon take over that spot. Johnson's inability to make an All-Star team is due to a combination of timing and location. He put in his best statistical seasons for a Kings team that was basically invisible in Kansas City and Sacramento. Between Otis Birdsong in 1981 and Mitch Richmond in 1992, the franchise was in the midst of an 11-year All-Star player drought. Regardless of that, Johnson could have made the team in 1984 or 1985, but was passed over for Kiki Vandeweghe and Walter Davis the first time, and Calvin Natt the second time. A few years later Johnson was getting more attention playing for a contending Phoenix team, but was shut out again in 1989 on a roster that included his then teammate Tom Chambers.
2) Rod Strickland (came closest: 1998)
Though Strickland isn't quite first on this list, he suffered arguably the most grievous All-Star snub of all in 1998. Simultaneously beloved and reviled by fans and the media for his brash and thrilling style of play, Strickland was putting together a career year for the Bullets in '97-'98. And as a New York playground legend, he was an especially obvious choice for the first All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden in 30 years. But despite leading the league in assists that season (with a career-high 10.5 per game) and eventually being named 2nd-Team All-NBA, Strickland was left off the East's roster. Penny Hardaway was voted into the starting lineup despite missing basically all of December and January with an injury, and an aging Tim Hardaway was the only backup point guard named to the team (despite Penny and Michael Jordan being starters, the roster carried two backup shooting guards in Reggie Miller and Steve Smith). Strickland's star Washington teammate, Chris Webber, was similarly snubbed that February, but would go on to make five total appearances.
1) Andre Miller (came closest: 2002)
For years Miller was an unfortunate entry on not just this list, but also the enumeration of the greatest players never to reach the second round of the playoffs. He broke that postseason streak in 2014 with the Wizards, but Miller never made an All-Star roster in his 17 NBA seasons. Like Rod Strickland and Kevin Porter, Miller missed the All-Star Game in a season in which he led the league in assists. The fact that he was playing that season, '01-'02, with a terrible Cavs team that featured Lamond Murray as the leading scorer makes Miller's 10.5 assists per game even more impressive. But the East fielded three guards in the starting lineup that year, with Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, and Michael Jordan (who was technically a small forward that season for Washington), leaving room for only one point guard on the bench in Baron Davis.