Since the NBA All-Star Game began in 1951, 443 different players have been picked to the rosters. That’s not very many when you consider that approximately 1,700 spots have been available. But with all-time greats such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (19 appearances), Kobe Bryant and LeBron James (18 each) there so many times, the teams fill up fast with familiar faces.
When you look at All-Star Game appearances by state, thanks to Chicago, Illinois has the third-highest state representation behind California and New York. That, of course, comes as no surprise to people involved in Illinois sports betting.
What’s surprising is that a massive state like Texas finishes tied for seventh and Florida doesn’t even crack the Top 10.
Illinois, however, could field an outstanding all-time team of all-stars. We’re not going to look at all 32 all-stars from the Land of Lincoln, but here are some of the best.
Top All-Star Guards Call Illinois Home
At point guard, there’s 12-time All-Star Isiah Thomas, who starred at Indiana before bringing his game to the Detroit Pistons. Backing up Thomas could be Chicagoan Derrick Rose, a three-time All-Star who certainly would have made more teams if not for injuries. Thomas’s backcourt-mate could be yet another Chicagoan, 13-time All-Star Dwyane Wade, a college star at Marquette and an NBA star in Miami. A shooter off the bench for instant offense could be five-timer Tim Hardaway, yet another player from the Windy City.
At small forward there are a trio of Chicagoans: DePaul legend Mark Aguirre, Kentucky legend Antoine Walker, both 3-time ballers, and Michael Finley, a two-time selection during his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks. At the power forward spot are Kentucky star and ABA legend Dan Issel, an NBA All-Star in 1977, but a 6-time ABA All-Star, and Chicagoan Juwan Howard, a Michigan Fab Five player and All-Star in 1996. Issel, by the way, hails from Batavia.
At center is eight-time All-Star Anthony Davis, a star at Kentucky, with New Orleans and now the Lakers, and 7-time All-Star Jack Sikma, from Kankakee, who was a 2-time Division III All-American at Illinois Wesleyan.
We’re going to round out the team with 6-10 George Mikan, from Joliet, a 4-time NBA All-Star with the Minneapolis Lakers, after an All-American career at DePaul, who would have been a nine-timer except he entered the league in 1946, five years before it started an All-Star game.
BetIllinois.com is a great source for sports betting news in the state as well as for Illinois sportsbook promos.
The site also can help in finding top Illinois sports apps.
Methodology
IllinoisBet.com utilized NBA.com to gather the list of all NBA players to ever make an NBA All-Star roster, including those players voted in and those who replaced others.
There have been a total of 443 NBA All-Stars (only counting a player once) since the first NBA All-Star game in 1951. We tabulated the amount of NBA players from each state and the percentage of players from that state. Here is the list:
Top 10 States with the Most NBA All-Stars Since 1951
