Victor Wembanyama Not An All-Star But 1990s Often Chose NBA Rookies For Event
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Last week, San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama was not among the players chosen for the NBA All-Star game.
Despite averaging 20.5 points and leading the league in blocks (3.2), he will participate in the Rising Stars Challenge game reserved for rookies and second-year players.
"Of course, being selected as an All-Star would have been a great achievement, especially in my rookie year," Wembanyama said. "But honestly, my focus is more on trying to win games and get better as a team than this. But of course, it's motivation."
The omission leaves Blake Griffin as the last rookie to make the All-Star game when he was chosen as a member of the Los Angles Clippers in 2011. Not even today's greats such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic made the game in their first years.
But there was a time rookies were rewarded for their play.
In the 1990s, three players were selected. They were Shaquille O'Neal (Orlando Magic), Grant Hill (Detroit Pistons) and Tim Duncan (Spurs).
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Here's a look at their rookie stats that allowed them to join rare company:
O'Neal: Averaged 23.4 points on 56.2 percent shooting, 13.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks
Hill: Averaged 19.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.77 steals, becoming the first Pistons rookie since Isiah Thomas in 1981–82 to score 1,000 points.
Duncan: Averaged 21.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 0.7 steals, and 2.5 blocks while shooting 54.9 percent from the field.
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Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com