NBA All-Star 2025: Top unselected player for all 30 teams - ESPN

When the NBA's best players gather in the Bay Area this weekend for the All-Star Game, more than a third of the league's teams won't be represented on the rosters. That's the inevitable result of the NBA selecting fewer players (26, including two injury replacements) than there are teams (30), plus a handful hogging multiple selections.

The NBA's All-Star model is very different from MLB, which awards every team a spot. Some players had a legitimate shot this season at being All-Stars, including several on teams that will be represented this weekend. With that in mind, let's look at who would be chosen if every team had an All-Star — plus one additional candidate for the teams that do have All-Stars.

In the spirit of looking at which players have performed the best this season, I've leaned a little more heavily on 2024-25 production than I typically would in picking All-Stars. That works in the favor of rising players like Dyson Daniels of the Atlanta Hawks and Amen Thompson of the Houston Rockets at the expense of a couple of proven All-Stars.

In addition to making a pick for each team, I'll also consider their chances of actually joining the All-Star Game going forward, with some far more realistic than others.

Jump to a tier:
All-Snub? Had a legit claim for '24-25
Ex All-Stars who should bounce back
Time's up for these former All-Stars?
Should expect more chances for first nod
Wasn't in the cards in this season
If their team had to pick a player

LaMelo Ball, G, Charlotte Hornets

All-Star case: Ball's situation is the first of its kind: a player to lead his position group (East backcourt) in All-Star voting yet not make the game. A seventh-place finish in media voting doomed Ball's hopes of starting. The coaches picking