A brief history of Hornets in the All-Star game
By Ben Handler
With the NBA all-star game taking place on Sunday night, featuring zero members of the Charlotte Hornets for the second straight year, let’s take a look at the history of Hornets players to be selected.
The lack of representation is hardly anything new for the team, as there have only been 13 all-star games in NBA history that featured a player from the Hornets.
Not the most storied history
The franchise all-star history is frankly pretty grim. The team was started in the 1988-89 seasons, and in 34 seasons they’ve had just 14 all-star selections by 8 different players. It took until the franchise’s fifth season in the league, the 1992-93 season, to get their first all-star nod, forward Larry Johnson.
The next season, center Alonzo Mourning was named to the team, and in 1994-95, both Mourning and Johnson were named all-stars. That remains the only time in team history that they’ve had multiple players make the game.
Forward, Glen Rice became a mainstay as he made the all-star game three straight times from 1995-96 to 1997-98. Guard, Eddie Jones made it in 1999-2000, and then guard, Baron Davis made it in 2001-02, before a long hiatus, partially due to the team relocating and eventually coming back to Charlotte - originally as the Bobcats.
In 2009-10, forward, Gerald Wallace made the all-star game, then guard, Kemba Walker made it three straight years from 2016-17 to 2018-19. Walker and Rice are the only two Hornets to make the team more than twice.
The new era
Finally, the last and most recent Hornet to make it was current guard, LaMelo Ball in his sophomore season, 2021-22. He’s also the only player currently on an NBA roster to make an all-star appearance as a Hornet, as Walker now plays overseas for AS Monaco of the EuroLeague.
Hopefully, this current dry spell won’t last too long, but the Hornets historically, have one of the paltriest all-star game resumes of any team in the NBA. But with one all-star already on the team, in Ball - who is only 22 years old, and a potential future all-star in the 21-year-old rookie, Brandon Miller, this team has a real chance to be well-represented for years to come.