Being named an NBA All-Star is one of the biggest accomplishments that a player can receive in their career. The number of All-Star games a player has made is often a big component when comparing players and is used as a sort of metric when a star eventually retires.
While fans, media and coaches usually do a pretty good job at picking the best players to represent their conference, sometimes the talent isn't all too great, leaving the event with an underwhelming team. Obviously, anyone who gets selected to an NBA All-Star team had a great season, but some teams are more “good” than “great”.
That brings me to the 2015 Eastern Conference All-Star team — arguably the worst roster in All-Star game history.
An honorable mention to the 1998 Eastern Conference All-Star team needs to be given. That roster featured players such as Rik Smitts, Jayson Williams and Steve Smith. They almost received the honor of being the subject of this article.
Obviously, the 2015 team had its fair share of star power. LeBron James was in his first season back with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Carmelo Anthony was still a bonafide star for the New York, but let's take a look at the rest of the roster.
The other three East starters: Pau Gasol, John Wall and Kyle Lowry were all having fantastic seasons, there's no doubt about that.
2015 was Wall's second-straight All-Star appearance, but out of his five-career All-Star appearances, the 2015 NBA season was probably his weakest. Still, 17.6 points, 10.0 assists and 4.2 rebounds is nothing to scoff at.
2015 was Kyle Lowry's first appearance, and although the Toronto Raptors would end the regular season with 49 wins, they'd get swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Wizards. Lowry averaged a solid 17.8 points, 6.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game, but better years were ahead of the 28-year-old point guard.
Lastly, a veteran Pau Gasol was enjoying a great first season with the Chicago Bulls after spending the last 13 seasons in the West. Despite getting up there in age, a 34-year-old Gasol was putting 18.5 points, a career-high 11.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. This was easily one of Gasol's best seasons.
Moving onto the reserves is where things dip down in quality. Players like Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade were obviously big names and were both putting up over 20 points per game (barely). The only problem, the Heat were 37-45 that season and there's no doubt that name recognition helped the duo get the All-Star nod.
A 22-year-old Kyrie Irving was making a third-straight All-Star appearance. His 21.7 points and 5.2 assists per game made him the perfect Robin to LeBron's Batman in Cleveland.
2015 was also the year that Jimmy Butler broke out and became a star. Alongside Gasol in Chicago, the 25-year-old wing was putting up 20.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists per game and 1.8 steals per game. A great season for the emerging NBA star but still, not the player he would eventually become down the road.
Yes, it seems like a fever dream, but back in 2015 the Atlanta Hawks came out of nowhere to win 60 games and finish with the top seed in the conference.
Being an Atlanta native, I can tell you firsthand, that team was special (despite the still-empty crowds at Philips Arena). And although they would end up getting embarrassed by LeBron and the Cavs in the second round of the playoffs, the 2015 Hawks were a bit of a phenomenon.
Often called the “Spurs of the East”, the Hawks won games with teamwork and defense. As a result, four of the five starters on the team were named as All-Stars. While statistics aren't everything, team success definitely pushed these four guys in All-Star status that year.
Power forward Paul Millsap was probably the best of the bunch that year, averaging a team-high 16.7 points to go along with 7.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game.
Al Horford rounded out the team's frontcourt. Even though his impact can never be boiled down to his statistical output — 15.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists wasn't his best year.
Starting point guard Jeff Teague made his one and only All-Star appearance in 2015 after averaging a modest 15.9 points, 7.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game. Teague has been a solid point guard throughout his career, but he's going to be one of those guys you're surprised to hear made an All-Star team in 20 years.
Lastly, one of the most surprising All-Star nods in recent memory, Kyle Korver, rounded out the 2015 team. Korver will surely go down as one of the best shooters of all time, but he was never a star.
He always filled his role well. In 2015, he filled it especially well. Korver was in the midst of one of the most efficient shooting seasons in NBA history. His numbers went down a bit in the second half of the season but pre-All-Star break, 33-year-old was putting up an insane 51/52/91 shooting splits.
If he had kept that pace, he would've been the first player in NBA history to join the 50/50/90 club. That absolutely deserves recognition. But an All-Star who averaged 12.1 points per game while not being much of an asset as a defender or playmaker? No way.
2015 was undoubtedly a weak year for the East and the All-Star squad showed that.
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