Auburn’s NBA All-Star Team Would Score
By Chris Roush
Here we create an all-time Auburn NBA roster formed by hall-of-fame inductees and Auburn legends.
As the NBA season approaches the midway point and we get closer to the All-Star game held this year in New Orleans, it’s time to think back to a time when Auburn Tigers were regular attendees at the All-Star Weekend festivities or at least garnered serious attention.
So, here’s what an All-Star game starting five would look like it was stocked with nothing but players from Auburn:
Point Guard: “Fast Eddie” Johnson played 10 years in the NBA and made the All-Star team for the Eastern Conference two years — 1979-80 and 1980-81 — when he was the starting point guard for the Atlanta Hawks. In those two years, Johnson averaged 18.5 points and 19.1 points, respectively, leading the Hawks to the playoffs in the first year. In his first All-Star game, Johnson had 22 points, 7 assists and 6 steals. In the second game, he scored 16 points. Johnson played for Auburn from 1973-74 to 1976-77, averaging 19.5 points for the Tigers.
Shooting Guard: Wesley Person played 11 years in the NBA, primarily for the Phoenix Suns, and while he never made an All-Star team, he averaged 15.1 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2000-01 and 14.7 points and 4.4 boards in 1997-98 for the Suns. In that year, Person led the NBA in three-pointers made, with 192. In 2002, Person attended the All-Star Game as a participant in the three-point shooting contest, scoring 21 points in the first round before being eliminated in the semi-finals. At the 2003 All-Star Game, Person was back again for the three-point contest, losing to Peja Stojakovic in the finals. He played at Auburn from 1990-91 to 1993-94.
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Small Forward: Mike Mitchell played a decade in the league, never averaging less than 10 points per game for the Cavaliers or the San Antonio Spurs. His lone All-Star appearance came in the 1980-81 season, when he averaged 24.5 points and 6.2 boards for the Cavaliers. In the All-Star Game, Mitchell scored 14 points and grabbed four boards in 15 minutes. He had four other seasons in which he averaged more than 22 points a game, but was never selected for another All-Star appearance. In four years at Auburn in the late ’70s, he averaged 20.4 points and 9.6 rebounds.
Power Forward: Chuck “The Rifleman” Person never made an All-Star team, but he was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1986-87 after averaging 18.8 points and 8.2 boards for the Indiana Pacers. Person averaged more than 20 points per game three times in his 13-year pro career, and his lone All-Star weekend appearance occurred in 1995, when he was a semi-finalist in the three-point shooting contest, scoring 15 points in the first round and 16 points in the second. Person played at Auburn from 1982-83 to 1985-86, when his scoring average would have likely been higher if the three-point line had been around at the time. Of course, you can now see Chuck on the bench of the Tigers as Bruce Pearl’s top assistant coach.
Center: Charles Barkley set the standard for All-Star game appearances by an Auburn alum, appearing in 11 straight games from 1986-87 to 1996-97. The “Round Mound of Rebound” may not have been a natural center due to his 6-foot-6 height, but he did play center at Auburn. Barkley started seven of the nine All-Star games he played in, with his best outing coming in the 1991 game when he grabbed 22 rebounds to go along with 17 points. The Hall of Famer was named the game’s most valuable player for his performance, and his East team won 116-114. His friend Michael Jordan was the game’s high scorer with 26. In the 1995 All-Star game, Barkley sported knee-high socks to honor a teammate.
Next: Four More Years for Austin Wiley
Sitting on the bench is Chris Morris, who should have been invited to the three-point shooting contest in 1995 when he made 105 during the season for the New Jersey Nets.
Few other SEC basketball programs could top this starting five.