Five Overrated NBA Players Who Don’t Belong in the 2025-26 All-Star Game

The NBA Cup is upon us, and you know what that means …

Some really neat-looking courts. More games being televised. And endless gushing about the “triple-double machine,” the “magician,” the “guy with unlimited range” and assorted other labels that have nothing to do with winning.

And that in turn reminds us that All-Star balloting is right around the corner.

One of the reasons the NBA All-Star Game has disintegrated in recent years (decades?) is because the wrong players have been chosen to participate. Too often, it’s been the aforementioned machine, magician and bomber who have been rewarded over the real difference-makers in the world's premier league.

You’d think we’d have learned from the Olympic experience, where it takes more than 20-point-per-game gunners to win the gold these days. You sit down Jayson Tatum, you have a lot better chance of succeeding.

Alas, the NBA All-Star Game rarely rewards the best perimeter defenders, the best rim protectors, the best glue pieces. You know, the winners.

Instead, it’s all about scoring, the ability to throw lob passes and the champion long-distance shooter. Real long-distance shooter.

More national broadcasts – except, unfortunately, for us YouTube TV subscribers – means more broadcasters reminding us just how uniquely talented LaMelo Ball, Trae Young, Ja Morant, Karl-Anthony Towns and Domantas Sabonis are.

If the gullible, court-dizzied audience had All-Star ballots in hand, no doubt where those misguided votes would go.

Soon everyone will, so now’s the time for the first (and perhaps only) counteroffensive.

You’ve already been introduced to my No-Star starting five, the vastly overrated players who should be taking a LeBron James tutorial in winning basketball over the February break rather than ruining another All-Star Game with playground-style heroics. Now here’s the rationale …

LaMelo Ball

This guy was born into an All-Star Game, coming along a few years after brothers Lonzo and LiAngelo began dominating the Southern California playground scene. The only way little LaMelo could play was by impressing his brothers with lob passes and dazzling unsuspecting older kids with an ability to shoot from 30 feet.

LaMelo has brought those skills to the NBA. And, yes, he can look like Pete Maravich at times. But, unfortunately, his Hornets look like Maravich’s Jazz teams far too often, playing careless ball with no defense. We need less flash and more class in the All-Star Game. Sorry, LaMelo, you’re out.

Did you know? Since Ball entered the NBA in 2020, only Morant, Joel Embiid and Cade Cunningham have more turnovers among guys who have played 250 or fewer games.

Trae Young

I’ll say this about Ball: At least he tries on defense. Sometimes. The same cannot be said of Young, who would annually run away with the Magic Johnson Award as the league's worst point guard defender if such hardware existed.

The Hawks bulked up in the off-season, hoping to take advantage of an injury-ravaged conference. What they forgot to do was to get rid of the thing holding them back the most – Young – who is part great passer, part awful long-range shooter. Unfortunately, he’s the latter much more than the former.

Did you know? Since the Mavericks dumped him on the Hawks in 2018, Young leads the NBA in shot attempts (685) from at least 30 feet – 205 more than Stephen Curry at last count. At 31% accuracy, you gotta know this guy is all about the numbers.

Ja Morant

The Memphis dynamo is the NBA’s Disneyland "E" ticket. Nobody gets end to end faster, and he has an uncanny ability to finish with a splash.

But thrilling the home crowd and playing winning basketball can be two different things, and this says it all about the human coach-killer: He’s already atop the list of Guys Their Team Would Most Like To Trade. The problem: He’s also atop the list of Guys Nobody Wants. And that should include the All-Star team.

Did you know? Not counting this season, Morant has been on the court for a total of 178 wins in his six seasons. That’s fewer than 30 a season (and 117 fewer than Georges Niang over that same span).

Karl-Anthony Towns

In many ways, Towns personifies what’s gone wrong with recent All-Star Games. He’s been in six of them, and in 89 minutes has managed to jack up 29 3-point attempts. Did I mention he’s a 7-footer? And perhaps I should mention: He’s missed 69% of them.

You could argue Towns was the reason Tom Thibodeau was fired. The old-school, defensive-minded coach knew the Knicks were better off with Towns off the floor, but needed his rebounding. He was also hoping for a few easy hoops and some resistance around the opponents’ hoop, and got so little of that, the Knicks were banished – and soon thereafter, so was Thibs.

Did you know? Since Minnesota made him the first pick in 2015, Towns has missed 1,691 3-point attempts. At the same time, he’s blocked just 776 shots. That hasn’t been a winning ratio for either employer.

Domantas Sabonis

The Kings are the biggest mess in the NBA. Smartly, they spent the off-season trying to shake things up, sandwich-boarding a For Sale sign onto the summer workouts of DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk and Zach LaVine. Alas, no takers.

The problem: Kings management thinks too much like NBA highlights producers, who nightly flock to Sabonis for his triple-doubles and high-scoring acts. What you never see is a Sabonis defensive clip, because neither he nor the Kings ever have any. Not that the Kings weren’t forewarned – nobody trades a big man (Sabonis) for a little guy (Tyrese Haliburton). The Pacers did, and look where they are. What does that tell you about Sabonis?

Did you know? Sabonis has played in a total of four playoff series in his career. He’s gone 4-16 on the grand stage while blocking a total of 10 shots.