Austin Rivers holds the record for most years in the NBA without a single All-Star vote from fellow players
The NBA All-Star process is a popularity contest, and that doesn't just mean popularity with fans but with fellow players, too. That's because, since 2016-17, the NBA has had active players and media join fans in the voting process for All-Star starters, with players' votes counting for 25 percent of the overall total.
Naturally, some players started treating the process as a joke, voting for their teammates or friends to be All-Stars, deserving of the honor or not. Just this year, the likes of Jordan Walsh, Christian Wood and Yuki Kawamura received an All-Star vote from a fellow player. Wood hasn't even played in a game yet this season.
That got us wondering about which players in NBA history have played the most seasons without earning a single All-Star vote from a fellow player. And one of the two players who holds the record for that feat shocked us.
Austin Rivers played seven seasons in the NBA after fellow players joined the All-Star voting process. And in that time, he never got a single All-Star vote from another player, a record he holds with Landry Shamet.
That's despite Rivers' two best campaigns in the NBA - 2016-17 and 2017-18 – coming right when players joined the All-Star vote. '18 was the best season of Rivers' career, with the talented 2-guard averaging 15.1 points and 4.0 assists on 37.8 percent shooting from three that year.
So this was a bit of a head-scratcher for us. Was Rivers really that unpopular amongst his peers that not a single one decided to throw him an All-Star vote, even as a joke? As you're about to find out below, he's one of the two top players on this list (the only player who might have been better was Brandon Knight, but he was already slowed down by injuries in '17 when players became part of the All-Star voting process).
And Rivers was a big name, coming out of high school as an elite, well-known prospect, and heading to Duke to play for the legendary Mike Krzyzewski before getting to the NBA as a lottery pick. He's also the son of long-time NBA player and head coach Doc Rivers.
But maybe it was that nepotistic aspect of Rivers' journey that made him unpopular with his peers. Or perhaps it was his playstyle, as Rivers became a defensive pest (compliment) in the NBA, one who would talk a fair amount of trash.
Or maybe it was simply by chance that another player never thought to throw Rivers an All-Star vote.
Whatever the reason was, below, you can check out the full ranking of the NBA players with the most seasons played to never get an All-Star vote from another NBA player.
1. Austin Rivers
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 7
1. Landry Shamet
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 7
3. Jake Layman
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 6
3. Garrison Mathews
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 6
5. Payton Pritchard
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Brandon Knight
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. CJ Miles
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Edmond Sumner
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. DaQuan Jeffries
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Aaron Nesmith
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Damyean Dotson
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Cheick Diallo
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Josh Green
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Alfonzo McKinnie
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Theo Pinson
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
5. Zeke Nnaji
Seasons without getting an All-Star vote from another player: 5
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Austin Rivers holds the record for most years in the NBA without a single All-Star vote from fellow players