No. 2: Anthony Davis, 2022-23
When Anthony Davis has been healthy he has been a mainstay on All-Star rosters. For most of his career, he has been a Top-10 player and one of the most impactful defenders in the entire league. Only one or two players have had more of an impact defensively in the playoffs over the last decade than Davis, including the Lakers' run to the championship in 2020.
The issue for Davis and the All-Star Team has been his health, especially early in seasons when the bulk of All-Star evaluation takes place. If the All-Star team was truly acknowledging the best 24 players in the league, Davis would be an annual selection without question. Yet when he misses time his candidacy is put into doubt, and he has usually missed out.
That's why Davis has made an All-Star Team just three times in his five seasons in Los Angeles. Other than his rookie season, those are the only two years he missed making the roster. In 2021-22 he missed 17 straight games spanning the bulk of the All-Star voting and missed the team. Davis would play just 40 games that season and was clearly hampered by injuries when he was on the court.
The more egregious omission came the following season in 2022-23. Davis again had his annual injury at the worst time, missing 20 games in December and November. The difference was that Davis was absolutely dominant when he was on the court, and the snub looks even worse when you factor in that Davis came back and was largely healthy the rest of the year.
Davis put up 25.9 points, a career-best 12.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. He ranked fifth in Win Shares per 48 Minutes that year, 11th in BPM and 14th in VORP despite missing so much time. He was one of the league's 5-10 best players and that should have had more of an impact than the 35 games that take place before All-Star voting.