The 1998 NBA All-Star Game is best remembered for a young Kobe Bryant going up against Michael Jordan in Madison Square Garden. It was the perfect stage for this epic matchup of aging veteran versus young upstart. And over on the bench was Indiana Pacers center Rik Smits, also an NBA All-Star.
That’s right, the “Dunking Dutchman”, Rik Smits, was an NBA All-Star. Now, he had no business being there playing alongside Jordan, Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway. There was no clamor for him to be there. The fans weren’t interested in having Smits take part as he got only 117,744 votes that year, fifth best among centers.
Keith Van Horn, Mookie Blaylock and Tom Gugliotta were among the players to receive more votes than Smits in 1998. Not exactly NBA royalty. However, there were two things that helped Rik Smits become an NBA All-Star.
Firstly, coaches were picking the All-Star reserves at that time and usually just defaulted to players on good teams. The Pacers were good, Smits was serviceable and most coaches had seen him play for years.
Patrick Ewing was injured. Alonzo Mourning missed the early part of the 1997 season because of injury. Luc Longley received more fan votes than Smits, but only because he played with Jordan. Bison Dele was more deserving, and Matt Geiger put up similar numbers to Smits that season. However, coaches knew Smits and gave him the nod.
The second factor working in his favor was the rule requiring each NBA All-Star team to have two centers. Today, the 7’4 center from Holland probably doesn’t get in because the rule has since been abolished. Back then, coaches had to pick somebody that was a center.
Click here to read more worst of the late 90s
Rik Smits should have never been an NBA All-Star
Smits was a good player and important for the Indiana Pacers throughout the 1990s. There is no denying that. But he averaged 16.7 points, 7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks during the 1997-98 season. For someone who was 7’4 and was playing more than 28 minutes a game, those last two totals are pretty embarrassing. Billy Owens was grabbing more boards per game than he was.
Related: 4 busts selected ahead of Reggie Miller in 1987
Also, the Eastern Conference coaches had this odd obsession with picking at least one dude who shouldn’t have been an All-Star. They selected Tyrone Hill in 1995. Christian Laettner was an All-Star in 1997. In 2000, it was Dale Davis. The following year Anthony Mason got the nod. It was like they had an inside joke going on.
All things considered, Smits did okay during the game. He put up 10 points, 7 boards and 4 assists in 20 minutes of action. Of course, no one noticed it with Jordan around.
