latrell sprewell, last warriors nba all-star starter (Photo: MaglieNBA.it)
Long before Stephen Curry was dribbling a basketball and later being selected a starter to his first all-star game, the Golden State Warriors were presented with their last starting all-star.
The year was 1995 and the name was Latrell Sprewell.
Obviously, this name has become more associated with the choking of future coach PJ Carlesimo and the beginning of the darkest period of Warrior basketball on record.
We’ll get to that as well as the ’95 All-Star selection a little later.
The long storied career of the last Warrior All-Star starter, however, had more ups and downs than Don Nelson‘s entire coaching career.
Though most casual fans only know of Sprewell because of “the incident”, it would be an injustice to not include the prequel and epilogue that followed that dark day and the All-Star Game he started in.
Little was known about the rangy 6’5″ shooting guard out of the University of Alabama when the Warriors selected him with 24th overall pick in the 1992 draft.
However, Nellie, in his first stint as Warriors head coach, was known for finding Draft-day gems that could score in bunches — see Mitch Richmond, Tim Hardaway, Curry — and Sprewell was about to become another one.
But, the talents of Sprewell went well beyond simply scoring.
His explosion to the basket was electric, his range from beyond the 3-point arc was dynamic and surprisingly he displayed a non-Nellie like trait of shut-down defense.
On a team that already featured stalwarts such as Chris Mullin and the aforementioned Hardaway, the young rookie was racking up stats that Warriors fans had never seen before.
“Though almost no one knew who he was before the season, he quickly changed that situation during his rookie year when he was named to the second team of the 1992-93 NBA All-Rookie Team. Sprewell became the first rookie in Warriors history to amass 1,000 points, 250 rebounds, 250 assists, 100 steals, and 50 blocks in a season. He also led his team in minutes played with 2,741.” – Michael J. Watkins
Sprewell followed up his fabulous rookie campaign with an even better 2nd season as he finished the 1993-94 season averaging 21 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2.2 steals per game.
His efforts didn’t go unnoticed as he was named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team and All-NBA First Team in 1994.
Sprewell also was selected to his first All-Star game as a reserve for the 1994 showcase where he posted 9 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist in 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, the Warriors were on the upswing as a team with newly drafted star Chris Webber.
Even with Hardaway out for entire season with a torn ACL in the knee, the Dubs still finished with a 50-32 record and a return trip to the playoffs, after a one year absence, before being swept in three games by Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns in the first round.
Though the loss to the Suns definitely left a sour taste in the mouths of Warriors fans, the future for the club seemed limitless with a projected line up of Hardaway, Sprewell, Mullin, Billy Owens and Webber.
Sprewell himself was about to become a bonafide superstar capped by his selection as an All-Star starter.
Dark clouds were circling the organization and the Warriors and the relationship between their prized Number One draft pick in Webber and All-NBA’er in Sprewell were both about to take a turn for the worst.
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