Tyrese Haliburton and other Wisconsinites who played in the NBA all-star game
JR RadcliffeTyrese Haliburton became the first Wisconsin high-school alumnus to start an all-star game since 1995 when he suited up for the East in the 2024 game on Feb. 18 inside his home Indianapolis arena.
In 2023, Haliburton became the first Wisconsin high-school alumnus to reach an NBA All-Star Game at all since 2009. The Oshkosh North graduate has been on a meteoric rise over the past two seasons. He hit the break in 2024 leading the league with 11.7 assists per game, in addition to 21.8 points per contest while shooting 40 percent from 3-point range.
These are the other players from Wisconsin who saw action in the NBA all-star game:
Devin Harris (Wauwatosa East)
The standout at the University of Wisconsin made one all-star game in 2009 while playing with the New Jersey Nets. It was the lone year in his 15-season NBA career that he cleared 20 points per game (21.3), and he also posted a career-best in rebounds (3.3) and minutes (36.1).
Caron Butler (Racine Park)
Butler reached the all-star game with Washington in both 2007 and 2008; he was part of a Wizards' big three along with Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. Butler averaged 19.1 and 20.3 points in those seasons, a volume that actually went up to 20.8 in the 2007-08 season. He didn't play in the 2008 game while sidelined by a hip injury.
Latrell Sprewell (Milwaukee Washington)
The high-energy Sprewell was a regular in the all-star game for the Golden State Warriors, making the game four times (1994, 1995, 1997, 2001), with his final appearance coming as a member of the Knicks. He led the league in minutes in 1994 (43.1) and averaged as many as 24.2 points per game in 1997, along with a career-best 6.3 assists that year. In a bit of a renaissance season at age 30, he was named a replacement for injured Grant Hill. He started the 1995 game.
Nick Van Exel (Kenosha St. Joseph)
In his final year with the Lakers in 1998, Van Exel was one of four players on his team named to the showcase, and he finished with 13 points in the game. He was traded to Denver that subsequent offseason, and his scoring numbers went up over the next four years, but he never returned to the all-star game.
Terry Porter (Milwaukee South)
The former UW-Stevens Point star made it twice with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1991 and 1993. He averaged 18 points and five assists in the later season and averaged 17 and 8 in the earlier campaign. Porter, who played in three Western Conference Finals and two NBA Finals in the early 1990s, later became head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks from 2003-05.
Fred Brown (Milwaukee Lincoln)
Playing with Seattle in 1976, Brown averaged 23.1 points per game to finish fifth in the league in scoring and netted his lone all-star nod. Brown shot 44% from 3-point range in 1980, the first year of the 3-point line, but that was already his age-31 season. Imagine how good he would have been with the 3-point line for the first eight seasons of his career.
John Johnson (Messmer)
Coming out of the gate strong with Cleveland in 1971 and 1972, Johnson made the all-star team both of his first two NBA seasons, becoming the franchise's first player selected for the game. He averaged 16.6 and 17.0 points per game those seasons, with 4.8 and 5.1 assists, respectively.
Don Kojis (Milwaukee Notre Dame)
The Marquette University star made the all-star game for the San Diego Rockets in 1968 and 1969. He averaged a double-double that first year (19.7 points, 10.3 rebounds) and got even better the following year (22.5 points, 9.6 rebounds). He had the distinction of being selected in two expansion drafts, and he blossomed once he joined San Diego in the 1967 expansion process. He started the 1969 game.
Other college connections
- Jimmy Butler, Marquette (6 total, 2015-17 with Chicago, 2018 with Minnesota, 2020 and 2022 with Miami)
- Dwyane Wade, Marquette (13 total, 2005-16 and 2019 with Miami)
- Michael Finley, Wisconsin (2000 and 2001 with Dallas)
- Doc Rivers, Marquette (1988 with Atlanta)
- Maurice Lucas, Marquette (5 total, 1977-79 with Portland, 1983 with Phoenix, 1976 with Kentucky in ABA)
- George Thompson, Marquette (3 total, 1972 with Pittsburgh of ABA, 1973-74 with Memphis of ABA)
JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.