NBA All-Stars rarely arrive from obscurity. Most were top recruits early in their high school careers, elevating to McDonald's All-American status by the time they were seniors.
From the 20 players on the 2021 NBA All-Star rosters who played basketball domestically, we present the 10 best, according to their high school careers. Production, national awards and team success against top competition were top considerations when picking these 10.
10. Anthony Davis | Perspectives Charter/Leadership (Chicago) | Class of 2011His growth spurt is legendary, going from a 6-foot "little guy who would shoot 3s from the corner" as a freshman to 6-10 multi-skilled, McDonald's All-American post as a senior. Davis had grown to 6-8 as a junior, but remained loyal to his school rather than transfer and his game elevated to Top 100 level nationally. The summer before his senior year he was ranked the No. 1 player in his class and committed to Kentucky. He was named co-MVP of the Jordan Brand Classic in New York, making 13 of 15 shots en route to 29 points in his final game.
9. Bradley Beal | Chaminade (St. Louis) | Class of 2011After a solid sophomore season, Beal stepped up considerably by his junior campaign, averaging 29 points per game. He upped that to 32.5 points. 5.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game as a senior, earning the 2011 Gatorade National Player of the Year honors.
8. James Harden | Artesia (Lakewood, Calif.) | Class of 2007On a superbly balanced and disciplined squad, Harden's numbers didn't stand out like they do now. He averaged 13.2, 18.8 and 18.8 points per game in his final three seasons. But his teams went a combined 94-8 in that span, while winning a pair of California state titles. He was a McDonald's All-American and second-team Parade All-American.
James Harden, Artesia
File photo by Kirby Lee
A top 5 player in his class throughout his high school career — along with Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Andrew Harrison and Aaron Gordon — Randle led Prestonwood to three TAPPS 5A state titles in four years. He averaged 32.5 points and 22.5 rebounds per game as a senior, earning spots on both the McDonald's All American and Jordan Brand Classic rosters.
6. Chris Paul | West Forsyth (Clemmons, N.C.) | Class of 2003The consummate point guard picked up things considerably as a junior and senior after two seasons on the junior varsity. He averaged 25 points, 5.3 assists and 4.4 steals as a junior and 30.8, 9.5 and 6.0 as a senior. He's most famously known for scoring 61 points in a game to honor his 61-year-old grandfather, who was slain earlier in the year. Paul played alongside LeBron James in the 2003 McDonald's All-American game and collected a game-high 10 assists.
5. Zion Williamson | Spartanburg Day (S.C.) | Class of 2018Standing 5-9 as an eighth-grader, Williamson grew to 6-3 by his freshman year and his prep legend also catapulted by leaps and bounds. Playing against less-than-national caliber competition, the big, powerful leaper averaged 24.4 points and 9.4 rebounds as a freshman before growing three more inches and increasing those totals to 28.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3.9 blocks as a sophomore. His spectacular windmill and 360-degree dunks went viral by his junior year, when he put up 36.8 points and 13 rebounds per game, which included a 53-point outburst on 25-of-28 shooting from the field. As a senior, he led Spartanburg Day to a third straight SCISA Region 1-2A title, scoring 38 points in the championship game. He averaged 36.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game as a senior and finished with more than 3,000 career points.
Zion Williamson, Spartanburg Day
File photo by Alik McIntosh
Like Ben Simmons, Irving was born in Melbourne, Australia, but grew up in New Jersey. In two years at Montclair Kimberly, he averaged 26.5 points, 10.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 3.6 steals leading his team to a state title as a sophomore. He joined Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and coach Kevin Boyle at St. Patrick, averaging 17 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds as a junior before upping those to 24, 7 and 5 as a senior. He scored a game-high 22 points and was named co-MVP in his final prep game — the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic at Madison Square Garden.
3. Jayson Tatum | Chaminade (St. Louis) | Class of 2016The progression of Tatum was at first steady and then stark by his senior year when he was selected the Gatorade National Player of the Year, averaging 29.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. He had six 40-point games as a senior, including a 40-point, 17-rebound performance versus Bentonville (Ark) and highly-touted Malik Monk. He added games of 46 and 40 points against national powers Huntington Prep and DeMatha Catholic, respectively. It was a far cry from his humble freshman season at 13.3 points per game, which progressed to 26.0 and 25.9 over the next two seasons and more than 11 rebounds per game. His teams won 96 games in four seasons.
2. Ben Simmons | Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) | Class of 2015Born in Australia, the son of an American-born professional basketball player, arrived back in the United States as a sophomore. He led Montverde to three consecutive Dick Sporting Goods National Championships, earning MaxPreps National Junior of the Year in 2014. He swept all national player honors as a senior averaging 28 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game. He shot an astounding 70.7 percent from the field. With Simmons controlling all the action, the Eagles went a combined 83-3 in three seasons playing against the nation's top competition.
1. LeBron James | St. Vincent-St. Mary (Akron, Ohio) | Class of 2003The King was king from the get-go, averaging 21 points and six rebounds as a freshman, leading the Fighting Irish to a 27-0 record and Division III state title. He finished with a third state title in four years, won the Gatorade National Player of the Year for a second straight year and Ohio Mr. Basketball for a third time. During his career, he donned the cover of magazines Slam and Sports Illustrated, the latter tabbing him "The Chosen One," while piling up 2,657 career points, 892 rebounds and 523 assists. He had career highs of 52 points, 17 rebounds and 11 assists, shot 57 percent from the field (1,058 of 1,866) and led the Fighting Irish to a combined record of 101-6. He won MVP honors in his final prep game, scoring 27 points and adding seven rebounds and seven assists, propelling the East to a 122-107 victory in the 2003 McDonald's All-American Game. Three months later, he was drafted No. 1 overall by the Cavaliers and 18 years later he hasn't slowed down.
