Mashburn's best overall NBA season took place in the 2002–03 season, and he played in all 82 games averaging 21.6 points per game. He played in his first and only All-Star game, scoring 10 points in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta, won the Eastern Conference Player of the Month award in March and made the All-NBA Third Team. The season also featured some high scoring games for Mashburn, including a 50-point performance against Memphis on February 21 and a 40-point game against Orlando on March 26. The Hornets won 47 games and faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs, but Mashburn played in only four games of the series which went to six games.