Jeremy Lin Says He Was 'Thankful' He Wasn't Voted to Be an All-Star

Jeremy Lin wasn't voted into the NBA All-Star Game, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Per Dave Zangaro of CSNHouston.com, the Houston Rockets point guard was "thankful" not to have been chosen as an All-Star:

I’m kind of thankful I didn’t get voted because when...I want to make sure I’m fully, fully deserving of it, when I play. And I didn’t feel like that was the case this year.

Despite Lin's fairy-tale rise to prominence, it's encouraging to see that he's still an advocate of reality.

There was absolutely no way he deserved to be on the court with guys like like Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Tony Parker. Not even slightly.

Lin's 12.6 points, 6.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game aren't enough to consider him a bust, but they're also nowhere near worthy of an All-Star selection.

Had he been voted in, he would have been more of a novelty than anything. It's common knowledge that the process for assembling the starting lineup is a popularity contest, but his selection would have taken said theory to a different level.

It also would have taken a roster spot away from someone else.

The uproar that followed Stephen Curry's supposed snub was bad enough. Can you imagine if Lin had earned a selection over Parker, Westbrook or even James Harden?

Laugh now, but Lin was third in total votes among Western Conference guards (883,809), receiving nearly 400,000 more nods than his teammate Harden (485,986).

Is that how Lin really wanted to be remembered, as the All-Star who shouldn't have been? The one that started over Paul and cost another superstar a roster spot?

Of course not. He wants to earn it; he wants to deserve it.

Lin is not Yao Ming. He doesn't play a near barren position where we can justify his inclusion. Instead, he's a guard, a slot brimming with superstar talents. And he's not one of them.

Maybe one year Lin will reach his betokened potential. Perhaps one year he'll eventually deserve to be selected.

That year just wasn't this one, and Lin's thankful the roster ultimately didn't reflect otherwise.

As are we.

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