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By now, you already know the travesty that occurred with the voting for the starting five from each conference for the all-star game . Despite averaging a triple double, carrying his entire franchise on his back and still giving out that pain to opponents each night, Russell Westbrook was not selected to start. Instead, the starting guard spots went to James Harden and Steph Curry.

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Harden deserved the selection but Curry clearly did not, at least not over Russ. Players and media had Westbrook over Curry but the fan vote, which counted for 50% of the vote, had Westbrook in third place, which essentially became a tiebreaker between the three players.

Curry was asked on Thursday how did he feel to find out he was starting and he tried to tread lightly in his response because it seemed he knew Russ should have gotten the spot.

“It’s a big storyline just because, like you said, those two guys are doing amazing things this year, and there’s only two spots that you can fill. So unfortunately, somebody was going to be left out. I’ve been on the other side of that four years ago. That’s how it goes. The fact I get to represent my team and be able to start is something I definitely appreciate.”

It didn’t take long for the media to ask Russ how he felt about the snub and his response is exactly what you would expect.

“It is what it is,” Westbrook said Friday. “That’s the nature of the business, the game. I just play. I don’t play for All-Star bids. I play to win championships, and every night I compete at a high level, and it’ll work out.

“I just continue doing what I’m doing and play the game the right way, and everything else will work out.”

Westbrook leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 30.6 points per game, and also has a league-high 21 triple-doubles this season. Westbrook is also averaging 10.4 assists and 10.6 rebounds per game, making him the first player to be averaging a triple-double at this point in a season since 1963-64.

“[Winning the players’ vote] doesn’t change anything for me,” Westbrook said. “It’s a great honor … and being an All-Star is something you don’t take for granted.

“But like I said, I don’t play to play in the All-Star [Game]. … I play to become a better player and to win championships.”

It will still be interesting to see Russ on the court with maybe Harden and Durant at the same time and how those interactions go. Even though he isn’t being vocal about not getting the start, we all know Russ and this will just add to the chip on his shoulder, which hopefully results in an even bigger second half of the season.

ESPN