Steven Adams has insisted being voted into the NBA's annual All Star game doesn’t mean much to him on a personal level, and that he'd prefer to spend the weekend giving his body a break from the rigours of the regular season.
However, the Oklahoma City Thunder centre has acknowledged how much it would mean to his enormous base of fans back in his native New Zealand if he were to take the court in Charlotte next month.
"I do like my All Star break," Adams told ESPN. "It's a tough season.
"But I think a lot of people would like to see me there, and I think it'd be really big for the country in New Zealand.
"If I'm being selfish mate, I'd probably like a wee break."
In an updated list of vote getters released by the NBA on Friday, the 25-year-old currently sits in sixth place among Western Conference forwards.
Fans account for 50 per cent of the vote for the 10 total starters across both teams, with current NBA players and media each taking 25 per cent.
Despite such lofty recognition and career high averages across all statistical categories, Adams doesn’t buy into the suggestion that he's amid his best NBA season to date.
"I don’t agree," he said.
"All it is mate is just understanding the system a bit more and the rotations. I ain't doing anything crazy honestly, I'm just playing off bloody Paul [George] and Russell [Westbrook].
"If we run our stuff properly then I guess everybody gets to score if you're into that."
Both Westbrook and George are near certainties to make their sixth and eighth All Star appearances respectively, and Adams wholeheartedly endorses both players.
"It's just interesting how they see the game. What they come up with is just ridiculous - what works for them, how defense plays them. You have to respect them in that sense, you can't really leave just one defender on them.
"It's cool to see and it just makes it easier for the rest of us."
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