NBA: Josh Smith Angry Over All-Star Snub, Says its All Politics & He Didn’t Kiss Up to People

The NBA’s All-Star reserves were announced and the Eastern Conference added Chris Bosh, Roy Hibbert, Paul Pierce, Luol Deng, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Andre Iguodala to their roster.  One name that’s missing from the list is Josh Smith, who feels snubbed for the second year in a row.  He wasn’t too happy about that.  Check out what he had to say after the jump.

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“I don’t know why I didn’t make it,” Smith told HOOPSWORLD. “You’ve got to appreciate the way I play this game. I play with a lot of passion and I play with a lot of energy and effort. I always leave everything out on the court when I play so I don’t know. Maybe I stay to myself too much in the offseason? I don’t make the rounds, kissing up to people and doing it the political way. I stay to myself and work hard. As long as I know and everybody knows what I’m capable of doing, especially when I play against them, that’s all that matters.”

The Atlanta Hawks are currently the fourth seed in the East and Smith has been putting up impressive numbers this season. He’s averaging 15.9 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 2.1 blocks through 27 games.  Smith isn’t sure what more he needs to do to make the All-Star team.

“I played enough good basketball to feel that I’m deserving of the All-Star team this year,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. It has to be something else, it has to be something else. There’s really no explanation anybody can give me on why I wasn’t there.”

Smith believes the snub has more to do with politics.

“I felt as though I should’ve made it last year so it’s two years in a row now,” Smith said. “There’s more to this game than just playing hard and doing it the right way, you kind of don’t get your hopes up because you know that it’s a ton of politics.”

“At this point, it’s something I’m used to,” Smith continued. “I’m immune to it, and it’s really funny to me because you know it’s something else than what it is. Maybe I don’t have the one of the big name agents that the assistant coaches had, the ones who have players now and are probably putting a little extra something in their ear. I can’t do anything about it, but just play. There’s nothing that I can do that I haven’t been doing. Like I said, I’ll just keep playing the way I’m capable of playing and just leave it in the hands of the people who keep voting the wrong people in.”

Smith worked extremely hard during the offseason, expanding his game and losing a considerable amount of weight. He feels it allowed him to elevate his game this season.

“I did a lot of work out in Los Angeles,” Smith said. “I did a lot of cardio, changed up my diet and concentrated on my mid-range game. I just wanted to be a smarter more versatile player this year.”

At the end of the day, Smith is frustrated with the snub, but life goes on. He’ll take a vacation with his family during All-Star weekend and try again next year.

“I have two beautiful kids, I have a loving wife and I have family members that love the mess out of me,” Smith said. “I always enjoy spending that time with them, going somewhere foreign, sticking my feet in the sand and just relaxing.”

HOOPSWORLD