LaMarcus Aldridge was disappointed about being left off the All-Star team, but understood the omission. Aldridge was passed over in favor of big men such as Blake Griffin, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Pau Gasol.

“You have to put Blake Griffin in,’’ Aldridge rationalized. “He plays in LA and people want to see him play.’’

Teammate Andre Miller took a stronger position on the matter.

“It’s all publicity and hype,’’ Miller said. “The league don’t appreciate the blue collar workers. They don’t appreciate that. They make their money off the high-flyers ... That’s a slap in the face to (Aldridge).’’

Griffin is putting up strong numbers on a middling Clippers team, while also presenting nightly highlight material.

“They are putting this guy on every ESPN highlight. Yeah, it’s cool because fans want to see that, but you isolate him from his team,’’ Miller said. “Especially ... he ain’t made nobody better. It’s basically his rookie year, as an All-Star? LeBron James didn’t make an All-Star team as a rookie.’’