Should the team with the NBA's best record have three All-Stars?

NEW YORK — Being an All-Star snub brings a special kind of luster if you’re in the unfortunate position of being good enough to be selected but not a sure thing.

You’ll likely get a soliloquy from resident contrarian Charles Barkley on the NBA’s preeminent show, and more mention than the fringe All-Stars who beat you out on the coaches’ ballots.

A weeklong vacation to some exotic locale away from media, the usual team grind and the never-ending hustle of All-Star Weekend.

And, you get endless motivation that you can manufacture against players at your position, which is sometimes difficult to conjure during an 82-game marathon season.

So, while Milwaukee Bucks guard Eric Bledsoe would certainly like to be an All-Star, he’s not heartbroken over it and isn’t holding any ill will toward the player voted over him, the Brooklyn Nets’ D’Angelo Russell.

“No question it was one of my goals, be an All-Star,” Bledsoe told Yahoo Sports on Monday night after the Bucks’ 113-94 win over the Nets at Barclays Center, “especially one year out of my career. Not to discredit nobody, [Russell’s] having a heck of a year, but at the same time I’ve prepared for it and it didn’t happen. I just gotta keep pushing.”

With just 12 spots (with exceptions made for Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki), good players will get snubbed. Dallas’ Luka Doncic had a case, and some felt Minnesota’s Derrick Rose deserved serious consideration.

Utah big man Rudy Gobert was in tears over being overlooked, and teammate Donovan Mitchell’s rebound from a slow start hasn’t been discussed enough.

Rod Strickland is probably the best player to never make an All-Star team, and currently, Memphis point guard Mike Conley holds the crown.

Bledsoe, 29, isn’t having his best statistical season — 15.8 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game, with years in Phoenix looking better from a numbers standpoint — but this is the first time he’s been on a team this good with him having this much of an impact.

Giannis Antetokounmpo is an MVP candidate, and Khris Middleton emerged as a do-everything swingman to give the team two All-Stars.

But considering the Bucks own the NBA’s best record (39-13), it’s not out of the realm to see them having a third.

“I think winning should matter,” Bledsoe said. “At the end of the day, we have a great record. You can’t reward everybody. We have two All-Stars playing great basketball, man.”

Bledsoe is playing some of the most efficient basketball of his career, his play barking back against the thought that guards must be effective 3-point shooters.

Only shooting 30 percent from long range is balanced out by the 6-foot-1 dynamo shooting 75 percent on shots from three feet and in.

Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry, noted as the best guard finishers in the paint, are shooting 63 and 67 percent in the same area, respectively.

Of course, Irving and Curry are two of the best shooters from the position the league has ever seen, and Bledsoe isn’t in that class.

But considering where he came from last season, just being in the All-Star conversation is a victory.

First there was his frustrating finish to his career in Phoenix, where he played just three games before his infamous “I Dont wanna be here” tweet had him deactivated before the Bucks traded for him in November 2017.

And an underwhelming first-round performance against the Boston Celtics, who were without Irving but had Terry Rozier III manning the point, left plenty to be desired.

Bledsoe averaged just 13.6 points and 3.7 assists in the seven-game series, sending him back to the lab as soon as the Bucks were eliminated.

“It was a motivation. I couldn’t let it get down on me,” Bledsoe said. “That’s what everybody wanted it to do, let it dictate how I was gonna play the season.

“Once the season was over, I got right in the gym. I took like a week off. After that I was in the gym earlier than anybody in the NBA. I was mainly focused on my body, stretching.”

When it was suggested he didn’t look healthy during the playoffs, he debunked the notion.

“I wasn’t being aggressive. I had a hell of a season [averaging 17.8 points and 5.1 rebounds with the Bucks],” he said. “Once the playoffs started, I stopped being aggressive. That was the main focus, just stay attacking. It led me to come in and focus.”

That focus has helped lead the Bucks to being the biggest surprise in the NBA, and they should be a tougher playoff out than folks think.

Talking the talk

— Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker to the Arizona Republic

The Suns are nobody’s model of efficiency, with an 11-44 record. But … I have no problem with the young star recognizing what he sees and speaking his truth. It puts the onus on the Suns to fix things, sooner rather than later.

Buzzer-beaters

1. A locker-room tiff in the postgame setting? And it getting out as quickly as you can press “send”? Does it seem like coach Luke Walton and the Lakers are headed for an inevitable divorce, be it in-season or later? Regardless of the result, it certainly has a “feel” to it.

2. Who knows whether the Knicks will truly pull off a coup this summer by getting Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving? But I don’t see the Knicks missing out on those guys and then dedicating those funds to second-tier free agents, locking themselves up for eons. That alone should give Knicks fans optimism.

3. Thirteen-player All-Star rosters. It’s not that hard, Commissioner. Do it.

4. Just when you thought Russell Westbrook was ceding the critical space late in games to Paul George, the turnover against the Boston Celtics happens on Sunday. Never change, Russ.

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