Nowitzki says he doesn't deserve to be All-Star

If Dirk Nowitzki's streak of 10 consecutive All-Star games comes to an end this season the Dallas Mavericks superstar won't be upset. After all, he doesn't truly believe he belongs in Orlando for the event anyway. Following Monday's practice in Dallas, Nowitzki was asked if he could make a case to be on the Western Conference roster. "Not really," Nowitzki responded, according to The Dallas Morning News. "I mean, averaging whatever, 15, 16 points, I don't think you should be an All-Star." Nowitzki added: "But we'll just have to wait and see. I think there's a lot of great young talent in this league that deserves to go. I think LaMarcus Aldridge has been stiffed the last couple of years. He's a great young player, fun to watch. You know Blake Griffin, and Kevin Love is playing great, so there's a lot of talent at my position. We'll just have to wait and see what happens." Judging by the fact that Nowitzki recently sat out four games to improve his knee injury and conditioning, missing an All-Star game and continuing to get healthy for the second half of the season seems much more important. "To me, it's more about getting right again and getting my body back in rhythm, getting used to all the grinding and running and jumping again," Nowitzki said. "I think thats more important than an All-Star appearance at this point. And ultimately make a push after the All-Star break. Thats ultimately where my head is at." In five games since returning, the 33-year-old is averaging 16.4 points, eight rebounds and 2.4 assists. -- Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota