Jeremy Lin says he’s “thankful” he wasn’t voted as All-Star starter

It came down to about 45,000 votes.

That’s how much separated eventual NBA All-Star Game MVP Chris Paul from being replaced as a starter by Jeremy Lin (who finished with 883,809 votes, more than 400,000 than teammate James Harden).

Now that the All-Star weekend circus has moved on from Houston, Lin can be honest — he didn’t think he was ready to be voted in. That’s what he told Dave Zangaro of CSNHouston.com.

“I’m kind of thankful I didn’t get voted because when … I want to make sure I’m fully, fully deserving of it, when I play,” Lin said after the team’s evening practice on Monday. “And I didn’t feel like that was the case this year.”

He’s right. Lin is growing as a player but he is not an All-Star. That’s not his motivation anyway.

“I’m not really any more motivated to make it to the All-Star Game to be honest,” he answered. “I’m happy for James (Harden, the Rockets representative9 but for a player, I don’t think that’s anybody’s motivation.”

Lin continues to have a sensible attitude about his game and his popularity. While it has taken time for him to adjust to a new team and getting used to playing with Harden, there are signs we are seeing signs of it working out (on the offensive side, anyway). And maybe there will be a time he deserves a spot on the team.

But not yet. We’re all thankful.