Do San Antonio Spurs deserve to have All-Star representation?

The Western Conference is loaded with All-Star talent, but the San Antonio Spurs have two players who continue to make compelling cases for a spot.

If you’re an NBA player hoping to make the All-Star Game, the Western Conference isn’t exactly the best place to look for an open spot. It’s been in the month of January, though, the duo of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge has discovered versions of their respective selves that could result in greater amounts of success for the San Antonio Spurs.

But does that mean San Antonio’s long streak of consecutive seasons with at least one All-Star Game representative will continue.

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It hasn’t mattered in recent years whether you’re a Defensive Player of the Year on a playoff squad like Rudy Gobert or among a selective statistical grouping that includes other All-Stars like Devin Booker.

Earning a nod from the coaches requires the clearing of a bar much higher compared to the opposite coast given the plethora of candidates to sift through, rendering the debate of worthy participants a bit more challenging.

Being among the top eight — the playoff positions — certainly helps, as coaches prefer to reward those whose actions lead to wins, but it doesn’t guarantee anything. At the end of the day, the All-Star Game is still about the individual greatness of a select few.

Both Aldridge and DeRozan have been reputably flawed players throughout their careers. All-Stars, yes, but also analytic outliers who have failed to evolve with the times.

Having garnered a reputation through the mid-post, Aldridge has never been one to venture out to that strange land beyond the arc until recently, where he’s shattered his previous high for 3s launched in a month.

He’s taken 55 3-pointers — in 11 games so far — canning 2.3 a game for a sparkling 45.5 percentage, injecting new life into a San Antonio offense that ranks fourth in rating while he is also putting in 19.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game during that stretch.

DeRozan hasn’t been experiencing the same 3-point revelation with just 27 attempts on the season. The shots he is taking are simply going in at a rate the NBA has rarely seen from his position.

Over his last 13 outings, the four-time All-Star has not scored less than 20 points or shot worse than 50.0 percent from the floor. That’s the longest such streak of volume and efficiency by a guard in NBA history.

Additionally, on Jan. 13 he took home Player of the Week honors after leading the Spurs to a 3-1 record with averages of 29.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.

There is no argument that roughly a month’s work from DeRozan and Aldridge should have either leapfrog several worthy candidates because their body of work is much larger than that.

LA is the only player across the league with an effective field goal percentage above 54.0 percent and averages that exceed 19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.

Michael Jordan was the last guard to average at least 22.0 points per game while shooting a minimum of 52.0 percent from the field in 1990-91. With 22.4 points per game and a field goal percentage of 53.3, DeRozan is on pace to join him.

Neither’s case would be as strong on a losing team. Yes, the Spurs are just 20-23 on the season, but aside from winning three straight and six of nine, there is a stark drop-off after the West’s top seven and they are leading the pack for that final playoff spot.

All-Star snubs are as much of a talking point as those who made the cut, especially in a conference that could probably compile a respectable squad of players left off the team.

San Antonio doesn’t deserve to have both, but having positioned the Spurs for a 23rd straight playoff appearance with impressive individual numbers, perhaps just one of DeRozan or Aldridge has made a good enough case to wind up in Chicago come mid-February.