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Marcin Gortat on not making All-Star team: Poland is 'pissed off'

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

You've done it now, Eastern Conference coaches and NBA fans. You've gone and upset the entire country of Poland.

Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat revealed that his home country is quite displeased that he wasn't chosen to the Eastern Conference All-Star team. While his Wizards are third in the East at 31-17, Gortat's averaging 12 points and 8.2 rebounds, hardly All-Star numbers. Still, he doesn't think it's his box score line that turned coaches off.

Gortat, considered by some to be like a god in Poland, actually finished fourth in votes among East frontcourt players, nearly making it in as a starter. He sounded incredibly and understandably thankful for the incredible support:

Poland pretty much extended my dream. I made my dream of making it to the NBA, but they extended it by getting me almost on the All-Star team. So I'm so proud of my country. You can't imagine. I'm one of the proudest Polish guys on Earth right now.

There are no All-Star Weekend events that really lend themselves to a player like Gortat, but perhaps the league could involve the mohawked big man by introducing some sort of wrestling event. Gortat and Nikola Pekovic versus the world?

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