LOS ANGELES — Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum is here in town on this All-Star weekend, but not for long. He is heading out on Saturday morning, off to New York. Which is a shame — he’s always been a thoughtful and approachable guy, as well as talented, the kind of player the league should be highlighting.

McCollum will not be playing in the All-Star game on Sunday, which is understandable, because of the logjam of great players in the West. He was a near-miss on that front.

But less understandable is the snubbing he got from the NBA in the 3-Point Contest. He has been in it the past two years, and he is shooting 42.1 percent from the arc this year — better than six of the eight players who will be shooting on Saturday night. So I asked McCollum why he was not part of the Saturday night contest.

"That’s a great question," he said. "I think there are a lot of people who shoot the ball extremely well. Can’t be in it every year, right? Unless you win it every year."

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McCollum laughed when I asked if he had gotten an explanation as to why he was left out of the contest. He seems as baffled by the snub as the rest of us. He said he’s enjoyed being in the contest in the past, but when it comes to not being in it this year, "I don’t have the answers."

McCollum is here as part of a promotional event for the Verizon Up rewards plan, which is offering its members a chance for prizes like stageside seats at a Justin Timberlake concert and a behind-the-scenes experience here at All-Star weekend.

McCollum is expecting to get such an All-Star experience of his own, eventually.

"As a competitor, you always want to receive the best rewards," he said. "But you understand that it is a team sport, and you understand the better your team plays, the more you are rewarded. There are a lot of players who could have been voted into the All-Star game, a lot of players in the East and Western Conference, moreso the West.

"But it’s the NBA, it’s tough and I feel like at some point, I will make the All-Star team."

Of course, that leads to the question — as someone who is among the league leaders in perimeter shooting and averaging 21.7 points, would McCollum be an All-Star in the East?

Again, he offered a sheepish smile.

"I think that is a very, very reasonable statement to make," he said.

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Just before we chatted about All-Star events, McCollum had seen the story that has been going around on Twitter and other outlets, in which Fox News host Laura Ingraham said that players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant should clam up this weekend and stay out of politics — "shut up and dribble," she advised them. Ingraham's criticism came in response to James and Durant speaking out against President Donald Trump in a video for "Uninterrupted."

McCollum shook his head at Ingraham's comments.

"I think that’s disrespectful because it challenges our knowledge outside of sports," McCollum said. "It kind of puts us in a box. The lady who said it, for one, she was reading off a teleprompter, which is very easy to do, and, for two, we all have opinions on things because we’re Americans, we’re humans. We’ve grown up here and seen different things based on where you grew up at."

He pointed out that James has addressed these kinds of opinions from others before.

The color of money doesn’t change the color of your skin. @KingJames keeps it real on #RollingWithTheChampion. pic.twitter.com/1nDUFWzuja — UNINTERRUPTED (@uninterrupted) February 15, 2018

"I think LeBron said it best," McCollum said. "Having money doesn’t change your color or race — you still are either a white man, a black man, a European man, an Asian man, you still have experiences in your life that are different than the next person, regardless of how much money you have.

"So I think that, to just write somebody off because they play a sport is ludicrous. You still have a right to your opinion, regardless of what you do in your day-to-day life. I think that’s disrespectful, to tell somebody to shut up and dribble."

McCollum won’t be around at All-Star weekend much longer, but at least he’s representing the NBA well in the short time he’s here.