"It seemed like everybody was saying LaMarcus Aldridge deserved to make the NBA All-Star game this year.

But when the league announced Thursday that he had made the Western Conference squad, for a moment he wasn't sure what to think.

"I kind of didn't believe it in the beginning," Aldridge said Thursday night. "I just had a little flashback of last year, how I thought I was going to make it and didn't."

This time, though, he did. He will be one of seven reserves joining the five starters for the Feb. 26 game at Orlando.

"It's kind of surreal," Aldridge says of being an All-Star for the first time in his five-plus NBA seasons.

Aldridge got the news while with the Blazers in New Orleans, where they will play Friday night.

"My teammates and everybody were clapping for me and cheering for me," he says.

And so was his mom, home in Dallas.

"She said she's proud of me," Aldridge says.

Aldridge felt ill during Wednesday's homecourt loss to Houston.

"I don't feel great, but I do feel better today," he says. "This (news) did help my spirits."

Last season, Aldridge just missed getting a reserve spot in the game, with Lake Oswego High grad Kevin Love picked ahead of him in a crowded field of forward candidates."