Shaquille O’Neal thinks DeAndre Jordan should be an All-Star reserve

Shaquille O’Neal made a list of the players he thinks should be selected as reserves on this year’s Western Conference All-Star team.

Among those players was DeAndre Jordan.

The Clippers superstar center did not appear on the lists from Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith or Ernie Johnson.

Jordan has generally been excluded from the All-Star discussion, despite leading the league in rebounds (13.4 a game) and field goal percentage (72.1%), and being second in the league in shot blocking (2.4 a game). He also averages 10 points a game.

“So he did get that $100 bucks I sent,” Jordan joked of O’Neal. “That’s pretty cool, that’s humbling. Shaq to me is one of the most dominant players who’s ever played the game. So for him to think about me in that light is pretty cool.”

O’Neal has long been a fan of Jordan. In 2012, O’Neal callied Jordan the best center in the Western Conference, which was interpreted by many at the time as a dig against Dwight Howard, who was then playing for the Lakers.

“I’m going on the record,” O’Neal said in 2012, when Jordan averaged 8.8 points on 64.3% shooting, 7.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. “Best center in the West right now is DeAndre Jordan. You heard it here first.”

O’Neal may support Jordan, but he didn’t give any love to Chris Paul.

The Clippers point guard was not voted as a starter for the All-Star team for the second consecutive year and O’Neal and his TNT colleagues did not put him on their lists of who they’d select as reserves.

When Paul was asked to comment on that decision, he shrugged his shoulders.

“Them guys get paid pretty good money to give their opinions,” he said, adding, “All I can do is play.”

Paul is averaging 17.3 points on 46.4% shooting, 9.8 assists and 4.7 rebounds this season. In Thursday’s win over Brooklyn Nets, he had 17 assists, tying the amount of assists the entire Nets team had combined.

Blake Griffin said the coaches would be remiss if they don’t select Paul as a reserve.

“I think he deserves it, and that’s not just being biased,” Griffin said.

Follow Melissa Rohlin on Twitter @melissarohlin