Wizards' Beal declined Three-Point Contest invite after All-Star snub

It was All-Star or bust for Bradley Beal.

The Washington Wizards shooting guard revealed the NBA asked him to participate in the Three-Point Contest at All-Star weekend in New Orleans. He turned it down, however, because he was interested in another event that weekend.

"I feel like if I'm going to be part of the weekend, I want to be an All-Star," Beal told J. Michael of CSNmidatlantic.com. "It wasn't easy turning down. I will say that because I did want to do it. I want to be able to earn everything."

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It's the 23-year-old's fifth season, and he's yet to get an All-Star nod. The reserves were named last week, and Beal wasn't one of them, though his backcourt mate John Wall was.

Beal's averaging a career-high 22 points on 46.6 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent from deep. He also chips in 3.6 assists, 2.8 boards, and a steal per contest for the red-hot Wizards, who suddenly sit third in the East.

He tried his hand at the shootout once before, finishing second to Marco Belinelli in 2014.

Instead, Beal is planning to skip the festivities in the Big Easy in favor of some R&R after he was limited to a career-low 55 games last season due to a leg injury.

"Everything is good. I want to just rest and use the break to my advantage," he said. "All-Star is hectic running all over the place. I just want to relax my body. It's precautionary. I'm might go out of town, probably go home (to St. Louis) to see my family."