Khris Middleton is the NBA's most unassuming All-Star

Khris Middleton sits at his locker, his legs in an air compression massager, watching film of the night's opponent while engaging in a quiet phone conversation. He's mostly stoic, save for the odd smile. Just another night at the office.

Only nothing about this night is ordinary. The opponents are the Toronto Raptors, who entered Thursday's nationally televised matchup just a half-game behind Middleton's Milwaukee Bucks for first place in the Eastern Conference. The phone conversation is interrupted every few seconds by a different member of the Bucks - general manager Jon Horst, then a media relations member, eventually Giannis Antetokounmpo - all quietly congratulating Middleton. And the call itself? It was either Middleton's father or sister (he doesn't remember who reached him first), calling to inform him that he'd just been named an All-Star.

The call ends, and Horst jokes that Antetokounmpo, who will captain one of the All-Star teams, can now pick a teammate in the televised draft. Giannis asks whether Middleton will pass him the ball if he does, and Middleton cracks a sheepish smile. Antetokounmpo says it's the biggest smile he's seen from Middleton in the six years they've played together.

It is the high point of Middleton's seven-year career, but he doesn't want to discuss it with the media until after the game. He slips his earphones in and shifts his gaze back to the film. There's work to be done.

"Khris is very quiet, but quiet confident," Horst tells theScore. "He's not a shy guy. He's just quiet. He works really hard, keeps his head down, and does his job every day. He's a great teammate, and guys love him. He's a tremendous representation of our organization. Great guy to coach, great guy to play with, so we're lucky to have him."

An hour later, Middleton will draw the assignment of guarding fellow All-Star Kawhi Leonard, who enters the night averaging a hair under 28 points per game on 50 percent shooting. Middleton does his job admirably, leading a team effort that limits Leonard to 16 points on 7-of-20 shooting in a 105-92 victory that clinches the season series for 37-13 Milwaukee.

Middleton also chips in 18 points (7-of-9 shooting), six rebounds, four assists, and two steals during his team-high 35 minutes in Toronto. It's the type of balanced, efficient performance that has become his calling card: solid yet unspectacular to the average fan (Middleton finished 14th in fan voting among East frontcourt players); wholly invaluable to his teammates, his peers, and evidently the rival coaches who designated him an All-Star.

At 17.4 points per game, Middleton's scoring average represents the lowest for an All-Star - non-big, non-point-guard division - since Kyle Korver (12.1) in 2015. Korver is an obvious sharpshooter, while most fans probably couldn't identify what, exactly, Middleton excels at.

A certain anonymity comes with doing a little bit of everything, but nothing at a level that immediately pops off the stats page. For example, does anyone realize Middleton averaged better than 20 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal last season? The last player to do that without making the All-Star Game was Russell Westbrook five years ago, and that's only because he missed two months due to injury leading up to the 2014 All-Star Weekend.

"Last year was frustrating, definitely," Middleton admits of being an All-Star snub on what was a seventh-place Bucks team. "I knew how disappointed I was by not making it, but I was more worried about the team. Bud (coach Mike Budenholzer) gave me a method and a plan to follow (this season), and I tried to do that as best as possible. Whatever it takes to win, sacrifice, whatever I have to."

Middleton's scoring is down, and he's averaging five fewer minutes per game than last season (something Horst chalks up to Milwaukee whooping teams by nearly 10 points a night), but he's posting career highs in rebounding and assists, and the Bucks own the league's best record entering February.

"He's sacrificed so much for the team," Antetokounmpo said of Middleton after Thursday's win over the Raptors. "He's a leader of the team, he definitely deserves (to be an All-Star). It makes me feel really, really good. I'm really happy for him, really happy for his family."

Though he remained focused on the task at hand pregame, Middleton admitted afterward that he relished being in the presence of teammates when he got the good news.

"Being around the guys that, you know, mean the world to me," Middleton began. "They know every day I work as hard as I can for them, play unselfishly, just do the things that I need to do to get the win. For them to be around and congratulate me, and then to also hear that Bud and the coaching staff will be in the All-Star Game, too, there's not a second family you'd rather be around than these guys."

Budenholzer, who benched Middleton in an early December loss, leading to reported tension , laughed when asked if Middleton has surprised him in his first year coaching the Bucks.

"I'm not a big surprise guy," Budenholzer said through a grin before his tone becomes serious. "I was big time on expectations of (Middleton). I competed against him a long time and thought he could improve and be even better than he had been, and I think he is (better). Tonight's a great example, taking a tough cover on Kawhi Leonard. What he's given us defensively, I think, is underrated, underappreciated. I'm very happy for him, and I think he can get even better."

If Middleton really can get better, Bucks fans hope the 27-year-old does it in Milwaukee, as he's expected to decline a $13-million player option for next season to become a 2019 free agent.

"Giannis has been here his whole career. He hasn't told us or made us think that he wants to leave. He wants to be here for the rest of his career, and I feel the same way," Middleton said when asked about helping put a small market on the map. "For us, it's not about being in the right market, it's being on the right team. This organization has done everything that they can to make sure we succeed."

Given the way the Bucks speak of Middleton's sacrifices, from management to coaches, right down to the players, the organization would probably say the same about him.

"For us to have him, as part of our core now and going forward, is tremendous for us," Horst said.

Milwaukee's current focus is the stretch run, the chance to win the franchise's first postseason series since 2001 - and, yes, All-Star Weekend. Thanks to Antetokounmpo, Middleton, and Budenholzer, it will feature more Bucks content than any such weekend since the '70s.

Don't expect it to change Middleton, though, who describes being an All-Star as "being a team player, being a complete player, and going out there playing as hard as you can every night."

It's a comically mundane illustration of the world's preeminent basketball talents, but what else would you expect from the NBA's most unassuming All-Star?