LeBron, Giannis divvy up all-star game players

LeBron James finally has Anthony Davis as a teammate. For one game. His Los Angeles Lakers were unable to swing a deal for Davis, but James drafted the New Orleans Pelicans star on Thursday when he and fellow captain Giannis Antetokounmpo sat down to choose their teams for the Feb. 17 all-star game in Charlotte.

Davis told the Pelicans he wanted a trade, and James has made it clear that he’d love to play with him. But the Pelicans kept Davis as the trade deadline passed, so for now, their time as teammates will be limited to allstar weekend and James pounced at the chance to grab him with the second pick of the reserve round.

“Isn’t that tampering?” Antetokounmpo asked.

Responded James, as both players laughed: “Tampering rules do not apply on all-star weekend,” a thinly veiled reference to the reaction James got when he listed Davis as one of many players he would like the chance to play with.

James chose Golden State’s Kevin Durant with the No. 1 overall pick, as he did last year in the all-star draft, to be one of his starters. They’ll be joined in the Team LeBron starting five by Boston’s Kyrie Irving, Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard and Houston’s James Harden. Team Giannis, in addition to Antetokounmpo, will start Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Oklahoma City’s Paul George and Charlotte hometown favourite Kemba Walker.

Antetokounmpo said he took George for one reason: “He had a huge dunk on me.”