James, Durant choose their All-Star teams
LeBron James has faced Giannis Antetokounmpo as an opponent in the last three All-Star Games.
The Los Angeles Lakers’ star got him as a teammate this year.
James used the No. 1 overall pick on Antetokounmpo — the NBA’s two-time reigning MVP from Milwaukee — in the draft for Sunday’s All-Star Game in Atlanta. Kevin Durant, who will not play in the All-Star Game because of injury but still is the captain for Team Durant, took Brooklyn teammate Kyrie Irving with his first pick.
The other starters for Team LeBron will be Stephen Curry of Golden State, Luka Doncic of Dallas and Nikola Jokic of Denver.
The other starters for Team Durant will be Joel Embiid of Philadelphia, 2020 All-Star MVP Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers, Bradley Beal of Washington and Jayson Tatum of Boston.
This is the fourth year of the NBA’s playing captain format for the All-Star Game. James is 3-0, beating teams captained by Curry in 2018 and Antetokounmpo in the last two seasons.
“I just try to pick players that can complement one another,” James said during the draft that was taped Wednesday and aired Thursday night on TNT. “When we’re on the floor, we'll try to play the game the right way. It’s the All-Star Game, so there’s going to be some shenanigans out there. But for the majority of the game, we’re going to try to play the right way and come out with a win.”
Durant had the first pick of the reserve round and took another Brooklyn teammate, James Harden with the opening selection there. James’ first pick among the reserves was Damian Lillard of Portland, Durant followed by taking Devin Booker of Phoenix, and James countered by selecting Ben Simmons of Philadelphia.
The remaining Team Durant subs: Zion Williamson of New Orleans,
Zach LaVine of Chicago,
Julius Randle of New York, Nikola Vucevic of Orlando and Donovan Mitchell of Utah. James’ final selections were
Chris Paul of Phoenix,
Jaylen Brown of Boston,
Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers, Domantas Sabonis of Indiana and Rudy Gobert of Utah.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Wizards 119, Clippers 117: Bradley Beal scored 33 points and host Washington pushed ahead with a late run to beat Los Angeles after All-Star Paul George was a late scratch.
Celtics 132, Raptors 125: Jayson Tatum had 27 points and 12 rebounds and host Boston won itsfourth straight game, outlasting short-handed Toronto.
Knicks 114, Pistons 104: Julius Randle capped his All-Star first half with 27 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists, sending host New York into the break with a winning record after beating Detroit.
On this date:
In 1770, the Boston Massacre took place as British soldiers who’d been taunted by a crowd of colonists opened fire, killing five people.
In 1953, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin died after three decades in power.
In 1960, Elvis Presley was discharged from the U.S. Army.
In 1963, country music performers Patsy Cline, Cowboy Copas and Hawkshaw Hawkins died in the crash of their plane near Camden, Tennessee, along with pilot Randy Hughes.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter took questions from 42 callers in 26 states on a network radio call-in program moderated by Walter Cronkite.