Giannis is No. 1
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the first pick by LeBron James in the draft for Sunday’s All-Star Game;
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 twotime 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 AllStar Game. James is 3-0, beating teams captained by Curry in 2018 and Antetokounmpo in the last two seasons.
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.
Mitchell and Gobert, respectively, were the last two players taken.