On Thursday, Team LeBron and Team Kevin Durant drafted their teams for this year’s NBA All-Star Game, which is slated to take place in Atlanta on Sunday.
Team LeBron selected first, choosing two-time All-Star captain and back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as the No. 1 overall pick. Team Giannis lost by just two points in 2020 to Team LeBron.
Team Kevin Durant took Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving as the No. 2 overall pick. Due to a left hamstring strain, Durant will not be playing in the All-Star game. Instead, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum replaced the 11-time All-Star in the starter pool.
James stunned fans at the end of the draft by choosing Domantis Sabonis as his second-to-last pick, leaving the Utah Jazz’s two All-Stars (Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell) as the only players left over. It seemed to be a shot across the bow at the team currently leading the Western Conference standings. Just moments prior, James said he needed size, seemingly making the 7’1″ Gobert the obvious pick over the 6’11” Sabonis.
“You guys got to understand,” James said, defending his choice. “Just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah.”
Here’s a look at the complete teams:
Team LeBron
- LeBron James (Starter)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Starter)
- Stephen Curry (Starter)
- Luka Dončić (Starter)
- Nikola Jokic (Starter)
- Damian Lillard
- Ben Simmons
- Chris Paul
- Jaylen Brown
- Paul George
- Domantas Sabonis
- Rudy Gobert
Team Kevin Durant
- Kyrie Irving (Starter)
- Joel Embiid (Starter)
- Kawhi Leonard (Starter)
- Bradley Beal (Starter)
- Jayson Tatum (Starter)
- James Harden
- Devin Booker
- Zion Williamson
- Zach LaVine
- Julius Randle
- Nikola Vucevic
- Donovan Mitchell
Doc Rivers will be coaching Team Kevin Durant while Utah’s Quin Snyder, who will be making his All-Star Game debut on Sunday, will coach Team LeBron.
The annual skills challenge, three-point contest and dunk contest are also slated to be held on Sunday. The first two will be held pregame while the dunk contest will take place at halftime.
