As expected, the televising of the NBA All-Star draft provided plenty of entertainment with LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo selecting their teams for the big game.
The starting lineups went pretty much as you would expect with James selecting Kevin Durant first, followed Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, while Antetokounmpo assembled his starting squad featuring Steph Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George and Kemba Walker.
As they ventured into the reserves, Antetokounmpo got one over James by picking Aussie Ben Simmons with the third pick in the round, before the King got a chance.
"You took my guy!"
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 8, 2019
Giannis takes Ben Simmons in the #NBAAllStarDraft pic.twitter.com/zxZxWtXpod
“S**t. He took my guy!” James exclaimed on the broadcast.
“You took my guy. Now I have to go into shuffle mode now.”
Antetokounmpo was pretty happy with his slick move: “I’m playing mind games,” he jokingly said.
Relive the first-ever #NBAAllStarDraft with #LeBronJames and #GiannisAntetokounmpo on @NBAonTNT! #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/LCJXPjuWqy
— 2019 NBA All-Star (@NBAAllStar) February 8, 2019
As the pair laughed over James' conundrum of playing against his protégé, the spirit of the NBA trade deadline took over, with James proposing a trade to send Russell Westbrook to Team Giannis in exchange for Simmons.
Prior to the draft, Antetokounmpo said that he planned on pairing Westbrook and Embiid together on his roster to help simmer their on-court rivalry, but he wasn't done there.
“What if you put Dwayne Wade in the trade?” he added.
With a smile on his face, Antetokounmpo obliged and sealed the deal to send Simmons to Team LeBron, while the 76ers point guard was at home riding the rollercoaster of events.
Team @Giannis_An34 Let’s Go! ⛈🔥
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) February 8, 2019
Redo redo ... Team @KingJames LETS GOOOO! 🔥⚡️😂
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) February 8, 2019
Where was @wojespn on that one huh?
— Ben Simmons (@BenSimmons25) February 8, 2019
Check out the full rosters below:
The 2019 #NBAAllStar #TeamLeBron & #TeamGiannis rosters as drafted by #LeBronJames and #Giannis! pic.twitter.com/AbvnyJjMsv
— NBA (@NBA) February 8, 2019
The 68th NBA All-Star Game takes place on Feb. 17, 2019, at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC.
