The NBA has had captains draft the All-Star teams every year since 2018, but in the past the actual drafting took place a week or two before the actual event. That all changed this time when, in true playground fashion, the league moved the All-Star Draft to minutes before tip-off.
This year’s captains are LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who received the most fan votes in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively. James received first choice among the starters due to the most fan votes overall, while Antetokounmpo had first choice from the reserve.
But to avoid the embarrassment of someone being last pick, the league reversed the order and had them pick reserves first. As a result, Antetokounmpo had the first pick of the night, surprisingly taking Damian Lillard in place of his teammate Jrue Holiday. James, meanwhile, left with Klutch client Anthony Edwards. When it came time for the starters, James made Joel Embiid his first pick while Antetokounmpo picked Jayson Tatum.
Here’s a look at the draft results and full rosters for each team:
Team LeBron roster
Squad of Team Giannis
This is the third time since implementing the Captains format that we have Team LeBron versus Team Giannis, which is the most common encounter. Team LeBron is 2-0 in their previous encounters.