NBA All-Star: LeBron James, Kevin Durant draft their teams
The teams for the NBA All-Star game were confirmed on Thursday, with LeBron James drafting a familiar-looking side and James Harden going last.
LeBron James and Kevin Durant confirmed their 2022 All-Star teams in Thursday's draft, with James Harden picked last.
James was voted in by fans as the Western Conference's captain, while Durant was chosen out of the East.
The All-Star draft took place ahead of Thursday's slate of games and came at the end of a thrilling trade deadline day, in which Harden took centre-stage.
Harden has left the Brooklyn Nets to join up with the Philadelphia 76ers, who finally solved their Ben Simmons conundrum by sending him – as well as Seth Curry and Andre Drummond – the other way.
Interestingly, his former Nets team-mate Durant seemingly opted to pick anyone but Harden.
The 32-year-old ended up being given to James by default at the end when Durant chose Rudy Gobert as his final selection.
Despite being captain, Durant will not be taking part in the All-Star game later this month due to a lingering knee injury, meaning he was granted five picks to James' four in the first round of the draft.
James went first, though, and selected the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo – in fact, the Los Angeles Lakers star's starting team will be almost identical to last year's, with DeMar DeRozan instead of Luka Doncic the only difference.
Team LeBron defeated Team Durant 170-150 in 2021 and James will be hoping for a similar outcome this time around.
NBA All-Star Teams
Team LeBron
Starters: LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Jokic
Reserves: Luka Doncic, Darius Garland, Chris Paul, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, Fred VanVleet, James Harden
Team Durant
Starters: Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum, Trae Young, Andrew Wiggins
Reserves: Devin Booker, Karl Anthony Towns, Zach LaVine, DeJounte Murray, Khris Middleton, LaMelo Ball, Rudy Gobert