LeBron James and Kevin Durant are once again captains of the All-Star teams ahead of the NBA All-Star game which is set to take place on February 20th in Cleveland. With the new format seeing the two captains pick their teams from among the candidates one by one, the last few seasons have seen a lot of entertainment during these drafts. The captains tend to give their reasons for picking players that lead to some fun banter between them.
The draft for the 2022 All-Star game took place on Thursday after the trade deadline had ended, which meant there was a huge elephant in the room related to Kevin Durant. James Harden had just been traded for Ben Simmons a year after forming the Big 3 in Brooklyn with KD and Kyrie Irving. Harden is an All-Star reserve this season so of course, his name was on the board as well, making things a tad awkward for Durant.
But a hilarious moment on that front occurred when LeBron James picked Darius Garland from his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. It seems KD was interested in having Garland on his team, something he expressed on air while the draft was going on. Later, Durant tried to get Garland from LeBron in a trade after the draft was done, allowing LBJ to troll him.
Ernie asks if LeBron or KD want to make any trades
LeBron to KD: “You not done making trades for the day?”
😂💀
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 11, 2022
Ernie Johnson: “Maybe you wanna swap when you look at your teams or are you satisfied with the way things stand?”
Kevin Durant: “What you wanna get for Garland?”
LeBron James: “You not done making trades for the day?”
This was a clear reference to the James Harden situation, with LeBron bursting into laughter even as he said it. Durant took it in his stride though, as he did with all the other jokes about the situation during the draft. James Harden’s decision to leave was a little sudden and it has come at a time when the Nets are struggling, so it’s unlikely to have pleased Durant who will now have to figure out how to make it happen with Ben Simmons.
