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The 2022 NBA All-Star Game Draft was on Thursday night, and it was probably the most entertaining product the league has put out this season. But more importantly for Golden State Warriors fans, it gave us the opportunity to find out where Steph Curry and Andrew Wiggins will be playing.
The answer? Against each other.
Curry was chosen by LeBron James, while Wiggins ended up on Kevin Durant’s team.
James and Durant, the captains from each conference based on vote total, took turns selecting the nine other starters (nine rather than eight because Durant is injured). LeBron had the first pick and chose Giannis Antetokounmpo, which was followed up by KD selecting Joel Embiid.
With the third overall pick, James took Curry, after pointing out that he was the greatest shooter ever. Then Durant took Ja Morant, James took DeMar DeRozan, Durant took Jayson Tatum, and James took Nikola Jokić. That left the final two players, Wiggins and Trae Young, for Team Durant.
That was the part relevant to the Warriors, who had no reserves to be taken, due to Draymond Green missing the game with an injury. But it was only the start of the entertainment.
Just a few hours before the draft, news broke that Durant’s Brooklyn Nets had traded All-Star James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons and Seth Curry. This came after news that Harden was hoping to be traded, and had clashed behind the scenes with Durant and the rest of the team.
With every passing pick in the draft, it became increasingly clear that Durant had no intention to draft Harden ... and even more amusingly, that LeBron was going to avoid Harden too, to keep giving Durant opportunities to select him — or better yet, pass him up.
It culminated in comedy gold, as Harden was the last player left on the board, ending up on Team LeBron by default.
Kevin Durant picks Rudy Gobert with his last pick over Harden, and LeBron is dying laughing.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) February 11, 2022
pic.twitter.com/1hFLUFsaAe
Incredible.
Here’s the whole reserve segment, if you feel like watching the outstanding theater.
The #NBAAllStar Reserves for #TeamLeBron and #TeamDurant
— NBA (@NBA) February 11, 2022
Watch the 2022 #NBAAllStar Game: Sunday, Feb. 20 on TNT & TBS pic.twitter.com/TSFfxCA84o
And here are the final rosters:
Team LeBron James
Starters
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Steph Curry
DeMar DeRozan
LeBron James
Nikola Jokić
Reserves
Jimmy Butler
Luka Dončić
Darius Garland
James Harden
Donovan Mitchell
Chris Paul
Fred VanVleet
Team Kevin Durant
Starters
Joel Embiid
Ja Morant
Jayson Tatum
Andrew Wiggins
Trae Young
Reserves
LaMelo Ball
Devin Booker
Rudy Gobert
Zach LaVine
Khris Middleton
Dejounte Murray
Karl-Anthony Towns
Injured
Kevin Durant
Draymond Green
The All-Star Game takes place Sunday, February 20 at 5:00 p.m. PT on TNT from Cleveland, Ohio.
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