The NBA All-Star Draft was televised for the second year in a row on Thursday and featured conference captains Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James selecting which other All-Stars would join their respective squads for the Feb. 16 exhibition matchup in Chicago. As expected, with both players understanding this event is supposed to be fun, the players and Inside the NBA crew on TNT let the jokes fly.
It was Antetokounmpo that had one of the evening's funnier quips, which came at the expense of James Harden. When last season's MVP was deciding on who to select as his point guard, he said he was torn between Kemba Walker and Trae Young. Charles Barkley noticed that this decision was being made while Harden was still on the board, prompting the former Sixer to ask "You don't want the dribbler?" Barkley, James and Antetokounmpo all chuckled, and the Milwaukee Bucks star simply replied with "I want somebody that's gonna pass the ball, that's all I want."
Giannis has got jokes 😂 #NBAAllStar pic.twitter.com/9m7cguXTMJ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 7, 2020
Though Harden is averaging more assists per game than Walker is this season -- the Rockets guard is at 7.3 per game while the Celtics newcomer is at 5.0 -- the Beard's reputation of dribbling out the shot clock before hitting a step-back three still precedes him. If Harden does feel at all slighted by the joke, he'll get a chance to get back at the opposing captain as LeBron ended up selecting "the dribbler" for his All-Star squad.
