Hoping to spice up the All-Star Game, the NBA has implemented a unique format for this year’s contest in which the vote winner in each conference will pick teams from a selected pool of reserves, pick-up style.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokoumpo holds a slim lead over five-time MVP LeBron James after the first returns with nearly 900,000 votes, and he already knows who he wants if he finishes on top — but not for anything to do with the game itself.
If none of his teammates are available, Antetokounmpo says he’ll likely go with LeBron in the extremely slim chance it might curry favor with the free agent-to-be.
“I gotta go with LeBron James, the best player in the world,” Antetokounmpo told the media on Friday, “so we can have a good relationship for the free agency. You never know. He might come play.”
In new #NBA All-Star format, top vote getter in each conference will be a captain & get to draft his team. I asked @Giannis_An34 who he would select with the first pick. His answer may not surprise you, but his reasoning is classic Giannis: pic.twitter.com/yQUttzgWLm
— Stephen Watson (@WISN_Watson) January 5, 2018
Alas for Giannis and the Bucks, we kind of do. Only five teams are projected to have cap space this summer, and the Bucks are not one of them.
