LeBron James mocked the Utah Jazz during the NBA All-Star Game Draft
LeBron James and Kevin Durant - the top fan vote-getters in their respective conferences - handpicked their All-Star teams for Sunday's showdown in Atlanta. Here are the rosters:
TEAM LEBRON | TEAM DURANT | |
Pick 1 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | Kyrie Irving |
Pick 2 | Stephen Curry | Joel Embiid |
Pick 3 | Luka Doncic | Kawhi Leonard |
Pick 4 | Nikola Jokic | Bradley Beal |
Pick 5 | Damian Lillard | Jayson Tatum |
Pick 6 | Ben Simmons | James Harden |
Pick 7 | Chris Paul | Devin Booker |
Pick 8 | Jaylen Brown | Zion Williamson |
Pick 9 | Paul George | Zach LaVine |
Pick 10 | Domantas Sabonis | Julius Randle |
Pick 11 | Rudy Gobert | Nikola Vucevic |
Pick 12 | Donovan Mitchell |
Do you notice something odd with the draft order? Look at the last two selections, and you'll see that neither LeBron nor Durant showed love for the Utah Jazz, despite them having the best record in the league (27-9). Charles Barkley picked up on that as well.
Recommended Articles
I'm not going for this Utah Jazz slander right now. Come on, man. They got the best record in the NBA, and their two best players are the last two standing. This is slander. This is slander, America.
Charles Barkley, Inside the NBA
The Lakers superstar responded to Barkley's slander, using a video game analogy to justify the Jazz star tandem falling all the way down to No. 11 and No. 12.
I just want to say something because there’s no slander to the Utah Jazz, but you guys got to understand, just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah. Even as great as Karl Malone and John Stockton were, we never would have picked those guys. Never.
LeBron James, Inside the NBA
It sounds like slander to me -- one Shaquille O'Neal would've been proud of, especially after seeing Rudy Gobert go second to last. Thus LeBron's name is added to the list of NBA individuals who keep underestimating the Utah Jazz and their go-to dynamic duo.
But this time, James might get in trouble for it, since Quin Snyder will be coaching the Team LeBron on Sunday night. 48 minutes incoming.
