Much has been made of the NBA’s decision to hold a draft for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game, and while that is an idea with a (very) high approval rating, the choice to forego televising the proceedings has been almost universally panned.
LeBron James let the world know of his frustration that no one was able to view the festivities, and as a result, the actual draft order has remained something of a mystery, even with full knowledge of what the final rosters look like.
There have been some leaks, though, as Kevin Durant knows he was James’ first pick, and it’s also emerged that Giannis Antetokounmpo was Steph Curry’s first choice. Still, the great Jackie MacMullan of ESPN unearthed more of the order than anyone else at this point, and in a wild and entertaining twist, she did it in the middle of “Around The Horn“ on Friday evening.
— zak (@ZakKondratenko) January 26, 2018
It’s clear that MacMullan’s fellow panelists were not expecting her to recite the first nine picks, and there was plenty of enjoyment in the way she revealed them. For clarity purposes, the nine picks (all eight starters and the first reserve pick) are as follows:
- Kevin Durant (Team LeBron)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Team Curry)
- Anthony Davis (Team LeBron)
- James Harden (Team Curry)
- Kyrie Irving (Team LeBron)
- Joel Embiid (Team Curry)
- DeMarcus Cousins (Team LeBron)
- DeMar DeRozan (Team Curry)
- Klay Thompson (Team Curry)
Putting together a full-blown analysis of the rationale behind these picks would be quite interesting, but the mere existence of the “real” order in the public sphere is noteworthy enough. MacMullan has done a number of fantastic things in her storied writing career, but this was certainly one of them.
