LeBron Drafts Mitchell, Durant Drafts Gobert For All-Star Game
Feb 10, 2022, 5:29 PM | Updated: 5:33 pm
Utah Jazz All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
(Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert will be on opposing teams when the 2022 NBA All-Star Game tips off in Cleveland.
The two players were featured as reserves in the third year of the NBA All-Star draft where captains representing the two teams made their selections to fill out their rosters.
By way of leading their conferences in fan voting, LeBron James and Kevin Durant were chosen as team captains for a second straight season.
Mitchell was the first Jazz player taken off the board, selected by James with the ninth pick of his 11 selections, and the 19th pick overall.
Donovan Mitchell was drafted by LeBron James for the 2022 All-Star game.
Kevin Durant drafted Rudy Gobert with the second to last pick ahead of James Harden. #TakeNote | #NBAAllStar
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) February 11, 2022
Durant drafted Gobert with the final pick of his selections and 22nd out of the 23 overall picks.
Last year the two Jazz players were chosen last and James and Durant admitted that because they’d not grown up playing video games using the Jazz, they were less likely to draft players from the Utah teams, despite the Jazz having the best record in the NBA at the All-Star break.
This year James Harden was chosen last by the two captains after a drama-filled day at the NBA trade deadline.
Harden woke up as Durant’s teammate with the Brookyln Nets but quietly forced his way off the roster resulting in a trade for Philadephia 76ers guard Ben Simmons.
Simmons had also been looking for a change of scenery after his Philadelphia co-star Joel Embiid, and head coach Doc Rivers pinned their upset loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs on the guard.
LeBron couldn't keep it together after KD picked Gobert over Harden 😅#NBAAllStar | @Nike pic.twitter.com/2wS1U8t7sE
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 11, 2022
Durant could have chosen Harden, making Gobert the final pick for the second straight season, but opted to take the Jazz center instead, leaving his former Brookyln teammate for James.
Here are the complete rosters for both teams.
Team Lebron:
G: Stephen Curry/Luka Doncic/Chris Paul/Darius Garland
G: DeMar DeRozan/Donovan Mitchell/James Harden/Fred VanVleet
F: Giannis Antetokounmpo/Jimmy Butler
F: LeBron James
C: Nikola Jokic
Team Durant:
G: Ja Morant/Trae Young/LaMelo Ball/Dejounte Murray
G: Andrew Wiggins/Devin Booker/Zach LaVine
F: Jayson Tatum/Khris Middleton
F: Kevin Durant/
C: Joel Embiid/Karl-Anthony Towns/Rudy Gobert
NBA All-Star weekend will take place in Cleveland February 18-20, with Gobert and Mitchell facing off in the All-Star game Sunday at 6 pm MT on TNT.
