NBA All-Star Game 2022 Rosters Revealed After Team LeBron vs. Team Durant Draft

LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers might be struggling, but he is back to defend the best dynasty going in the NBA: His undefeated run as captain of an All-Star team.

James is 4-0 ever since the league switched its All-Star Game format to one where the two captains draft from the player pool. The draft for the 2022 All-Star Game occurred Thursday, and James, as the leading vote-getter in the West, now has his roster.

He went up against Kevin Durant, who was the leading vote-getter in the East, for the second straight year after building a team that defeated Giannis Antetokounmpo twice and Stephen Curry once in the first three All-Star Game drafts.

James earned the first pick as the leading overall vote-getter, and the two captains picked first from the starters and then from the reserves.

Here is how it all unfolded on TNT.

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Starters

• Team LeBron, Pick 1: Giannis Antetokounmpo

• Team Durant, Pick 2: Joel Embiid

• Team LeBron, Pick 3: Steph Curry

• Team Durant, Pick 4: Ja Morant

• Team LeBron, Pick 5: DeMar DeRozan

• Team Durant, Pick 6: Jayson Tatum

• Team LeBron, Pick 7: Nikola Jokic

• Team Durant, Pick 8/9: Trae Young, Andrew Wiggins 

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Reserves

• Team Durant, Pick 1: Devin Booker

• Team LeBron, Pick 2: Luka Doncic

• Team Durant, Pick 3: Karl-Anthony Towns

• Team LeBron, Pick 4: Darius Garland

• Team Durant, Pick 5: Zach LaVine

• Team LeBron, Pick 6: Chris Paul

• Team Durant, Pick 7: Dejounte Murray

• Team LeBron, Pick 8: Jimmy Butler

• Team Durant, Pick 9: Khris Middleton

• Team LeBron, Pick 10: Donovan Mitchell

• Team Durant, Pick 11: LaMelo Ball

• Team LeBron, Pick 12: Fred VanVleet

• Team Durant, Pick 13: Rudy Gobert

• Team LeBron, Pick 14: James Harden

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James wasted no time picking who he called the "hardest playing player in All-Star history" in Antetokounmpo with the first overall pick, but the first surprise may have come with Durant's initial selection.

Instead of taking former Golden State Warriors teammate Stephen Curry, Durant went big with Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid. That left Curry for Team LeBron with the next pick, meaning the trio of Antetokounmpo, James and Curry could be on the floor together on the same team.

Team Durant has plenty of stars, including his next pick in Ja Morant, but countering that trio will be a daunting task.

As if that wasn't enough, James added the reigning league MVP in Nikola Jokic to counter Embiid's size.

Durant got an extra pick with Trae Young and Andrew Wiggins to end the starters round because he will not be able to play in the game due to injury. Jayson Tatum is taking his place in the starting lineup and will fittingly suit up for Team Durant as well.

There were some notable reserves picks as well, including James saying he would take Darius Garland because of his remaining loyalty to Cleveland, but the second round was defined by when James Harden would go off the board.

After all, Durant's Brooklyn Nets traded Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and it became clear as the draft continued that KD had no interest in drafting his now former teammate.

Harden fell all the way to James with the final pick as everyone involved made sly references to what was happening. James even had to cover his face with a clipboard at one point because he was laughing so much.

Alas, the result was the 2017-18 MVP on Team LeBron.

Now that the rosters are set, Team Durant will attempt to do something that has never been done and defeat Team LeBron in an All-Star Game.