Giannis Antetokounmpo committed a hilarious mistake during the draft ahead of Sunday’s All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Antetokounmpo and LeBron James were the captains of the two All-Star teams and conducted a draft of the reserve players to fill out their rosters.
Antetokounmpo went first and chose Damian Lillard. LeBron countered with Anthony Edwards. Then Giannis took his Milwaukee Bucks teammate, Jrue Holiday, while LeBron chose Jaylen Brown.
That left Antetokounmpo to pick next, and he thought he had himself a steal.
“So my third pick is going to be one of the most exciting rising stars, superstar in the league right now … Ja Morant!” Antetokounmpo said enthusiastically.
There was one problem: Morant had already been voted into the game as a starter, so he was not eligible when the captains were choosing among the reserves.
“I hate to break it to you, but he’s starting,” TNT’s Ernie Johnson told Antetokounmpo.
Giannis selected JA… but he's a starter 🤣 https://t.co/GKQsWR9Tbn
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 20, 2023
After realizing his error, Antetokounmpo then selected Shai Gilgeous-Alexander instead.
But all worked out for Antetokounmpo. When it was time to select among the starters, he was able to draft Morant like he wanted to all along.
Giannis finally got Ja 🤣#NBAAllStarDraft pic.twitter.com/fQHpbyRaCI
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) February 20, 2023
