Giannis Antetokounmpo says he’d take LeBron James as his first All-Star pick

The first round of voting for the 2018 NBA All-Star Game has been revealed with versatile forward Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks currently the leading vote-getter. The up-and-coming star finished ahead of superstar LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, but if Antetokounmpo ends up being the captain for the Eastern Conference, he’s going with the three-time NBA champion as his first pick.

Antetokounmpo said the following about his mindset if he remains atop the voting in the Eastern Conference, via ESPN.

“So, first of all, if my teammates aren’t available — I’m going with my teammates — I’d gotta go with LeBron James,” Antetokounmpo said with a laugh. “The best player in the world. We can have a good relationship in free agency — you never know, he might come play here.”

Obviously, Antetokoumpo’s lead could be short-lived as he only has a 7,500-lead on arguably NBA’s best player. LeBron could easily come out on top when it is all said and done, but right now, he’s the cream of the crop.

Kyrie Irving of the Boston Celtics may also be in the running for the league’s leading vote-getter as he is sitting with 802,834 as of right now. If Irving got top honors, that could make things that much more interesting considering his recent departure from Cleveland and all strife that caused.

It’ll be interesting to see the end result of the voting in both conferences and which captains will have the power to pick their own squads for the All-Star Game. It could make a for a competitive game in February with no telling what the odds might be for a game.