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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Cory Woodroof

LeBron James’ suspicion when Giannis Antetokounmpo picked Damian Lillard at the NBA All-Star draft proved true

The Milwaukee Bucks trading for Damian Lillard has many dreaming of what he’ll be able to do with Giannis Antetokounmpo on the court.

Well, it seems that Antetokounmpo has had his eye on Lillard for quite some time as a possible teammate.

During this past February at the NBA All-Star Game, Antetokounmpo led one of the All-Star teams alongside Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.

With his first pick in the schoolyard-style draft, Antetokounmpo chose Lillard, which earned quite a reaction from James about which player the Bucks superstar didn’t pick first.

“Giannis has changed this weekend,” James quipped on the stage. “You know, he always talked about loyalty, being loyal, and all that stuff, right? So I knew for sure his first pick was going to be Jrue [Holiday], so I don’t know what’s going on with Giannis.”

Indeed, Holiday, Antetokounmpo’s longtime Bucks teammate, was not the first pick for Team Giannis that night. Lillard was.

As fate would have it, Holiday would be traded on Wednesday to the Portland Trail Blazers in order for Lillard to make it to Milwaukee.

It looks like James really was on to something way back in February when it came to why Antetokounmpo made the pick he did.

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