CLEVELAND -- During the lead-up to his 14th appearance in the NBA All-Star Game, Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James experienced another first in that he was chosen to captain and select a team for the mid-season exhibition.
After going through the experience of drafting a team and playing in the game, James is in favor of the new-look NBA All-Star Game.
“I think the format was great,” James said after the game. “I think the fans did a great job of reacting to it in a very positive way.”
James selected a former teammate in point guard Kyrie Irving (Boston Celtics), as well as a front-court heavy lineup featuring DeMarcus Cousins (New Orleans Pelicans), Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors) and Anthony Davis (Pelicans) to round out the starting five.
James filled out the bench with LaMarcus Aldridge (San Antonio Spurs), Bradley Beal (Washington Wizards), Kevin Love (Cavaliers), Victor Oladipo (Indiana Pacers), Kristaps Porzingis (New York Knicks), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder) and John Wall (Wizards).
Although James liked his team at the time of its selection, he learned what it takes to put a full roster together, as he had to replace Cousins, Love, Porzingis and Wall because of injuries.
“I had a heck of a time doing it in the conference call with Steph,” James said of the draft process. “We're going to try to figure out ways we can continue to get better and better. But if we decided that, just like the coaches, you can't be a coach of a team no matter if your team is No. 1 in the East or the West every year, they offset it every year.
“It would be great to see somebody else next year if they wanted to do that format or they wanted to keep it the same with the two top vote-getters. Either or works for me. I've just got to play some good ball in the first half of the season next year to make sure I'm in Charlotte.”
James not only captained Team LeBron, but also, hit a game-winning shot in the final seconds to complete a 148-145 comeback win over Team Stephen in front of a sold-out crowd at Staples Center in Los Angeles Sunday night.
James scored a game-high 29 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, handed out eight assists and stole a pass over his 31 minutes of action. James converted 12 of his 17 attempts from the field and four of his eight tries from three-point range.
“For me to be the captain of the team, Steph being the captain of his team and us doing that, that draft was something that hadn't been done before,” James said.
“The great thing about our commissioner, he's absolutely okay with trying something new, to change the format, and it definitely worked out for everybody. It worked out not only for the players, not only for the league, but for our fans, for everybody. It was a great weekend, and we capped it off the right way.”
