NBA All-Star Game 2019: Winners and Losers from NBA All-Star Draft

This is Giannis Antetokounmpo's 3rd All-Star appearance.

Team LeBron: (starters) Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden; (reserves) Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Damian Lillard, *Russell Westbrook, LaMarcus Aldridge, Karl Anthony Towns, Bradley Beal, Dwyane Wade

Team Giannis: (starters) Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George, Kemba Walker; (reserves) Khris Middleton, Nikola Jokic, *Ben Simmons, Blake Griffin, D'Angelo Russell, Nikola Vucevic, Kyle Lowry, Dirk Nowitzki

*Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook were swapped as part of a trade.

The first ever televised NBA All-Star draft was anything but boring. Filled with occasional funny jibes at the looming trade tension around the league meshed with streetball-like criteria to segregate All-Stars, the segment turned out to be something you could watch over and over again.

LeBron and Giannis revealed their picks one-by-one, making it more interesting and fun to watch than what many expected. Let's take a look at the winners and losers from this brainchild of a draft procedure by the NBA.

Winner: LeBron James

This is LeBron James' second consecutive year as captain in the renewed All-Star format.

It's common knowledge now that LeBron came to the draft with a purpose in mind, and that was to recruit players as openly as he had always wanted to without being fined. To the viewers' delight, he came through the tough task, landing all the top upcoming free-agency prospects on his team.

What makes it even more interesting is that he did so in broad daylight, along with poking genuine fun at NBA's tampering rules. LeBron's business IQ has a reputation of its own, and this draft is where he proved he's one of the best minds in the league, on and off the court.

Loser: Bradley Beal

Bradley Beal is the lone survivor out in DC ever since Wall exited the picture.

Beal made his position clear on the draft being televised during the "Wizards Talk" podcast with NBC Sports Washington's Chris Miller, prior to it happening,

"You can pick me last. Ain't no shame in my game because, guess what?" Beal said. "I'm still here and I'm still gonna play."

Bradley Beal ended up on LeBron's team after Giannis picked Kyle Lowry with his last pick from the reserves pool.

Although this was Beal's second consecutive All-Star berth, being chosen last on national television is bound to hurt a bit. The media was expected to make a big deal out of it and they did not disappoint.

According to NBC Sports national NBA insider Tom Haberstroh,

"I think Bradley Beal is much better than being the last pick of this draft."

Also read: NBA Games Today, Latest Results, and Where to Watch: 11th February

Winner: Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant's impending free agency decision is one worth waiting for,

In a confession to Ernie during the TNT draft show, James revealed after '365 days' that he picked Durant as his first pick last year as well. Keeping in mind how thoughtful The King is while recruiting personnel, that just elevated Durant's stature to a whole different level and was surely something that emerged as a noteworthy talking point.

On being asked by the media about LeBron picking him first for the second straight year, KD fired back with a trademark response,

"What else is he supposed to do?"

Loser: Shaquille O' Neal and TNT crew

Inside the NBA is considered the most engrossing studio show in all of sports entertainment.

The team of EJ, Kenny, Chuck, and Shaq on TNT is revered league-wide for their hot takes and verbal spats filled with sour humor. But at one point in time during the draft show, Kenny asked Shaq to pronounce the Freak's last name, giving fuel to an age-old quip that has been overused to extinction.

As expected, Shaq mispronounced "Antetokounmpo" leading to laughs all around, including a nervous yet embarrassed smile from Giannis. The following video clip portrays the complete sequence, one that was not taken entirely in good taste.

Winner: Kyrie Irving

Kyrie Irving is unsure of re-signing with the Celtics in the offseason.

Kyrie was picked second by LeBron, after Durant. With rumors of Kyrie's free agency circling around Los Angeles, Boston and recently New York as well, Bron's priority to make things right with Uncle Drew set social media ablaze.

Talks of a possible LeBron-Kyrie reunion in LA gained fuel following Kyrie's apologetic call to James regarding leadership, but the draft ranking made it clear that the animosity is now behind them.

Loser: Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis was all for paybacks and friendships.

In contrast to LeBron's crafty maneuvers, the Greek Freak's benevolent nature screamed of the fact that this was the first time Antetokounmpo was effecting a draft of such kind.

Devoid of ulterior motives or any hidden agenda, he chose Curry with his first pick to return the favor from last year, and went for his teammate Middleton with his first pick from the reserves in order to keep the camaraderie intact. The only thing that seemed to remotely itch LeBron was Giannis picking Ben Simmons. However, the King proposed an exemplary swap of Russ-Simmons to which Giannis ended up giving his nod as well.

There were gazillions of moves he could have made, but rather chose to be the nice guy throughout the process.