Bucks’ Giannis selects teammate Middleton for NBA All-Star roster

Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki (41) greets Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) before an National Basketball Association game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. With the final two picks, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade, James will get first dibs.

The league tried to satiate the demands for those fans, and on Thursday, the captains for the 2019 All-Star Game - LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo - came together in a pre-recorded segment on TNT to make their selections. But the Pelicans kept Davis as the trade deadline passed, so for now, their time as teammates will be limited to All-Star weekend and James pounced at the chance to grab him with the second pick of the reserve round.

TNT host Ernie Johnson jabbed at James asking if he was sure he wanted Davis to be his teammate, to which he responded he was "very sure".

James played along saying, "The tampering rule does not apply on All-Star Weekend".

James denied the accusations at the time-but the 15-time All-Star took advantage of his All-Star draft to do a little more damage by drafting his own "Team Tamper". They'll be joined in the Team LeBron starting five by Boston's Kyrie Irving, Toronto's Kawhi Leonard and Houston's James Harden. Team Giannis, in addition to Antetokounmpo, will start Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Paul George and hometown favorite Kemba Walker. That outcome was "definitely on goal", Antetokounmpo said.

Lillard was selected after the Khris Middleton, Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Klay Thompson and Ben Simmons and ahead of Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, D'Angelo Russell, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nikola Vucevic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Kyle Lowry and Bradley Beal.

James said he took Aldridge even though he knows Spurs coach Gregg Popovich will have conditions. I think it's going to be random.

True to draft form, the opportunity to trade then resulted in James and Antetokounmpo trading Simmons (who James referred to as "his guy") for Russell Westbrook.

With the National Basketball Association trade deadline just hours away, it remains to be seen if the Lakers will be able to lock down a trade for Davis.

Then came deciding which legends would go where with both Dirk Nowitzki and Dwayne Wade being late adds by National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver.

Given that James had the first pick of that round, it was a foregone conclusion that he would select Wade, his close friend and former championship-winning Miami teammate. That left Nowitzki for Antetokounmpo's side. When Antetokounmpo took Simmons minutes before, James used an expletive and exclaimed, "You took my guy!"

Now holding the best record in all of the league, it's just the latest indication that the Bucks have set their sights on going for it all this year and getting a player of Mirotic's caliber stood as one of the biggest takeaways on the day.

James is the hero on Thursday.

It was the second year of the captain's-choice format.