By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Giannis Antetokounmpo was voted to be one of the two captains in the All-Star Game and that means he has the right to pick his team for the event. And he wants to use this ability as the bridge which will bring together Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook.
“It’s all about love. I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Antetokounmpo said in today’s practice of the Bucks. “I’m gonna pick Joel Embiid. If I can pick Joel Embiid and Russell Westbrook on the same team, I’ll do it.”
Embiid and Westbrook have an ongoing feud, but this doesn’t mean much for Giannis who hopes to have some company from the Bucks in the All-Star game: “Then after the starters, I’m going to pick my teammates. Hopefully, I can pick Khris (Middleton) and (Eric) Bledsoe. First, I’m going to go with Bledsoe because he’s going to pass me the ball more, then I’m going to go with Khris.”
“It’s big to know that players in the league, in the entire league, appreciate what you do,” Antetokounmpo admitted. “They see all the hard work you’ve put in and what you do for your team to be successful every night. Just the players in the entire league saying, ‘OK, this is the guy now,’ I feel like that’s a big stamp for me and a big moment I appreciated a lot last year.”