Here’s to incandescent hypotheticals!
Kobe Bryant never got the chance to partake in the NBA’s new All-Star Game format, which includes captains who build their team from a pool of 22 players, almost entirely irrespective of conference affiliation. It was only introduced this season, his second in retirement. But could you imagine if he were in his prime and had the opportunity, as one of the two captains, to assemble his own team? That would be something.
Since we’ll never see such a spectacle in our lifetimes, ESPN’s Jemele’s Hill asked Kobe the question we’re obviously all dying to know the answer to: If tasked with choosing between LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal, who would he select?
His response was predictably Kobe-ish (h/t Bleacher Report’s Alec Nathan):
“What year are we talking Shaq? … The Miami Heat first year? No, I’ll take LeBron James,” Bryant said. “You kidding me? If I had the opportunity [to draft Shaq at all], yeah I would. But LB man.”
