Team Giannis 184, Team LeBron 175: Fox, Sabonis take opposite sides in NBA All-Star Game
One year ago, Kings general manager Monte McNair made a blockbuster trade to bring De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis together in Sacramento. One year later, All-Star captains LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo split them up in Salt Lake City.
Fox represented Team LeBron while Sabonis played for Team Giannis in the 72nd NBA All-Star Game on Sunday night at Vivint Arena. As fate would have it, Fox was reunited with former teammate and fellow first-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, who went to the Indiana Pacers in the trade that brought Sabonis to Sacramento.
The draft provided an interesting subplot as Sacramento sent two players to the All-Star game for the first time since 2004, but Fox and Sabonis said they didn’t mind playing for opposing teams.
“It didn’t really matter,” said Sabonis, who answered questions in three different languages following the game. “At this point, we’re just both trying to enjoy the experience.”
Sabonis had six points, four rebounds and one assist to help Team Giannis beat Team LeBron 184-175 on a night when Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum broke the All-Star Game scoring record with 55 points. Fox said he enjoyed watching Tatum — his childhood friend — who made 22 of 31 field-goal attempts and 10 of 18 from 3-point range while adding 10 rebounds and six assists.
“It was great,” Fox said. “I’ve known him since elementary school ... and it was great just to be able to witness it.”
Fox had a quiet night in his first trip to the All-Star Game, going scoreless with two assists in nine minutes. He said it was an honor just to be recognized as an All-Star for the first time.
“I think for me that was the bigger thing rather than even just playing in the All-Star Game or scoring or whatever it is, just being able to be recognized as one of those players in this league,” Fox said. “Regardless if you’re a one-time All-Star or a 20-time All-Star, these are things that you’ll remember for the rest of your life.”
Sabonis appeared in his third All-Star Game after being selected as a reserve. Fox made his first All-Star appearance after NBA commissioner Adam Silver picked him and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards as injury replacements for Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.
The All-Star player pool consisted of 24 players with 12 from the Eastern Conference and 12 from the Western Conference. For the first time, James and Antetokounmpo — the leading vote-getters in their respective conferences — chose teams during a pregame All-Star draft.
James selected Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic to join him in the starting lineup for Team LeBron. James chose Edwards, Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Haliburton, Julius Randle, Bam Adebayo, Fox and Jaren Jackson Jr. as his reserves.
Antetokounmpo selected Tatum, Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell and Lauri Markkanen to start for Team Giannis. He picked Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, DeMar DeRozan, Pascal Siakam and Sabonis as his reserves.
The evening started with a performance by Post Malone and 21 Savage. Other celebrities in attendance included Kareem Abdul-Jabar, Julius Erving, John Stockton, Karl Malone, Spike Lee, Chris Tucker, Vin Diesel, G-Eazy, Lil Baby and Jewel, who sang the national anthem.
Team LeBron trailed 26-25 when Fox checked in for the first time with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter. Sabonis checked in with 2:33 to play in the opening period.
Fox was asked Saturday at All-Star Media Day which player he would most like to posterize in Sunday’s game.
“If I can posterize any player … probably Domas if we’re not on a team together,” Fox said.
That opportunity never presented itself. Fox passed up a couple of scoring opportunities in search of assists before going to the bench at the end of the first period.
Early in the second quarter, Sabonis threw down a dunk and then threw an errant behind-the-back pass to rapper Fat Joe, who was sitting in the front row. Moments later, Sabonis got another dunk on an assist from Gilgeous-Alexander.
Team Giannis held a 99-92 lead at the half. Sabonis had six points and three rebounds in nine minutes. Fox had one assist with zero field-goal attempts in five minutes.
During the halftime break, James was honored for breaking the NBA’s career scoring record. He set another record Sunday with his 19th All-Star appearance.
Fox returned to the game with 3:47 to play in the third quarter and promptly threw a 45-foot bounce pass to Jackson for a dunk. Fox had an opportunity to score a moment later, but he blew an uncontested shot at the rim, admitting later to some indecision when choosing whether to go for a layup or a dunk.
Sabonis started the fourth quarter for Team Giannis while Fox went to the bench with his team trailing 158-141. Sabonis grabbed another rebound and threw a lob to Tatum before leaving the game for good.
Sabonis said he was happy to share the experience with Fox.
“It’s great,” Sabonis said. “It always makes it more fun when you have another teammate there to represent the city and the team.”
This story was originally published February 19, 2023 at 9:40 PM.
