
OAKLAND -- Kevin Durant tried ever so briefly to dodge the most easily guessed unanswered question of the day.
But he admitted to being the first overall pick Thursday in the first ever NBA All-Star Game draft.
“What, like we’re going to keep the mystery up?” Durant joked in the locker room prior to the Warriors-Timberwolves game at Oracle Arena.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
As All-Star Game captains Stephen Curry (West) and LeBron James (East) prepared for the draft Thursday morning, there was barely a hint of intrigue. James had the first overall pick and the general assumption was that he would select Durant.
It didn’t matter that Warriors fans wanted to see Curry and Durant team up, joined by maybe Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. Curry was able to pick Green and Thompson for Team Steph, leaving Durant as the only Warrior on Team LeBron.
“Steph texted me right before (the results) came out,” Durant said with a grin. “He had no control.
“He put me in a group chat with Draymond and Klay and they were kind of talking around me. So . . .”
Golden State Warriors
Find the latest Golden State Warriors news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.
Durant figured out the most obvious conclusion, one pretty much everyone had reached. In a televised interview earlier in the day with TNT’s Ernie Johnson, neither Curry nor James divulged the order of their selections.
Durant said he’s “looking forward to” playing with James when the teams meet on Feb. 18 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.