Former Los Angeles Lakers championship frontcourt teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis will find themselves sharing the floor just two weeks after being separated by L.A.'s blockbuster Luka Doncic trade.
Unfortunately, it will be on an All-Star team, as part of the weekend's new tournament-style playing format.
James and Davis join three more double-digit All-Stars to create the most seasoned squad this year, in 15-time All-Star Phoenix Suns power forward Kevin Durant, 11-time All-Star Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry, and 11-time All-Star L.A. Clippers point guard James Harden.
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That geriatric group will play alongside nine-time All-Star Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard, six-time All-Star Boston Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum, and four-time All-Star Celtics small forward Jaylen Brown.
O'Neal's group includes six prior All-Star Game MVPs.
James and Davis played together for five-and-a-half seasons. In that run, they won one championship, made two Western Conference Finals, and made the playoffs in four of five completed years. Their Lakers posted a regular season record of 245-191 (56.2 percent) under two head coaches and a playoff record of 27-21 (56.3 percent) under three.
O'Neal's TNT colleague Kenny Smith, a former two-time NBA champion himself with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and '95, selected a much younger-skewing roster. The most experienced players he added were a pair of three-time All-Stars, Minnesota Timberwolves shooting guard Anthony Edwards, 23, and New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson, 28.
They'll join two-time All-Stars Darius Garland of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies, plus four first-timers: Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Jalen Williams, Cavaliers power forward Evan Mobley, Detroit Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham, and Miami Heat shooting guard Tyler Herro.
Barkley, a Hall of Fame power forward in his day, applied an internationally-skewing flavor to his picks.
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He selected nine-time All-Star Milwaukee Bucks power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, six-time All-Star Denver Nuggets All-Star center Nikola Jokic, six-time All-Star Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell, five-time All-Star New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns, three-time All-Star Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, three-time All-Star Indiana Pacers power forward Pascal Siakam, and a pair of first-time All-Star centers in San Antonio Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama and Houston Rockets five Alperen Sengun.
Barkley's group includes two of the last three league MVP honorees in Jokic and Antetokounmpo. The 2023 MVP, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid, was not named to the All-Star team this season while he struggles through health issues and his team struggles to string together wins. Antetokounmpo (who hails from Greece), Jokic (Serbia), Gilgeous-Alexander (Canada), Siakam (Cameroon), Wembanyama (France) and Sengun (Turkey) are all from outside the U.S.
After making his picks, a confident O'Neal predicted a victory for his veteran-loaded bunch.
"My team, we're not losing to no youngsters [Smith's team] or no Europeans [Barkley's team]," the 15-time All-Star declared. "Bet that. Name your price... Guaranteed."
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