The interesting dynamics of the NBA All-Star teams

Whether by design or accident, Shaquille O'Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith created a unique distinction between the three All-Star rosters when they drafted them Thursday.

O'Neal mostly went with the old guard of the NBA, namely LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, James Harden and Jaylen Brown, with only Tatum and Brown still in their 20s.

Barkley drafted a mostly global roster, headlined by Serbia's Nikola Jokic, Greece's Giannis Antetokounmpo, Canada's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, France's Victor Wembanyama, Cameroon's Pascal Siakam, Turkey's Alperen Sengun, Karl-Anthony Towns, who was born in the United States but has Dominican heritage, and Donovan Mitchell, also born in the U.S. with Panamanian heritage.

Smith selected a roster exclusively with young American-born players, featuring Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Cade Cunningham, Darius Garland, Tyler Herro, Evan Mobley and Jalen Williams. The oldest player on the roster is the 28-year-old Brunson.

The best part is they acknowledged after the All-Star Draft that they had a specific vision for their roster construction and were thrilled that their plans came to fruition. Smith said he went young, expecting fresher legs to play harder in the exhibition contest, a year after the All-Star Game was heavily criticized for lacking competitiveness. 

O'Neal, meanwhile, sounded like the gatekeeper for the NBA's aging stars.

"My team, we're definitely not losing to no youngsters or Europeans," he said. 

Barkley explained why his team would be devoid of drama.

"My international players got all these different languages, they're not gonna be mad at each other," Barkley said of his roster. "They just gonna be able to get along ... Shaq's team is gonna hate each other because LeBron and AD ain't gonna be speaking because they're mad at each other. KD's gonna hate Steph because he didn't want to play with him."

It's fascinating that there's a clear demarcation between the three rosters, which adds to the intrigue. The three teams will be joined by the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge in a four-team tournament.

There have been suggestions of a Team USA versus Team Rest of the World All-Star Game format, which the NBA considered last year. If Jokic and Co. win this year's tournament, they will have bragging rights for beating the Americans, possibly reigniting the old idea.