The NBA went schoolyard for this year's All-Star game, allowing team captains Lebron James and Steph Curry to pick their rosters among the remaining stars.

The draft was kept secret, so as not to hurt feeling.

But Kobe Bryant was upfront with who he would pick first if the 2005 All-Star game had used that format. And it was Lebron James over Shaquille O'Neal.

Shaq was asked about Bryant hypothetically taking the-then 20-year old over him.

“If you look at the rules, whoever got the most votes got to be the pick, that would’ve been me,"  O'Neal told For The Win. 'But, I’m not offended by that. He (Kobe) gotta pick who he gotta pick. Being that we played together all the time, he wants to play with somebody different. I understand that.”

The 2004-2005 season was the first after Kobe and Shaq's eight-year, three-ring run together on the Lakers ended with Shaq skipping to Miami.

Would you rather have James or O'Neal in an All-Star Game?