Time Is Just Right For Cleveland’s All-Star Showcase

In November 2018, when the city of Cleveland, backed by its Cavaliers, was awarded the 2022 NBA All-Star game, there was some head-scratching going on. Sure, Cleveland was an expanding and vibrant city but its NBA prospects were bleak, despite four consecutive appearances in the Finals. LeBron James had bolted to Los Angeles and the Cavaliers found themselves painfully constructed around Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson and the oft-injured Kevin Love. Just three days before the announcement, the Cavs had fired coach Tyronn Lue after an 0-6 start. Perhaps Cleveland was worthy, but it did not seem that the Cavs were a team the league wanted to showcase.

Here we are, though, 40 rather odd months later, and the Cavaliers have turned out to be the ideal hosts for this year’s game, an eye-opening counterpoint to an era dominated by superteams and star players elbowing their way out of rich contracts to chase easier, softer paths. If you’re tired of the antics of the likes of James Harden and Ben Simmons and Anthony Davis, we might suggest a little Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen.

The Cavaliers, pegged by Vegas oddsmakers to have an over/under win total of 26.5 in the preseason, are now 35-23. In a third-place tie in the conference and only 2.5 games from the top spot, they are easily the biggest surprise team in the East, and perhaps the entire NBA (Memphis has an argument there).

Garland expected Cleveland would get its NBA act together. He did not, though, expect it to happen in time for this weekend.

“Everything comes around to full circle,” he said. “I wasn’t surprised but it was supercool that it came back around this quick, get some notoriety around Cleveland.”

And it is not just that the Cavs were able to return to relevancy quickly, it’s how they did it that counts—with that rarest of commodities in the NBA, homegrown talent. Nine Cavaliers on the 15-man roster have played for no other NBA organization except Cleveland.

“I think all our guys love Cleveland, this is the only place we’ve been,” Garland said. “So they love the way the city is behind us, they really support us and root for us. And they’re back at the arena, that is supercool, it’s just like that almost every night.”

‘It’s Cool To See Everybody Get Happy’

Garland is in a special position this weekend, the lead player on the host team. He is in just his third season, but is averaging 20.3 points and 8.0 assists, making a career-high 47.7% of his shots. He’s joined by Allen, who was picked as an injury substitute filling in for James Harden.

For Garland, his individual improvement has been critical to the Cavaliers’ team improvement. He was pushed, even at the end of last season, by coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his staff to become a more willing shooter, and to take on a bigger leadership role. He kept that in mind throughout the offseason, and got a boost when he chipped in with Team USA in July.

“My confidence has grown tremendously,” he said. “Over the summer, with the USA Select team and just more work that I put in this summer, I knew I had to do more to make a bigger impact with this team and get us to go to the next level. So, my coaches and my trainers and I really challenged me to make that next step.”

For this weekend, though, Garland can relax a bit and focus on showcasing his city. He will be making appearances around town including at “The Block,” an interactive fan experience hosted by Mountain Dew and Ruffles. Cavs past and present—Collin Sexton, Tacko Fall, Richard Jefferson—will be appearing as well.

“The weekend has been great so far,” Garland said. “A lot of people showing a lot of love so far, it’s been cool to see all the fans, all the activities that’s been going on. It’s cool to see everybody get happy and in a good mood.”

After a year in which there was only a pared-down version of the NBA All-Star weekend, in Atlanta in 2021, this year’s weekend was already bound to have some heightened excitement. But the fact that it is in Cleveland, site of the league’s biggest hoops revival, has brought added buzz to the shore of Lake Erie.

“There are so many factors, but the energy in the city right now is electric,” said Matt Nielsten of Mountain Dew brand marketing. “I can actually hear people going bananas right now. But people are excited, and the All-Star game is that one time of the year you can come together no matter what team you’re for—it’s a celebration of the game and it’s a lot of fun. I think that is showing up in all the things that are happening around the city right now.”