CLEVELAND — The 2022 NBA All-Star Game was dominated by a pair of "kids from Akron," who both happen to currently play out west.
But from an overall team perspective, it would be tough to find a bigger winner of the NBA All-Star Weekend in Cleveland than the hosts.
Through all three nights of All-Star Weekend, the Cleveland Cavaliers found themselves front and center. And in a season that's already served as a breakout campaign for the franchise, it's hard to view the Cavs' time in the spotlight as anything but an encouraging sign of things to come.
Rising Stars
The new Rising Stars format saw the field of 28 players divided into four teams for a three-game tournament. And as fate would have it, Cleveland's two representatives in the game remained teammates, with second-year guard Isaac Okoro and rookie big man Evan Mobley each selected to Team Barry.
While Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham earned MVP honors for the event, both Okoro and Mobley played significant roles in Team Barry's run to the rising stars title. Okoro scored six points in his team's semifinal win over Team Payton, while Mobley made his own case for earning MVP honors, tying for a team-high of 18 points, while adding an event-high 11 rebounds over the course of the two games.
Even under a new format, the Rising Stars event remained aptly named. That rang especially true for the Cavs, with two players helping bring home a title.
Skills on skills
The hardware for Cleveland didn't stop there.
Also implementing a new format, the Skills Challenge at NBA All-Star Saturday night saw three Cavs -- Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland -- face-off with Team Rookies (Cunningham, Scottie Barnes and Josh Giddey) and Team Antetokounmpo (Giannis, Alex and Thanasis). And despite Team Rookies entering the event as a sizable betting favorite, it was Team Cavs that walked away with the win.
While the Skills Challenge typically favors guards and ball handlers, the Cavs' managed to win the event with two members of their starting frontcourt.
How? Take a look at this challenge-clinching shot by the 6-foot-11 Mobley.
The Main Event
For the first time since LeBron James' free agency departure in 2018, Cavs fans had reason to pay attention to the NBA All-Star Game; Garland was selected as a reserve for the event, with Allen later added as an injury replacement for James Harden.
Both Garland and Allen wound up playing on Team LeBron, and as had been the case throughout the weekend, Cleveland's representatives found themselves on the winning side. Garland scored 13 points and dished out three assists, with Allen totaling 10 points and nine rebounds, in addition to playing some key defense -- yes, defense in an All-Star Game -- down the stretch in what was ultimately a 163-160 victory for Team LeBron over Team Durant.
Homecoming Pt. 2?
Speaking of LeBron, it would be nearly impossible to talk about the Cavs' showing at All-Star Weekend without mentioning the presence of James. After all, the 4-time MVP and Akron native insisted that he was one of Cleveland's three representatives in the game, along with Garland and Allen.
"Cleveland is very deserving of this platform and this moment," James said following the All-Star Game practice at Cleveland's Wolstein Center on Saturday. "I mean, they've got two All-Stars of their own in DG and the big fella, Jarrett Allen. And they've got another guy in the All-Star Game, and that's me."
Not only that, but James, who is currently a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, told Jason Lloyd of The Athletic that he wasn't ruling out a potential return to Cleveland. Whether or not a third career stint with the Cavs is in the cards for James remains to be seen.
But as this weekend showed, the future in Cleveland remains bright either way.