CLEVELAND — When the NBA announced that Cleveland would be hosting the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, Cavaliers chairman Dan Gilbert said something that, even four years ago, felt like wishful thinking.
"Hopefully we'll have a player or two in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game," Gilbert said at the press conference, which was held on Nov. 1, 2018. "That gives us a few years to do that, but we believe."
As it turns out, Gilbert's comment proved prophetic.
On Thursday, the NBA announced its full list of reserves for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday, Feb. 20. Included on the roster was Cavs point guard Darius Garland, who becomes the first Cleveland player to have earned All-Star status since LeBron James' free agency departure in 2018.
Garland has played a key role in the Cavs' resurgence this season, with Cleveland currently laying claim to the fifth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 31-21. The 22-year-old Garland has averaged team-highs of 19.8 points and 8.2 assists.
In being selected to the annual exhibition by the league's coaches, Garland will be a part of the pool of players to be drafted by either James or Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, who will serve as the All-Star Game captains as the top vote-getters in their respective conferences. The 2022 NBA All-Star Game draft will be held on Thursday, Feb. 10 and air live on TNT.
The full list of players on this year's All-Star roster is (starters bolded):
Eastern Conference
- Joel Embiid
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- Kevin Durant
- DeMar DeRozan
- Trae Young
- Jimmy Butler
- Darius Garland
- James Harden
- Zach LaVine
- Khris Middleton
- Jayson Tatum
- Fred VanVleet
Western Conference
- Nikola Jokic
- LeBron James
- Andrew Wiggins
- Stephen Curry
- Ja Morant
- Devin Booker
- Luka Doncic
- Rudy Gobert
- Donovan Mitchell
- Draymond Green
- Chris Paul
- Karl Anthony-Towns