CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
The full rosters for the NBA All-Star Game won't be unveiled until Thursday night. But we already know that the home team will be represented when Cleveland hosts the league's annual exhibition later this month.
On Tuesday, the NBA announced the pool of players who will comprise this year's Rising Stars event, which will be played at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Friday, Feb. 18. Of the 12 rookies, 12 second-year players and four NBA G League Ignite players participating in this year's event will be a pair of Cleveland Cavaliers in rookie forward/center Evan Mobley and second-year guard Isaac Okoro.
The No. 3 pick of the 2021 NBA Draft, Mobley has enjoyed a standout rookie season, averaging 14.8 points on 50.5 percent shooting to go along with 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. The 6-foot-11 big man's play has been one of the biggest reasons for the 31-20 Cavs' success and has earned him lofty comparisons to the likes of NBA great Chris Bosh.
Similarly, Okoro has earned high praise for his defense after taking over as Cleveland's starting shooting guard following Collin Sexton's season-ending knee injury. Appearing in 36 games (30 starts), the No. 5 pick of the 2020 NBA Draft has averaged 9.1 points and 3.3 rebounds.
While the Rising Stars event has previously featured formats including "Rookies vs. Sophomores" and "USA vs. The World," this year's event will take the form of a three-game, four-team tournament. Each of the three games will be played to a targeted score, with Games 1 and 2 being played until one of the teams reaches 50 points and the winners meeting in Game 3, which will be played until a team reaches 25 points.