CLEVELAND — The 2022 NBA All-Star Game brought the best players across the league to Cleveland.
But when it came to the game's player introductions, Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse resembled a home game for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
While he isn't playing in the game due to an injury, Golden State Warriors forward -- who was initially selected to the event as a reserve -- still made the trip to Cleveland as a reserve. But when introduced alongside Team Durant, the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year was met with a chorus of boos, a callback to the four-year rivalry between the Cavs and Warriors.
Green wasn't the only player from the Warriors, who faced the Cavs in four consecutive NBA Finals from 2015-2018, to get booed. Minutes later, Stephen Curry received a similar welcome, which he took in stride.
It wasn't all hate from the Cleveland crowd, however, which gave massive ovations to the Cavs' two representatives in the game: point guard Darius Garland and center Jarrett Allen. Both players are playing in their first career All-Star Game and are members of Team LeBron.
Speaking of LeBron, if there was any question about what kind of reception the Akron native would receive during his return to Cleveland, it was answered in definitive fashion. The last player introduced for the game, James received a massive ovation from the Northeast Ohio crowd, which he responded to with a spirited scream.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, James said that he considered himself to be one of Cleveland's three representatives in the game.
"Cleveland is very deserving of this platform and this moment," James said following the All-Star Game practice at Cleveland's Wolstein Center. "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."