Story by
'I think we have 4 All-Stars': Cavaliers campaigning for Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, Allen
- Story by
- 'I think we have 4 All-Stars': Cavaliers campaigning for Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, Allen
CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers are determined to get four representatives to the 2025 NBA All-Star Game , even if they have to start that campaign themselves. For now, campaign headquarters have been set up in the Cavs' home locker room at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The Cavs have spent most of their recent postgame media availabilities talking up Darius Garland , Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley , who they hope will join Donovan Mitchell as All-Stars. The 2025 All-Star Game is set for Feb. 16 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Advertisement
Despite having the best record in the league , particularly coming off a win over Western Conference favorite Oklahoma City Wednesday night, the fan voting portion of the All-Star selection process hasn't focused on Cleveland.
NBA All-Star Game voting update
After the latest update , Donovan Mitchell is second among guards with 1,181,310 votes and is almost certainly headed to San Francisco. But Garland is only ninth with 238,358 votes.
Among the voting for forwards in the East, Mobley is eighth with 294,256 votes. Allen isn't in the top 10.
The Cavs see some unjust totals among the voting so far if they were to have only one representative even while being on pace for more than 70 wins.
Advertisement
"I think it'd be a shame if all four of us weren't there just because of the impact we've all had this season," Mitchell said. "This isn't just about one person. It's a group thing."
Cleveland Cavaliers guards Donovan Mitchell (45) and Darius Garland (10) celebrate after Mitchell made a 3-pointer against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 8, 2025, in Cleveland.
Darius Garland NBA All-Star Game case picking up steam
In a way, Mitchell and some of the other players on the roster are almost begging Garland, Mobley and Allen to be a little less humble and make their cases off the court as well as on it. As Mitchell answered questions after the win over the Thunder , Garland asked what he had just said. Mitchell responded by clarifying his answer, then adding, "Now can you talk about your All-Star performance, please?"
Advertisement
Garland was later asked directly if he felt like he was an All-Star. He said, "Yes," but Tristan Thompson , standing behind the media gathered around Garland's locker, didn't think that was enough and spoke up by rattling off Garland's recent runs of besting some of the top guards in the league.
"You had Jamal Murray — body bag," Thompson said, meaning Garland got the better of Murray. " Golden State ? Body bag. They had [ LaMelo ] Ball, body bag. … Listen, I'll fight for [him]. I'll be the bad guy. I'll be Charles Oakley. I think Darius Garland should be [an All-Star], and everyone you guys put in front of him, he's rang the ball and did what he had to do."
It was then that Mitchell reminded the room that Garland is shooting 74% in "clutch" situations this season, making him one of the best players in crunch time.
"See? Another reason why you're doing All-Star stuff," Thompson said to Garland. "He's the only guy in the NBA shooting 49[% from the floor], 40 from 3 and 90 from the free-throw [line]. Come on now. What else do you guys want? Come on, man."
Advertisement
And that was all said before Garland's 40-point performance in Thursday's win over the Toronto Raptors that had fans chanting "MVP! MVP! MVP" at the end of the game.
"I'm going to just campaign — if he's not an All-Star, I don't know what an All-Star looks like," said Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson Thursday night. "He carried us."
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) shoots a 3-pointer against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 9, 2025, in Cleveland.
Cavaliers campaigning for Evan Mobley , Jarrett Allen to be named to All-Star Game
They're also all-in on getting their duo of bigs, Allen and Mobley, to San Francisco.
Allen is averaging a double-double of 14.1 points and 10.1 rebounds. By Win Shares, an all-encompassing statistic that tries to calculate how much a player has contributed to this team's victories, Allen has been a top-5 player in the league.
Advertisement
Mobley is 11th in that category while averaging 18.9 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
Both Mobley and Allen are in the top 15 in the league in Player Efficiency Rating.
Garland was more outspoken on their behalf than his own.
"They do it all," Garland said. "They should be All-Stars for sure. … They're the best two bigs in the league by far and they proved it [Wednesday night]."
Atkinson has repeatedly mentioned the outside-the-box-score things Allen does that contribute to winning without bolstering his stat line. Mobley, meanwhile, has quickly become a "third closer" at the end of games, as Mitchell put it.
Advertisement
Along with the guards, the Cavs think it's well deserved that they stock the All-Star Game in the front court as well.
"I think we have four All-Stars," Atkinson said. "Of course, I'm biased. I would probably ask Cleveland fans, [but I know] they'd say the same thing."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star Game hopes include Garland, Mobley, Allen
