CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – While the Cavaliers wait until Thursday night to find out if they’ll be represented at the 2022 NBA All-Star Game hosted here in Cleveland, two of their young players were selected as Rising Stars Tuesday evening.
Rookie forward Evan Mobley and sophomore guard Isaac Okoro were selected by the league’s assistant coaches.
Mobley, selected third overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, is the presumed favorite for Rookie of the Year. He is averaging 14.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per game this season.
Okoro, named to the All-Rookie team last season after being picked fifth overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, is averaging 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game this season.
Mobley and Okoro become the 21st and 22nd Cavs players to participate in the event. Collin Sexton was the least from the franchise to do it in 2020.
The NBA is switching up the format this year for the Rising Stars challenge from the traditional game featuring rookies and sophomores or Team World and Team USA in favor of a four team, three game mini tournament.
Each game will be played to a Final Target Score, meaning that a game will end with a made basket or a made free throw instead of with the clock running out. It will be a “Race to 75” to celebrate the league’s 75th anniversary season — Games 1 and 2 will be played until a team reaches 50 points; Game 3 will be played until a team reaches 25 points.
In addition to the mini tournament, a timed shooting competition called the Clorox Clutch Challenge will take place between Games 2 and 3 of the Clorox Rising Stars mini tournament. A total of eight NBA and NBA G League Ignite players will be divided into four teams of two and compete to make shots from five locations on the court tied to iconic shots made in the NBA Playoffs.
The Rising Stars challenge will be played Friday, February 18 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
