The first fan returns for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game were revealed to the public on Thursday, and the Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t get a lot of love for a team that’s on track for a historically successful regular season.
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and big man Evan Mobley are the only two players on the team who rank in the top 10 in votes at their positions.
Both Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen failed to come in the top 10 in the voting for the backcourt or frontcourt in the East.
Mitchell has garnered the second-most votes of any guard from the Eastern Conference behind only Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball, while Mobley has just the 10th-most votes of any frontcourt player in the conference.
Whether or not Ball deserves to be ahead of Mitchell as the top vote-getter among guards in the East is up for debate. Ball is averaging a career-high 30.1 points per game while shooting 34.6 percent from 3-point range so far this season, but the Hornets own the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 7-25.
Mitchell, on the other hand, is averaging 23.7 points per contest on much superior scoring efficiency for a Cavs team that has already won 29 games.
There’s an argument to be made that Mobley deserves to rank higher up among his peers as well in the voting. For one, Paul George has more votes than Mobley, and the former has looked like a shell of his former self in his maiden season playing for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Joel Embiid also has received more love from fans despite the fact that he’s played in only 11 of Philadelphia’s 31 games to this point.
Mobley is in his fourth season in the NBA and with the Cavaliers, and he’s still seeking the first All-Star appearance of his career. He’s averaging 18.4 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.0 steal and 1.5 blocks per game. Moreover, he’s just days removed from a 20-point performance against the Los Angeles Lakers to cap off the year 2024 on Dec. 31.
The 2025 All-Star Game will be held at the Golden State Warriors’ home arena — Chase Center — in February. In spite of the underwhelming fan support that the Cavaliers got in the first fan returns, fans of the team should still be optimistic that Cleveland will have multiple players playing in the contest.
