Evan Mobley is one of three All-Stars that the Cleveland Cavaliers brought to the fold for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
The 23-year-old forward was named to his first All-Star Game, along with teammates Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. The Cavaliers, who are leading the East at the All-Star break with a 44-10 record (.815 winning percentage), had the most All-Stars of any team named to the game (three).
”It feels great,” Mobley told Basketball Insiders in an exclusive interview. “Most All Stars of all the teams, and I feel like we’ve been having a great year. I feel like all the hard work we put in this year is paying off.”
The Cavaliers have been a rising team over the past three seasons, first clinching a playoff berth with this core during Mitchell’s first season during the 2022-23 campaign. After finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference — their first playoff berth since the LeBron James era in 2017-18 — they bowed out in five games in the first round.
They finished even better during the 2023-24 season, winning their first playoff series with a non-James led team since the 1992-93 season. They lost in five games to the future champs, the Boston Celtics, in the semifinals.
”I feel the difference is just our chemistry,” says Mobley. “Everyone is clicking on the same page and clicking at the same time. Everyone knows exactly where we’re going to be on the court and we’ve been having a great ball movement which has helped us a lot.”
The Celtics are obviously their biggest threat to an NBA Finals run this season and they currently have the second-best mark in the East at 39-16, 5.5 games back of the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers have gone 1-2 in their regular season games against the Celtics this season with one more matchup left scheduled for Feb. 28. The 6-foot-11 forward says the key to beating Boston in the playoffs is getting stops on them and slowing down their 3-point arsenal.
The Celtics lead the league in 3-point shots and attempts and did so last year.
”Definitely defense,” Mobley says when asked on what the key is to beating the Celtics. They’re a great offensive team as well. If you get stops on them, it makes it tough on their offense. I feel like defense is the biggest thing for us. And defending the 3-point line, because they like to get a lot of 3-point shots up.”
Mobley stresses that the Cavaliers need to improve on defense before the playoffs start. Although they remain a solid defensive team, ranking 11th in points allowed per game, it’s a step-down from the previous season in which they ranked seventh in points allowed per game.
However, they have improved tremendously on offense, ranking second in points per game after ranking 20th last season. That has coincided with Mobley’s career highs with 18.5 points per game on 37.8% from beyond the arc.
”I’ll probably definitely say defense as well,” says Mobley when asked what the Cavaliers need to improve on most. “We’ve definitely been a defense identity team, but our offense has been very high level this year. I feel like our defensive slide has slipped a little bit, but these next few weeks when we’re getting ready for playoffs, we’re definitely going to key in on that.”
Mobley: ‘We All Believe That We Can Win A ‘Chip This Year’
Although the Cavaliers are not one of the youngest teams in the NBA, their top six rotation players are no older than 28 years old. Furthermore, this core has only one playoff series under their belt.
While the Cavaliers aren’t the most experienced team in the playoffs, Mobley still believes in his team to win a championship this season. He says it’s a championship or bust season after the Cavaliers look to enter the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
”I think this year is definitely the year for us and we all want to get to the championship,” says Mobley. “I feel like we all are on the same page with that and we all believe that we can win a ‘chip this year, so that’s the plan.”
When asked if winning the Most Improved Player and Defensive Player of the Year awards on his agenda for this season, he says “not necessarily,” he stresses the goal is the championship.
”Not necessarily right now, but those two accolades definitely are in my mind,” says Mobley. “The main goal is just the championship.”
Mobley: We Would Have Copied Paul, Wembanyama’s Skills Challenge Strategy
While Mobley’s “Kenny Young Stars” didn’t win the 2025 NBA All-Star Game tournament, he did walk away a winner in the NBA Skills Challenge on All-Star Saturday for the second time. He first won the challenge in 2022 during his rookie season with Garland and Jarrett Allen. This time around, he won it with Mitchell.
The most noteworthy thing during the event occurred with the opening team, the San Antonio Spurs’ Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama. Paul and Wembanyama finished the opening round in a blistering 47.9-second time frame. However, they were disqualified due to breaking the rules when Paul and Wembanyama discarded their balls during their 3-point shots instead of actually trying to hit them.
”Yeah, that was a little different,” says Mobley while laughing. “I wasn’t expecting that. They tried to cheat the system a little bit, but it ended up backfiring on them.”
Mobley says that if the move held up and was considered legal, the Cavaliers’ duo would have done the same thing. He says that he talked to Paul after the incident.
“Honestly, if it was legal, we probably would have done the same thing,” says Mobley. “But they ended up telling us that they were disqualified, so we had to at least switch up our strategy. I just saw him afterwards and he dapped us up, I was like, ‘What are you guys doing?’ He’s like, ‘That’s just the way we’re trying to win.’ I guess that was their strategy.”
The fourth-year star is speaking on behalf of his partnership with Panini, who he’s been partnered with since his rookie season. Mobley signed trading cards and stickers for fans at Chase Center prior to the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. The Cavaliers star collected trading cards while growing up and says Panini is a “great brand.”
”These past four years that I’ve been in the league, my rookie year we signed a deal and have been partners since then,” says Mobley. “ Every time we get a chance, we do things like this (signing for the fans) and it’s a lot of fun.”
