The Cleveland Cavaliers have been represented in each of the NBA’s last two Rising Stars tournaments during All-Star Weekend.
Evan Mobley participated in the event in both 2022 and 2023, and Isaac Okoro also participated in 2022.
This Cleveland streak is now set to continue this upcoming weekend.
On Wednesday, the NBA announced that Cavaliers Two-Way rookie Emoni Bates has been named an injury replacement for the 2024 NBA Panini Rising Stars. He will be replacing injured NBA G League Ignite forward Ron Holland.
Bates will be a member of Team Detlef, which will be coached by three-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Detlef Schrempf. The 20-year-old will be on a team alongside six fellow NBA G League players, including reigning NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion Mac McClung.
Bates has had a remarkable rookie season with the NBA G League’s Cleveland Charge. In 20 games across the league’s Winter Showcase and regular season, the 6-foot-8 forward is averaging 21.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks per contest. He is also averaging 3.9 three-pointers made per game, while shooting 38.9% from beyond the arc.
This latest achievement for Bates comes just over two weeks after he was voted into the second-ever NBA G League Up Next Game, which will also take place during All-Star Weekend.
The 2023 second-round pick made an immediate impact for Cleveland even before this season started. Bates averaged 17.2 points and 6.0 rebounds per contest for the Wine and Gold’s first-ever Summer League Championship team, then averaged 10.5 points per game for Cleveland during the preseason.
Cavaliers fans can watch Bates compete in the 2024 NBA Panini Rising Stars on Friday, February 16 at 9 p.m. on TNT.
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