The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to descend into utter chaos, but they received some good news for a change when the NBA announced that Cleveland will host the 2022 All-Star Game. The 2021-22 season will be the league’s historic 75th year in existence.
The game will be played at Quicken Loans Arena, which is currently undergoing renovations that will finish long before the 2022 All-Star Game. This season, the All-Star Game will be held in Charlotte in the Spectrum Center. In 2020, the United Center in Chicago will have the honor of hosting the league’s best. The All-Star Game will stay in the Midwest in 2021 when the event will be played in Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
This will be the second time the NBA is holding the All-Star Game in Cleveland — the last time coming in 1997. The game was played in Quicken Loans Arena, but it was known as Gund Arena at the time.
The past six months have not been kind to Cleveland. The Golden State Warriors swept the Cavs in the NBA Finals, LeBron James left in free agency, Tyronn Lue was fired, and the franchise doesn’t appear to have a direction. Add in a public J.R. Smith trade request and Cavs fans could seriously use some positive press. Landing the All-Star Game won’t do much to change the fortunes of the Cavs on the court, but hosting All-Star Weekend could be great for the city as a whole.
This is a small victory for Clevelanders at the moment, but it’s still a win for the city.