2015 All-Star

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Kyrie Irving All-Star Weekend Through the Years

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We’ve seen it before in Cleveland and, come to think of it, they’ve seen it before at The Garden: LeBron James taking over the game on both ends of the floor.

For much of the night in the 64th annual NBA All-Star Game, that’s exactly what the four-time league MVP (and two-time All-Star Game MVP) did at Madison Square Garden. But on Sunday night, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook was even better – falling one point shy of the all-time record with 41 points, taking MVP honors and propelling the West to the 163-158 win.

”I think Westbrook came for it from the start,” praised James. “He’s an unbelievable talent in our league. His motor, his athleticism, his demeanor about how he approaches the game – it’s all great. And he showed that tonight.”

In his 11th straight All-Star Game start, LeBron led the East squad with 30 points – netting 15 of their first 23 points in the first quarter. On the night, James went 11-for-21 from the floor to go with five boards, seven assists and a pair of steals in 32 minutes of action. His 30-point effort puts him just two points shy of Kobe Bryant as the all-time top scorer in the history of the midseason classic.

Watch full game highlights from the 64th All-Star Game.

Last year’s All-Star Game MVP, Kyrie Irving, lived up to his nickname – Mr. Fourth Quarter – netting eight points on 3-for-5 shooting in the final period. But he came into the fourth with just three points and finished with 11 on 4-for-9 shooting, adding six boards and five assists.

“I just wanted to go out there and play, compete and get a few shots up. I got a few good looks and ‘Russ-Mania’ was just out there going from end to end at 500 miles an hour like he normally does. But it’s just great to be a part of that with all those great guys out there.”

Both Kyrie and LeBron have had some monster games at the World’s Most Famous Arena. Irving, who grew up on the other side of the Hudson River, has only played four games at the Garden, but has averages 31.0 points per when he does. He’s had a 41-point performance there as a sophomore and dropped 37 on the Knicks –including the game-winning layup – in the Cleveland’s only appearance this year.

In 19 games at the Garden, LeBron has topped the 30-point plateau eight times, including a pair of 50-point outbursts on two different occasions. For his career, James averages 29.1 ppg on the corner of 34th Street and 7th Ave.

”Don’t get no better, man, you play in the Garden in front of these fans,” smiled James. “They know the game of basketball and to be able to go out there and represent my team and represent the league at the highest level. It means everything.”

The game itself was close right up until the final seconds. The West jumped out to an 11-point edge after one quarter, but the East stormed back to get within one at intermission. The game was tied after three quarters at 122-apiece and was knotted again with four minutes to play. But James Harden’s trey gave the West its final lead and Westbook’s fifth bomb of the night essentially put the game on ice.

The 318 points and 48 three-pointers were both All-Star records.

The Cavaliers All-Star triumvirate of LeBron, Kyrie and Matthew Dellavedova didn’t take top honors over the weekend. But they all acquitted themselves very well. Delly was part of the World Team that upset Team USA in Friday night’s Rising Stars Challenge. Kyrie was runner-up to a record-setting performance by Stephen Curry in the Three-Point Shootout on Saturday. And LeBron was the East’s top scorer in Sunday’s All-Star Game.

With All-Star Weekend now in the rear view mirror, the Cavaliers, who won 14 of their final 16 games heading into the Break, can focus on what really matters – getting in position for the playoffs over the next 27 games, beginning with Friday night’s matchup to start the second half in Washington.

It’s a familiar position for James, who’s made nine straight trips to the postseason and won the NBA title in two of them. For Kyrie, he returns to Cleveland after the Break with the playoffs set squarely in his sights.

”It’s way, way different – a better feeling,” beamed the former Blue Devil. “Even when I won All-Star MVP, people were still asking me questions regarding what was going on (with the Cavs). Here, there’s just so much positivity going on in Cleveland. The energy is getting going for the second half of the season, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

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Cavs Dynamic Duo Not Enough vs. West, Westbrook

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All-Star Sunday Snapshots - Feb. 15

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This weekend in New York, fans are going to hear a lot about the “heroic performances” of some of the NBA’s brightest stars. But none of those players – or their performances – can come close to that of an All-Star from Cleveland who played to very little fanfare on Thursday afternoon in Brooklyn.

Darron Lewis isn’t the leading scorer of his squad. He wasn’t a blue-chip recruit out of high school. And he wasn’t swarmed by autograph-seekers over the weekend. But on Sunday afternoon, when he takes the floor for the Wheelchair Cavaliers as they play a big double-header in Edinboro, his performance will be every bit as heroic as any All-Star suiting up later that night in Madison Square Garden.

Lewis’ story doesn’t begin on July 11, 2012 – in the early morning hours in Kandahar, Afghanistan. But that’s where it changed forever.

Donnell “Darron” Lewis grew up on the southeast side of Cleveland. A natural athlete, he played free safety and slot receiver for South High.  But Lewis also comes from a long line of family who served in the military – including his late father, Darryl Lewis, Sr., who served in the Navy, his older brother, Darryl Jr., who’s currently serving in the Army and his younger brother, David, who’s been in the Navy since 2008.

It was just a matter of time until Darron decided to serve his country.

”I didn’t know what I wanted to be,” Lewis acknowledged. “I thought I would go to college and study this and get this degree. But I was always doing physical stuff, playing sports and being athletic. My older brother went in. And then my younger brother went in. So I thought: OK, it’s my time to go in now. Time to stop messing around.”

So at the age of 26, Lewis enlisted in the Army. After 14 weeks of basic training, Lewis eventually went to airborne school and graduated in three weeks. He initially thought he’d be stationed in Italy, but his orders were changed and instead, he was off to Fort Lewis, Washington in August 2011 where he became part of the 2nd Infantry Division Charlie Company 5-20 1st Platoon, whose pit name was “The Misfits.”

After four months at Fort Lewis, the Misfits were called to southern Afghanistan, the birthplace of the Taliban.  And during their eight months in Kandahar, his unit conducted over 150 missions.

”Things didn’t really start happening until February. It’s winter time over there, so (the Taliban) don’t really do too much – because they can’t hide behind trees and things like that. It’s open field,” said Lewis. “So, once it starts to warm up, that’s when the action picks up. And then, it’s every day, three or four times a day we’d get into it with them. Or you’d never know – you’d be chillin’ one day, drinking tea, and you hear RPG’s coming through or you’ll hear gunshots ringing. And then, you know, you gotta do your job.”

At first, it was a single mission per day for Lewis’ platoon. But as the action heated up, the Misfits duties doubled – often conducting a pair of operations each day.

“The area we were in was Kandahar, and that’s the main hot spot,” said the father of three, including an infant daughter who – at the time – was still four weeks from being born. “We were out there, so our mission was basically was to go around and push these Taliban away. And we’d conduct and see: if they’re in this area, they need to leave. If they’re not going to leave, we’re gonna make them leave. And that’s basically what our mission was.”

But on July 11, 2012, Lewis’ story changed forever. He had just finished tower duty, but around 3 a.m., his team leader asked if Lewis could serve as a gunner for a mission not far from the base. Lewis readily jumped into the Stryker, where he’d man the .50 caliber from the gunner’s seat on the inside of the vehicle.

“We’re going down the road, we’re on Highway 1,” recalled Lewis. “On the road we were going, every time we turned, there was, like, a ditch right there. We’d get stuck and have to get pulled out. So when we got up to the road, my team leader was like, ‘OK, you’re going to make a hard right and punch it because we’d been getting stuck right there. So all I remember is, he made the hard right and he punched it and all I heard was BOOM!  And I’m thinking at first we hit the ditch again. But then we started seeing smoke and I knew we’d hit an IED (improvised explosive device).”

In the ensuing chaos, Lewis remembered looking down and seeing his legs – one looking like it was turned inward and the other, like it was turned outward. But his Army brother Wyatt was in much worse shape, not moving, covered in dust. One of their squad leaders tried to pull both Lewis out of the Stryker, but he couldn’t move.

“I was thinking about my baby, she was about to be born,” said Lewis. “I was just about to go home in like, not even ten days. So I closed my eyes and I could feel them pull me up out of there. And I was talking to the doc, and asking if I was gonna see my daughter. He said it was going to be alright and they kept talking to me. Then the (helicopter) came and they hit me with some morphine.

”I opened my eyes right before the bird took off and I saw them giving my brother Wyatt CPR – and that’s when I passed out. And when I woke up in the hospital after a few surgeries, that’s when they had told us that he didn’t make it.”

After multiple surgeries in Germany, Washington D.C. and back at Fort Lewis, Lewis was sent to Seattle where he had his left lower leg amputated. In addition to the amputation, Lewis had multiple breaks and tears in his left knee and his right side had injuries from his pelvis to his ankle which required metal rods and screws in his femur, tibia, fibula, ankle and foot.

From there, Lewis was sent to San Antonio’s CFI (Center for the Intrepid) where he’d begin both his rehab and the next chapter of his life.

Darron was buoyed by his family, especially his mother Delores, and his girlfriend, Kristal – his high school sweetheart who he’d been with for over 15 years. She helped him in every possible way. He also has two sisters, Dee and Dana, and a bunch of nieces and nephews. But maybe his biggest motivation was his children: an eight-year-old son, Christopher, two-year-old daughter, Londynn and two-month-old Logann, who was born on Veteran’s Day.

“I would have my bad days in the hospital where I’d look at myself and think: Man, I’m really messed up. And I’d just cry some nights. And then I’d look over at pictures of my little girl and all the pictures (of my family) and think: I need to be strong for them. And that’s what motivated me – especially when doctors would tell me: ‘You want to see you baby girl? You have to fight through this, you have to push.”

”And I just used that as my goal. That’s what kept me going: my kids, my mom, my family.”

At the San Antonio CFI, Lewis met a physical trainer named Fred who helped him turn the corner.

”When I got (to CFI), I didn’t say anything to anybody – I just kept to myself and I didn’t want to do anything because of my situation. I was down, I was depressed and all that stuff. One day, Fred said, ‘Well what do you like to do? Do you like playing sports?’ I said I played football, a little basketball. And he said, ‘Well they have a wheelchair basketball league and we even have a team. And he gave me the contact for the coach. And the coach was another physical therapist, so he said to come on out and just see if you like it.”

Lewis had never even heard of wheelchair basketball before his recovery in San Antonio. But it didn’t take him long to fall (back) in love with the game of hoops.

“My first day, my first shot coming out – airball!” laughed Darron. “But there was just something about it – I could shoot a hoop again! I could shoot! So I just stuck with it. I didn’t even know such a thing existed. But I was in there and I was like, ‘Man these dudes are playing! And I was out there sucking – like couldn’t even push or anything. But my coach would tell me, ‘Hey, you want to get on that court, you have to work hard.’”

“And I’d be by myself some days in the gym, learning how to do a layup, re-leaning the game. You’re so used to shooting standing up and you have to change your shot where everything depends on your upper body. So I had to re-do all that all over again. And now I love it! Now I don’t even want to stop playing. I’d play every day if I could.”

After an arduous rehab, Lewis returned to Cleveland and searched youtube for Cavs Wheelchair Basketball, just to see what would come up. He immediately got excited watching the clip and contacted the team. He came to practice and quickly became part of the squad. Once again, he found a bond among brothers – and he was able to represent his hometown.

The Wheelchair Cavs are even more successful than the NBA squad they’re affiliated with – currently ranked second in the nation with an 18-4 mark. And recently, Darron – the team’s second-leading scorer – was chosen by the NWBA Selection Committee to represent the East All-Stars in the NBA/NWBA Annual All Star Game, which was held this past Thursday at the NBA All-Star Game Jam Session in New York.

“You don’t get down on yourself even though you’re like: ‘Man, I can’t hit it. I can’t get this shot to work. Or I didn’t make the turn right.’ But you have to push through because, man, I want to be great. I want to be great. I don’t want to just play it for fun. I want to hopefully represent Team USA.

Lewis’ Eastern Conference squad was coached by none other than NBA legend Dikembe Mutombo. Darron’s team even did the famous Mutombo finger-wag and “No! No! No!” when they blocked an opponent’s shot – with Dikembe laughing on the sidelines.

The East led through the entire first half, but the Western Conference squad pulled ahead in the second half and won by eight.

”It wasn’t about individual stats or anything,” smiled Lewis. “It was just about being out there balling with everybody, the best players from around the United States and just having fun.”

Ever the competitor, Lewis added: “I don’t like to lose, but it was still fun. It’s more fun to win, though.”

On Sunday afternoon, on the Edinboro campus in Western PA, the Purple Heart medalist from South High and his Cavalier compatriots will try to represent “The Land” and maintain their winning ways. Later that night, LeBron and Kyrie will do the same for the Wine and Gold in New York.

Darron Lewis, a dedicated family man and real American hero, has high goals -- hoping to return to the midseason classic when the All-Star Game goes north of the border next year in Toronto – and eventually represent his hometown for Team USA.

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All-Stars and Stripes

**NOTE: The news clips and articles listed don't necessarily reflect the views or beliefs of the Cleveland Cavaliers or their Basketball Operations staff, partners, or sponsors.**

Kyrie Irving advanced to final round, but Stephen Curry wins 2015 Three-Point ContestAuthor: Chris Haynes
Publication: Cleveland.com

BROOKLYN -- Golden State's Stephen Curry won the 2015 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest on Saturday night at Barclays Center.

Curry shot an impressive score of 27 points in the final round that included Golden State's other backcourt member Klay Thompson and Cleveland's Kyrie Irving.

Irving was first up in the championship round and he recorded a 17-points. With Curry and Thompson on deck, that would not be enough to get it done. Thompson was the final contestant chasing Curry's mark and he failed miserably, producing only 14 points.

The field was so deep with prolific shooters that Wesley Matthews of the Trail Blazers couldn't make it out of the opening round with a 22-point mark. - CLICK HERE to read full story.

Terry's Talkin' about the Cleveland Cavaliers at the All-Star break, who is helping and who is not -- Terry Pluto (photos)Author: Terry Pluto
Publication: Cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As the Cavs reach the All-Star break at 33-22, it's hard to remember that they were 19-20 at one point.

The NBA regular season is 82 games. Two contests short of the 41-game midpoint, they were 19-20. Since then they're 14-2.

THE MVP: When LeBron James plays, the Cavs are 31-14; 2-8 when he sits. He's second in the NBA in scoring (25.9), seventh in assists (7.3) and has made the Cavs instant Eastern Conference contenders. They have equaled their win total of 2013-14, which ended 33-49. - CLICK HERE to read full story.

LeBron James roared through car commercial in NYCAuthor: Joe Vardon
Publication: Cleveland.com

NEW YORK -- LeBron James filmed a Kia car commercial in the middle of Manhattan Friday night, according to TMZ.

James, a Kia ambassador who is in New York for the All-Star Game Sunday, ripped through filming in seconds. TMZ has the video, which you can watch here.

"Ninety seconds. You know it don't take me long to knock out a commercial. It's how I do," James said Saturday, following the East's practice for Sunday's game. - CLICK HERE to read full story.

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Daily News - February 15, 2015

The 2015 Foot Locker Three-Point Contest in Brooklyn was as stacked a field as any in recent memory -- filled with former champs, the league’s leading scorer, its top three-point shooter, a handful of MVP candidates, the Splash Brothers and, of course, last season’s All-Star Game MVP, Kyrie Irving.

And it didn’t take long to illustrate exactly how good the field was. Portland’s Wesley Matthews notched 22 points in the first round – and was eliminated before the final three entrants set foot on the hardwood.

With a celebrity-filled crowd at the Barclays Center – including Rihanna, Floyd Mayweather and Spike Lee – Kyrie Irving jumped into an early lead with 23 points in the first round, but Stephen Curry, the leading vote-getter in this year’s All-Star Game, tied his mark in short order. Immediately after, Curry’s teammate, Klay Thompson, eclipsed both of them with 24.

But in the final round, neither Irving – who sported the Larry Bird shooting shirt look on Saturday night -- nor Thompson could catch Curry, who canned 13 straight shots en route to a record-setting 27-point final round. Irving, who topped last year’s champ, Marco Belinelli, to win the contest in Houston two years ago, finished with 17 points in the championship round to take second place. Thompson couldn’t find his first-round rhythm and finished with 14.

The three finalists – all of whom have topped the 50-point plateau over the course of their careers – kept Kyle Korver (who leads the NBA in three-point shooting at a jaw-dropping 52 percent) and James Harden (who leads the NBA in scoring at 27.4 ppg) from advancing to the next round.

This was Irving’s third appearance in the Shootout. Four current Cavaliers have participated in the event over the last few years – joining Kevin Love, James Jones and Mike Miller. Jones won it all in 2011 in Los Angeles, Kevin Love followed suit the next year in Orlando before his current teammate and Pepsi-Max co-star took top honors in 2013. Last year, Belinelli bested Irving on Saturday night, but Kyrie soothed the sting by winning the MVP trophy of the All-Star Game 24 hours later.

Irving will try to repeat the feat on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. But he’ll have another current teammate to contend with when LeBron James joins him on the East roster in the 64th annual midseason classic. Both Cavaliers have a knack for saving their best for the bright lights, and it doesn’t get any brighter than the World’s Most Famous Arena.

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Curry Tops Kyrie in Saturday's Shootout

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All-Star Saturday Behind-the-Scenes - Feb. 14

LeBron James elected VP of players' union, ahead of showdown over revenue sharingAuthor: Joe Vardon
Publication: Cleveland.com

NEW YORK - The NBA players' union unanimously elected LeBron James as vice president on Friday, the same day it rejected the owners' proposal for sharing the nearly $2 billion in annual revenues that will come when the league's new TV deal begins in 2016.

James, 30, now has a formal leadership role in the players' union after holding enormous sway as perhaps the NBA's biggest star for years. It comes at a time when the players are preparing to stake their claim on revenues from the nine-year, $24 billion TV deal the league announced in October.

James joins National Basketball Players Association President Chris Paul, a close friend of James who encouraged him to join union leadership. James chose not to run for president in 2013 because of the time commitment, but a source close to him said this was something he wanted to do and was in contact with Paul and union executive director Michele Roberts before Friday's vote. - CLICK HERE to read full story.

LeBron James on dealing with media: 'I don't run away from it'Author: Chris Haynes
Publication: Cleveland.com

NEW YORK -- LeBron James sat on that podium at Friday's All-Star media availability and answered question after question.

About 99.5 percent of those inquiries were retreads, questions James has responded to numerous times in the last two weeks. Yet, he cooperated as he so often does.

That's what separates him from other superstars in professional sports: the willingness to fulfill his obligation of addressing the media on a routine basis. In fact, James repeatedly exceeds what is mandatory. - CLICK HERE to read full story.

LeBron James on the Cavaliers at the All-Star break: 'We're where we should be'Author: Joe Vardon
Publication: Cleveland.com

NEW YORK - There is something about this city for LeBron James.

Something in particular, actually, that he said is the reason his 11th consecutive start in the NBA All-Star Game Sunday would be his favorite.

"It's going to be the best All-Star game for me, to be able to be in the Garden," James said Friday at the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel, about the NBA's 64th All-Star Game to be played at Madison Square Garden. - CLICK HERE to read full story.

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Daily News - February 14, 2015

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2015 All‑Star