CLEVELAND — Editor's note: the video in the player above is from a previous story.
In 2018, LaMelo Ball arrived in Northeast Ohio to spend the junior season of his high school career at the SPIRE Academy in Geneva.
Just more than three years later, Ball will return to Northeast Ohio to play in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, with NBA commissioner Adam Silver announcing on Monday that the reigning Rookie of the Year will serve as the injury replacement for Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant. Additionally, San Antonio Spurs guard Dejounte Murray has been added to the exhibition, replacing Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green, who will miss the game due to a calf injury.
Ball's selection to the NBA All-Star Game, which will be played at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Sunday, Feb. 20, comes amid a standout second season with the Charlotte Hornets. Appearing in 47 games, the 6-foot-7 point guard has averaged 19.6 points on .425 percent shooting (.360 from 3-point range), 7.5 assists and 7.1 rebounds.
Like Ball, Murray's All-Star selection marks the first of his career. In 47 games, the 25-year-old guard has averaged career-highs of 19.6 points, 9.2 assists and 8.4 rebounds, in addition to an NBA-best 2.1 steals.
While Ball and Murray were selected to represent the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively, they won't find out which team they're playing for until Thursday. That's when team captains LeBron James and Durant will draft their teams from the following pool of All-Star selections (starters listed in bold):
Eastern Conference
- Joel Embiid
- Giannis Antetokounmpo
- DeMar DeRozan
- Trae Young
- Jimmy Butler
- Darius Garland
- James Harden
- Zach LaVine
- Khris Middleton
- Jayson Tatum
- Fred VanVleet
- LaMelo Ball
Western Conference
- Nikola Jokic
- LeBron James
- Andrew Wiggins
- Stephen Curry
- Ja Morant
- Devin Booker
- Luka Doncic
- Rudy Gobert
- Donovan Mitchell
- Chris Paul
- Karl Anthony-Towns
- Dejounte Murray