ALL-STAR GAME: TEAM DURANT VS. TEAM LEBRON

February 20, 2022

Jarrett Allen

Darius Garland

Team LeBron

Press Conference

Q. Just wondering now that it's over, seeing all those legends and the whole night, how amazing was it for you guys?

JARRETT ALLEN: For me personally, it was awesome. It was just so much legends around, like you said, so much basketball history and now we're a part of it, so that made it even extra special.

DARIUS GARLAND: It was good. Good weekend. It was cool just being around all the legends. Like J.A. said, a lot of history in basketball. Just to be included in that is pretty cool.

Q. Just wondered about Steph too. I mean, did you almost become like a spectator?

DARIUS GARLAND: We all were. 50-ball. That's crazy in the All-Star Game. Yeah, I was definitely a spectator. I was a fan being on the same team as him.

Q. What does it mean to you to be named an All-Star and get to experience the game like this, and play alongside those guys?

DARIUS GARLAND: It means a lot. I've been dreaming about this all my life. So just having it at the age of 22, being so early, being so young, it's super cool being here with all the greats. To even touch a basketball and just experience everything, it was really cool.

Q. Jarrett, when that first dunk went down, it seemed like the crowd especially erupted for you. Walk me through that. What went through your head?

JARRETT ALLEN: Honestly, it was kind of a blur. All I remember, Fred threw the lob to me, and I knew it was finally my time to get the crowd going. Then, like you said, the crowd erupted, and it was a special moment.

Q. Jarrett, you had a big block on Joel in the fourth quarter. Can you talk to us a little bit about that, but then also, how hard were you playing to win? These are All-Star Games. Traditionally they don't matter that much, but that's changed a little bit over the last couple of years.

JARRETT ALLEN: What happened, he dunked on me a couple of games ago, so I couldn't let him get me twice. That part was a little personal, and at the end of the game we all were playing hard. You could just tell the intensity of the whole All-Star Game picked up, and I was just doing my job playing defense, trying to get the team some stops.

Q. You guys had that lob, like, two minutes into the game. It's your signature thing, but does it have a little extra meaning because it was here tonight?

JARRETT ALLEN: I'll let the passer answer.

DARIUS GARLAND: What did you say?

JARRETT ALLEN: I'll let the passer answer.

DARIUS GARLAND: Yeah. I mean, it was special. First All-Star Game in our hometown, in our arena, I mean, it was cool. He slammed it. That's all we ask for.

Q. Darius, for you, LeBron said yesterday that he felt like he was Cleveland's third All-Star. As somebody who is so close to him and knows what this means to him, to play the All-Star Game in Cleveland, what are your thoughts on him hitting the game-winner?

DARIUS GARLAND: He wanted the ball. We all knew that he was going to shoot it. Fadeaway, you know? He wanted to win for the school. That's why he was going so hard in the fourth. That's why everybody was going hard in the fourth. Just seeing that go in, just seeing the crowd erupt in his hometown, it was cool to see.

Q. Were you guys able to watch the 75th Anniversary tribute at halftime, and if you were, what was it like just to be in the company of those greats?

JARRETT ALLEN: Me personally, I didn't watch it in person. I was in the locker room going over -- or just looking at name after name of legends that played the game from all different eras. Seeing them all recognized, seeing them all in one place, I think that's special for the NBA. It's special for basketball going forward and just adding onto the history of this game.

DARIUS GARLAND: He summed it all up.

JARRETT ALLEN: It was cool.

DARIUS GARLAND: It was cool.