Cunningham ‘Rising’ MVP

CLEVELAND – Cade Cunningham was named most valuable player of the NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars game as Team Barry defeated Team Isaiah, 25-20, in the final on Friday night in Cleveland.

The Detroit Pistons’ Cunningham, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, scored five points in the final while teammate and crowd favorite Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers also scored five.

Under the new format, the first team to reach 25 points is declared winner.

“We were happy to pull it out,” Cunningham said. “My goal coming in was to win. We had the team to do it, and we had to prove ourselves.”

The new format saw the 28 game participants split into four teams that played two semifinals followed by the final.

The teams were coached by Hall of Famers Rick Barry, Gary Payton, Isiah Thomas and James Worthy.