This Cleveland Cavalier Is Their Most Surprising All-Star Over the Last 30 Years

He was part of the 2016 Championship team.

Apr 1, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) and guard Mo Williams (52) and forward Richard Jefferson (24) and forward Kevin Love (0) show emotion on the bench against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at Philips Arena. The Cavaliers defeated the Hawks 110-108 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Jarrett Allen and Shawn Kemp (at that point, the largely below-the-rim version) were somewhat surprising picks as All-Stars while rostered by the Cavaliers. But neither JA, nor The Reign Man are the most surprising or unlikely Cav to have earned the honor over the past three decades.

That honor, instead, belongs to …Eric Snow. No, not really. But what fun would this guessing game be without a curveball?

The All-Star in question earned their selection during the 2009 campaign. A season in which LeBron and the fellas alternated between blowing out their opponents — especially at home, where they were an NBA-best 39 and 2 — and posing for imaginary team photos from the bench. And said All-Star was quite often in the lens of the aforementioned in-game team pictures.

Why Mo Williams is the most surprising All-Star ever

Enter guard Mo Williams.

In his first season with the Cavs, Williams was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team as an injury-alternate for Chris Bosh. Williams, a point guard, was much more shot-first than pass-first and his 2008–2009 All-Star season saw him average a career-high 17.8 points to go along with 4.1 assists, and 3.4 rebounds across 81 games (all starts). Williams also shot 91% from the charity stripe and nearly 44% from behind the arc.

Good numbers, sure. But hardly Donovan Mitchell-like. Joining Williams as Eastern Conference All-Star guards were some awfully familiar names: Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen, Joe Johnson, and some not as familiar names: Jameer Nelson and Devin Harris.

Williams, currently the head coach at Jackson State University, never again reached All-Star status after his first season with Cleveland. He holds career averages of 13.2 points and 4.6 assists across 13 NBA seasons.

Mo was a solid part of the first LeBron James Cleveland era teams, but his being named an All-Star is one of those facts you'd have to cross-reference Siri, Google, and ChatGPT to believe.

Challenging Williams for the most surprising of Cavs All-Stars would likely be the man in the middle, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, for his 2002-03 season selection. Though Z was a staple in the paint for the Wine & Gold, his '02-03 season was a Williams-like good, but not great. In 30 minutes a night, Big Z averaged 17.1 points and 7.5 boards while adding two blocks. He shot only 44% from the field, which is almost unthinkable for a 7'3 center.

Detroit's Ben Wallace and Indiana's Brad Miller were the only other centers on the East roster. Z (and, who are we kidding, Miller too) were likely chosen out of position necessity. The West had Yao Ming and Shaq.

Ilgauskas made another All-Star team the following year which further diminishes his chances of being the Cavaliers' most unlikely player to earn such an accolade.

That honor is singular to Williams, who can add the selection to his trophy case along with the Larry O'Brien trophy he won as a part of the Cavs' 2016 title team he rejoined after playing his previous four and a half seasons outside of The Land. Williams' last NBA game was Game 7 of the 2016 Finals.