Evan Mobley is about to do something for the Cavs only LeBron James has ever done

As the Cleveland Cavaliers prepare for the 2025 NBA playoffs, the standout performance from Evan Mobley looms larger than ever.

The 23-year-old is working off a campaign well deserving of Most Improved Player consideration. His stark uptick in three-point volume—he's nearly tripled his attempts per 36 minutes—has received plenty of shine, but he's delivered growth across the board.

Everything from his decision-making in traffic, finishing through contact, and self-created shot-creation and -making are hitting personal peaks. He is also in line to win Defensive of the Year, despite too many people attempting to overthink the frequency with which offenses go after him. Cleveland has proven ultra-stingy whether Mobley is at the 4 or manning the middle, showcasing a degree of functional versatility that is shared by so few, you can count his contemporaries on one hand—and still have fingers to spare.

This body of work, coupled with the Cavs' total dominance almost wire-to-wire, guarantees that Mobley will wind up on one of the three All-NBA teams. And spoiler alert: It isn't going to be Third Team.

Once the results are made official, though, it is going to put Mobley in the company of LeBron James, and nobody else.

LeBron James is the only Cavalier to make All-NBA Second Team before age 25...until now

Earning an All-NBA nod is a major feat without any additional context. Getting one before turning 25 makes it even sweeter.

Entering this season, the Cavaliers have only had three players bag an All-NBA appearance before their 25th birthday: Kyrie Irving (2015), Mark Price (1989), and LeBron, who did it five times prior to celebrating his quarter-century born day, because of course he did.

Mobley isn't just about to join this clique. He's going to separate himself even further by finishing on the Second Team—or even the First Team.

That is not overly presumptive. Relative to this year's landscape, Mobley should be closer to First Team than the Third Team. Dropping him down to the ladder, or leaving him off All-NBA entirely, would take a special brand of questionable decision-making when you consider how many other stars are ineligible to claim All-NBA spots.

Anyway, neither Irving nor Price finished on the First or Second teams before the age of 25. LeBron is the only Cavaliers player to climb that mountain, having racked up three First Team and two Second Team appearances by the end of his age 24 season.

Or rather, LeBron was the only Cavs player to climb this mountain. He's not about to be anymore.

But wait! It gets (potentially) better...

Do not underestimate the significance of Mobley contending for All-NBA First Team

Mobley's place in the All-NBA discourse is not merely revelatory within Cleveland's record books. If he snags a First Team honor, he will join an ultra-ultra-ultra elite club. Just nine players since 2000 have appeared on All-NBA First Team by the end of their fourth season. Here's the entire list:

• Luka Doncic (3x)
• Tim Duncan (2x)
• Kevin Durant (2x)
• Anthony Dvais (1x)
• Dwight Howard (1x)
• LeBron James (1x)
• Nikola Jokic (1x)
• Chris Paul (1x)
• Derrick Rose (1x)

Pretty good basketball company, wouldn't you say?

Of course, this honor is much less assured for Mobley. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum are First Team locks. That leaves just one spot remaining, and there are at least a few contenders for it.

Certain voters will be more inclined to reward Donovan Mitchell with a First Team cameo. Stephen Curry has (re-)entered this chat, as well. Anthony Edwards will invariably receive consideration. LeBron himself, at age 40, is generating First Team buzz among select voters, too:

Mobley has a real, if persuasive, case over all of them. Especially when you consider the two-way workload he shoulders.

Not that it particularly matters. He is going to make an All-NBA squad regardless. If it's not the First Team, then it's going to be the Second Team. Either way, he'll secure himself a piece of Cavs history shared, so far, by LeBron, and LeBron alone.

Dan Favale is a Senior NBA Contributor for FanSided and National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.