CLEVELAND, Ohio — The hype surrounding Evan Mobley has been building for years. Second Team All-NBA. Defensive Player of the Year candidate. The potential future face of the NBA alongside Victor Wembanyama. But as the Wine and Gold Talk podcast painfully explored this week, the gap between expectation and reality is growing uncomfortably wide.

In the aftermath of Cleveland’s 114-104 loss to the Houston Rockets, podcast host Ethan Sands, beat reporter Chris Fedor, and columnist Jimmy Watkins took a deep dive into the mounting pressure on Mobley and whether it’s crushing the young big man’s confidence.

“I just wonder if that level of pressure and expectation is something that he is ready for. Maybe he is personally, maybe mentally he is. I don’t know. Again, I’m not in his head, but it doe

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