Despite a historic performance from LeBron James, the conversation after Game 3- like through much of the Eastern Conference Finals- surrounded around Cleveland Cavaliers backup point guard Matthew Dellavedova.
So who exactly is this undrafted Australian that everyone seems to be talking about?
Dellavedova, who started Game 3 in place of the injured Kyrie Irving, became headline fodder when he got involved in a dust-up that led to the ejection of Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford. During the play, the Cavaliers guard dove for a loose ball and struck the legs of Horford, who responded with an elbow aimed at Dellavedova:
After Game 3, Horford and his teammates insisted that Dellavedova had a “track record” for being a dirty player (earlier in the series, he slammed into Kyle Korver’s right leg while diving for a loose ball, leaving the Hawks’ forward with a playoff-ending ankle sprain) and many on social media seemed to agree.
Between those incidents and his heroic efforts to eliminate the Chicago Bulls one round earlier, Dellavedova is fast becoming a household name. But what’s his story?
Name: Matthew Dellavedova
Age: 24
Height: 6-foot-4 | Weight: 200 lb.
College: Saint Mary’s
A rarity in today’s game, Dellavedova spent four years at the NCAA level, becoming the all-time leader for Saint Mary’s in scoring, assists, free throw percentage, three pointers made, starts, and games played. In his four seasons, St. Mary’s went to the NCAA tournament three times and once the Gaels made it to the Sweet 16.
However, despite his many college accolades, Dellavedova was not selected when he was eligible for the 2013 NBA Draft.
The Cavaliers were one of two teams that showed serious interest in the Australian guard throughout the draft process. The Cleveland GM (at the time) Chris Grant had scouted Dellavedova while he was playing for the Australian national team at the 2009 FIBA Under-19 World Championship and had a long relationship with Dellavedova’s college coach Randy Bennett.
Grant thought about drafting the guard in the second round but knew there was limited interest so instead signed him to a two-year. $1.3 million after the draft.
Weeks later, Dellavedova played on for the Cavaliers’ summer league team before joining the club in training camp where he didn’t make a positive first impression on Irving, the team’s star guard.
“They used to f— each other up,” Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson told ESPN.com. “They used to go after it every day. There would be times when they’d be ready to fight each other.”
“So, I’m coming in and he just basically, every fast break, he was just fouling the s— out of me,” Irving said. “So, we went through training camp, every single day we went against each other and damn near almost fought every single day.”
Eventually, Irving realized that Dellavedova’s hard-nosed defence and competitive spirit made him a better player and his distaste for the Austrlian suddenly turned into respect.
Dellavedova didn’t accomplish much in terms of statistics, for a poor Cavaliers team, in his rookie season, but he had established a role on the team as a key defender and a distributor on offence and in the locker room as a tireless worker.
“I’m drawn to him because he’s a young guy who has come up the hard way in this league but he’s proven to everyone that he’s a very good NBA player,” James Jones said to ESPN.com.
You couldn’t tell by Dellavedova’s numbers that he was a potential breakout player, averaging just 4.8 points, 3.0 assists on 36.2 percent shooting during his second NBA season, but he really jumped into the spotlight during the playoffs.
Dellavedova had some productive games early in the second-round series with the Chicago Bulls, scoring nine points with nine assists in a Game 2 victory, before his big moment came in Game 6.
Irving had left the game after aggravating tendinitis in his left knee and Dellavedova was forced to come in off the bench and match up with Bulls star Derrick Rose. The moment didn’t at all phase Dellavedova, who went on to score 11 of his team-high 19 points in the fourth quarter (on 7-of-11 shooting) to lead Cleveland to a series-clinching blowout victory.
“Now that was unbelievable,” Bennett told The Cleveland Plain Dealer earlier this month, adding that Cavaliers playoff games have become ‘like parties’ at St. Mary’s where coaches and players gather at local sports bars to watch the games. “We were going crazy, watching that. We’re all so happy for Delly!”
Dellavedova’s impressive play carried over to the Eastern Conference final where he has averaged over 35 minutes per game in the best-of-seven series against the Hawks.
He has drawn the praise of LeBron James, who came to the defence of his teammate after the Hawks expressed displeasure with his aggressive style of play.
“I’m a little bit off about it because this is my guy, this is my teammate and this is a guy that goes out and works his tail off every single night and people are trying to give him a bad rap,” James told reporters Monday. “He doesn’t deserve it and I don’t like it.”
