Matthew Dellavedova only has one gear, and that gear is permanently set to “balls out.” The Cavs’ reserve point guard was up to his old tricks during a recent exhibition game in Šiauliai, Lithuania leading up to the FIBA Oceania Championships, which kicks off later this month in Wellington and Melbourne.
What was supposed to be a friendly scrimmage between Australia and Lithuania threatened to turn ugly when Dellavedova got tangled up with Domantas Sabonis on a mismatch that left him alone in the paint unsuccessfully trying to body up the big man. But cooler heads would prevail, and Australia would go onto lose 92-85. Delly finished with just three points.
He garnered quite the reputation for himself during the NBA Finals for his scrappy (many might argue dangerously irresponsible) play against the Golden State Warriors. Even prior to that, Delly had established himself as a general nuisance to just about everyone he suited up against. There were even several instances where the Aussie pest either inadvertently(?) injured an opposing player or successfully goaded them into getting ejected from the game in the ensuing scuffles that inevitably followed his on-court antics.
Regardless, Cleveland eventually decided to re-sign him during free agency this summer, no doubt thanks to his all-around hustle and (however fleeting) flashes of brilliance during the playoffs after unexpectedly being thrust into the spotlight due to an untimely injury to Kyrie Irving.
(Video via rusbasket)
