Revealed: The illness that left Aussie basketball great Matthew Dellavedova hospitalised
Sydney Kings’ Matthew Dellavedova has been sidelined with ‘illness’ for the past two games, turns out the champion has been hospitalised for a week. MATT LOGUE with the details.
A serious infection left basketball champion Matthew Dellavedova hospital bound on a drip for almost a week.
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Dellavedova has sat out the past two NBL games for the Sydney Kings due to an “illness” according to the club.
Code Sports can reveal the four-time Olympian suffered a cut to an unknown part of his body after falling in an off-court incident.
The injury led to an infection, which forced the guard to be rushed to hospital in Sydney in the lead up to the Kings’ round 9 clash against the Illawarra Hawks in Wollongong.
The infection left the veteran feeling physically ill, prompting swift medical attention.
Dellavedova is out of hospitial and is on the mend completing light duties, but is racing the clock to play against the Breakers in New Zealand next Wednesday.
The Boomers great has a long history of pushing his body to its physical limits.
Dellavedova produced a performance for the ages in Game 2 of the 2015 NBA Finals playing for Cleveland against the Golden State Warriors.
He pushed himself to exhaustion guarding Warriors’ superstar Steph Curry. Dellavedova suffered severe cramping as a result and was taken to hospital post-game to be fitted with an IV drip.
The discomfort didn’t stop the dogged guard from finishing with a playoff career-high 20 points in a win, including multiple matchwinning defensive plays on Curry to give the Cavs a 2-1 series lead.
Dellavedova’s brave performance prompted high praise from Cleveland star LeBron James post-game.
“He has to be made of steel or something,” James said.
“If there’s a ball on the ground, he’s the first guy to the ground.
“He showed it multiple times tonight, he’s huge for our team — he gives it that grit, that grit that we need.
“He gives us everything until the tank is empty. He has a small little reserve tank that he continues to work through. He’s huge for us.”
Dellavedova replicated this iconic performance in a win over Illawarra in Game 3 of last season’s NBL Grand Final series.
He pushed himself so hard that he was forced to vomit as his exhausted body surrendered in the moments after the victory.
Dellavedova is pound for pound one of the toughest players in basketball, but his latest infection showcases the serious side to health setbacks.
Originally published as Revealed: The illness that left Aussie basketball great Matthew Dellavedova hospitalised
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