Matthew Dellavedova is bringing his ‘whatever it takes’ attitude to the NBL
He’s a hustler, a scrapper and a street fighter who only cares about one thing – winning. But how will Matthew Dellavedova’s hard-nosed style fit in the NBL?
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Matthew Dellavedova isn’t in the NBL to win friends and influence people.
He is here to be the Dellavedova who carved out a $55m NBA career being a hustler, a scrapper and a street fighter prepared to put his body on the line every time he steps onto the hardwood.
The 31-year-old, who became a cult hero to Cleveland Cavs fans and a villain everywhere else, is hoping to return to the NBA after concussion issues almost ended his career by leading Melbourne United to back-to-back NBL championships.
“I know there are certain things I need to work on and one of the biggest ones is just showing that I’m fit and healthy and ready to play 82 games in the NBA again,” he said. “My body is feeling great and it’s the most athletic I’ve felt in a really long time.
“I’m just focusing on helping United win and the rest is going to take care of itself.”
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Dellavedova’s fearless brand of basketball led to several concussions during his 10-year NBA career and talk of retirement after he managed to play only 13 games last season due to problematic symptoms from a concussion he suffered in a pre-season game with the Cavs.
He worked tirelessly to get his career back on track and play an important role in the Boomers’ historic bronze medal performance at the Tokyo Olympics.
Dellavedova will now take his “whatever it takes” attitude into the 2021-22 NBL season and former NBA star Andrew Bogut says the expectations on United’s marquee recruit to deliver will be high.
“I will say Delly is coming to a team where it’s championship or bust,’’ said Bogut. “If they don’t win it with him it is going to be deemed as the NBA player couldn’t get them over the line and it’s a failure. So, there is a bit of added pressure.”
However, dealing with the hype and pressure is nothing new for Dellavedova after playing with LeBron James at Cleveland and winning a championship in 2016 and dealing with the fallout from his hard-nosed approach to playing.
NBA writers and columnists labelled him a “goon,” a “grunt”, a “scrub”, someone “too aggressive” … the NBA’s most dirty player in an anonymous player and coach poll in the Los Angeles Times in 2016.
Dellavedova gained his bad rap during the 2015 NBA playoffs after injuring Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver while diving for a loose ball and being involved in incidents that saw Hawks centre Al Horford and Chicago Bulls centre Taj Gibson both get ejected.
Even a frustrated Warriors superstar Steph Curry came close to throwing punches at him during the 2015 finals series.
Cleveland fans loved it.
The team shop sold out of Delly merchandise, and Cleveland rapper Mizzery Jones of A.I. produced Hustle Like Delly, with the words “I’m just tryin’ to stay ready, ‘til I die I’m gonna hustle like Delly.”
With Dellavedova about to make his NBL debut he’s not about to change the way he plays nor worry about things like the LA Times poll.
The message is clear: “Delly” is in the NBL to win a championship and he’ll do whatever it takes.
“I’m just here to compete and play hard,” Dellavedova said.
“I’m not really sure what people are expecting (of me), but I’m not really concerned about that at all.
“There are a lot of things that get talked about (like polls), but, at the end of the day, none of that really matters.
“It’s what you are doing on the court and around the club to help the team win and what the people inside the club and inside the locker room think of you.
“My focus is on doing what it takes to help United win games and to continue to improve – that is my only concern.”
Fortunately, dogged Dellavedova is also what Melbourne United want as they look to the NBA champion and Boomers veteran guard to be the club’s general, on and off the court.
United coach Dean Vickerman knows which Delly he’d prefer when the game is on the line – and it’s the Delly that sent Curry crazy.
“To me, that is Delly’s trademark,” Vickerman said. “That is who he is. He is a country kid who grew up fighting for every possession and he has continued to do it his whole career. That is the part of his game that we are going to see night in and night out.”
Vickerman also expects Dellavedova to provide a strong scoring and passing presence, but it’s what the public doesn’t see when it comes to Delly that has most impressed the United coach.
Vickerman has already dubbed Dellavedova “the scientist” and can see why he has won an NBA championship alongside LeBron and collected an Olympic bronze medal with the Boomers.
“I think he is a heavy studier of anything that he is passionate about,” he said.
“That is who Delly is.
“He sent me a message on our day off recently saying: hey, ‘I’m thinking about this and let’s watch some video on it tomorrow’.
“I love when something pops into his mind, he isn’t just going to let it sit there. He has to do something about it. That is just going to make us all better.”
Dellavedova has “loved” coach Vickerman’s open-floor mentality when it comes to giving players a chance to express their voice on all things hoops. You see, Delly has long been obsessed with all things attention to detail in his quest to become the best version of himself.
“I think my whole life I’ve tried to figure out how I can be better for the team,” he said.
“I was doing similar things at college in St Marys, whether it was constantly watching game tape.
“I’d do the same in the NBA on the plane ride home from games.
“United have been successful in this league for a long time, so I’m also trying to learn from them.”
Dellavedova is also being diligent because he knows the challenge awaiting him in the NBL.
Sure, he has played in the NBA, but he respects the international talent in the Australian league enormously.
He knows he’ll have to defend the NBL’s best guards, including Illawarra sharpshooter Tyler Harvey and Perth powerhouse Bryce Cotton.
But just like he went toe-to-toe with Curry or former Wizards star John Wall, who labelled him “dirty” following a heated clash, Dellavedova is ready for anything and everything that comes his way.
He is known for his passing and toughness, but he will also cop pressure to score points, according to Bogut.
As an NBA championship player and No. 1 draft pick Bogut should know. The big man’s stats were constantly debated during his first season with the Sydney Kings in 2018.
Bogut was often criticised for not providing enough on the offensive end, but the reality was his game was built on being a presence in the paint and producing pretty passing to make others look better.
He went on to silence the doubters by winning the NBL’s MVP award.
Bogut believes Dellavedova will experience similar question marks on the offensive end, but he is tipping him to rise above the noise because he is a proven winner.
“The Australian NBL fan at times can be a bit ignorant to the fact that the league is strong, and just because you’ve come from the NBA, it doesn’t mean you are going to come over here to the NBL and average 15 points,” Bogut said.
“I think the way you judge Delly is similar to myself, and it is wins and losses and whether they’ve improved.
“I’m expecting him to go close to leading the league in assists, but he isn’t going to set the world on fire offensively.
“He’ll have his nights – but people need to realise it isn’t about that.”
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