‘Always had my back’: Delly’s praise for title teammate

• Matthew Dellavedova reveals why JR Smith was one of his favourite Cleveland Cavaliers teammates
• Richard Jefferson labels the Australian the Cavaliers' "pound for pound" hardest worker
• Dellavedova recalls the coffee run that helped fuel his 19-point playoff breakout against Chicago

Australian Boomers legend Matthew Dellavedova has lifted the lid on who was one of his favourite teammates in the NBA as he reflected on playing a key role in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ drought-breaking championship a decade ago.

Appearing on The Richard Jefferson Show with, of course, former teammate and now media star Richard Jefferson, Dellavedova revealed why he loved playing enigmatic talent JR Smith so much despite the sharpshooter being a polarising figure for much of his NBA career.

When Jefferson asked Delly who he was looking forward to seeing most at the 2016 Cavaliers reunion, which went viral on social media, he didn’t flinch when he answered.

“Probably JR,” he told Jefferson.

“I hadn’t seen him in a long time, and I always enjoy hanging out with him. Swish is a good time.

“He’s always had my back in like, whenever there’s a little scrap, he’s always first in.”

As the pair reflected on one of the craziest runs to a championship in NBA history after coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors, Jefferson praised the impact Dellavedova had on the Cavaliers.

His role may have been smaller in the 2016 NBA Finals than in 2015, when he famously chased Stephen Curry on every possession and needed an IV drip after Game 3. However, Jefferson still pointed out why the Boomers icon was such an important piece.

“I said this, and I say this as a compliment to your work ethic: I would always say, if (Delly) worked at 1% less, you wouldn’t be in the NBA, just 1%,” Jefferson said.

“But you worked harder than anybody on the team, and I would include (LeBron), and I would include Kevin (Love).

“You were the heart… for how hard you worked with a level of consistency every single day, you were pound for pound the hardest worker on the team.”

Not bad praise for a kid from Maryborough who went undrafted after a successful college career with St Mary’s.

Dellavedova said his work ethic came from his parents early on, and he also had the chance to learn from one of the greatest players of all time, LeBron James.

“I think I always aim to be (the hardest worker on a team), but seeing LeBron, how he takes care of his body and stuff,” he said.

The man who won his first NBL title with the Sydney Kings this season also shared a story about how his breakout playoff performance in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls almost never happened if it wasn’t for veteran Cavalier Anderson Varejão.

“We’re up 3-2 in Chicago, (physio) lets me know Kyrie isn’t coming back in. I’m like, alright, I need more coffee,” Dellavedova said.

“So I go over, and in the locker rooms they always have coffee, but there’s no coffee there.

“Anderson Varejão, my vet, sees me looking and he asks, ‘what do you need?’ and I said some coffee. So he goes around the stadium, finds me some coffee, because he’s injured at this point, brings me a couple of cups of coffee, I smash those, go out the second half, have a good second half, and we close them out on the road.”

To be clear, Dellavedova didn’t have a “good second half”; he had a great second half, scoring 19 points for the game while going 3-from-6 from beyond the arc compared to Rose, who had just 14 points in 35 minutes.

On the podcast, Dellavedova also spoke about his desire to make the 2027 Boomers FIBA World Cup team.

Well worth the listen!