Cavs’ fan favorite Matt Dellavedova suffered a nasty concussion in the team’s first preseason game back in December and has yet to log a minute of playing time in the regular season. A report from The Athletic Thursday revealed that Delly’s concussion symptoms have persisted. Given his history with head injuries, the current concussion is threatening to force him into early retirement.
Team sources told the Athletic that there was nothing conclusive about Delly’s future, but that retirement was now on the table. His lingering symptoms have prevented him from accelerating his rehab and ramping up his conditioning activities.
Delly became a local legend after his heroics in the 2014-2015 NBA finals — the famous dehydration game, notably — and is now one of only two remaining Cavaliers from the 2016 championship team. Kevin Love is the other, (and is himself the subject of nonstop trade rumors.)
He was signed for a veteran’s minimum one-year deal in the offseason and was expected to provide occasional backup minutes at the point guard position and serve as mentor to the promising young backcourt of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton. He was sorely missed during the first quarter of the season, when a cascade of injuries meant that for a few games, reserve Damyeon Dotson was the only guard available to play.
Head coach JB Bickerstaff has said that the team is being cautious with Delly’s recovery. Perhaps most distressing to the NBA vet is what the injury could mean for his status on the Australian national team. Delly has been a vocal proponent of Aussie hoops and was eager to rejoin his national squad for the Tokyo Olympics.
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This article appears in Jan 27 – Feb 9, 2021.
