Darius Garland: Cavs Making Playoffs Minus LeBron Would Be ‘Amazing’

Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland is having an All-Star type of year, but he’s not taking all the credit for that.

“The coaching staff, my teammates having the confidence in me, and my trainers,” Garland said in an exclusive interview with Shams Charania of Stadium.

Garland, 21, is 6-foot-1 and many were predicting a breakout season for him. But no one was predicting that the Cavs (27-18) would be sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference entering Wednesday’s road game vs. the Bulls.

In other words, the Cavs are poised to make the playoffs for the first time without LeBron James on the team since 1998. That’s 24 years for those of you keeping score at home.

Garland is averaging 19.7 points, 7.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds and is clearly a major reason for the resurgence. So are the likes of center Jarrett Allen, rookie forward Evan Mobley, forward Lauri Markkanen and a reborn power forward Kevin Love.

Mostly, coach J.B. Bickerstaff has whoever is on the court believing, seemingly every minute of every game, despite the season-ending knee injuries to Ricky Rubio and Collin Sexton.

So, playoffs? For the Cavs? Without LeBron? Hey, it may be time to believe.

“Having our own legacy without having anything with ‘Bron to do with it, that would be pretty cool, and then having a playoff run without Bron for that long, that would be pretty amazing,” Garland said. “Then just having the city behind our back, they’ve been waiting on this for a long time. Making the playoffs again would mean a ton for the city of Cleveland and the Cavs organization.”

For more, check out the latest Cavs on the Break NBA Podcast right here, as well as some trade rumors right here and here. You can watch Garland’s interview with Charania in its entirety in the video below.

“Having our own legacy without having anything with ‘Bron to do with it, that would be pretty cool” – Cavs emerging star Darius Garland sits down with @Stadium to discuss his growth, franchise’s rise, Cleveland’s push for first non-LeBron playoff berth since 1998, more. pic.twitter.com/iKBgdeGnbr

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 19, 2022