Darius Garland Believes Biggest Difference From Last Season Is Cavaliers’ Camaraderie: ‘It’s Like A Brotherhood’

The Cleveland Cavaliers had the best record in the East this season. They were first in the NBA in points per game and offensive rating under first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson, who inherited the same core that JB Bickerstaff had. 

So why were the Cavaliers so lethal this year despite having the same roster as last year? All-Star point guard Darius Garland believes the biggest difference from last season is the team’s camaraderie. 

“Last year, a lot of guys was in and out the lineup, especially our starting five,” Garland told The Ringer. “It wasn’t a lot of games that we played together just with our starting five. There was just a lot of mixing and matching with the lineups. … It’s like a brotherhood, like a grown-man AAU team type of vibe. It’s super cool just being with the guys that you like to be around with off the floor because that makes the bond even stronger on the floor.”

The Cavaliers are title contenders for the first time in the second post-LeBron James era. Garland, who made his second All-Star team this year, told The Ringer that Cleveland is “motivated” by all of the doubters out there who don’t think the team can win it all. 

“It definitely motivates all of us,” Garland said. “We’ve been having doubters forever since we started making the playoffs a couple of years ago. When you think of Cleveland, you only think of LeBron James or Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. So just to have this group of guys and the depth that we have, … it’s not just one guy or two guys that’s really carrying the load.

“I think that’s what make us so unique, that we can play 15 guys in a game, and everybody will have a big impact. That’s what makes us so different than any other team because we have so much talent and so much depth that we can really push to the end.”

The Cavaliers are up 1-0 against the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. They will look to take a 2-0 lead on Wednesday night.