Darius Garland opens up about Cavaliers’ team chemistry: ‘It’s like a grown man AAU team’

During an interview with NBA writer Deyscha Smith of SLAM Magazine, Darius Garland opened up about the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ team chemistry. 

The Cavaliers have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 57-14. 

“I was away from the guys last year for almost two months, and that’s when I was really at my lowest,” Garland said. “I couldn’t talk to them, they’d FaceTime me after a big win, and I’m just sitting there, like, ‘Yay, can’t talk.’ That was tough for me, but right now, just being around the guys, it’s some real brotherhood over here. It’s like a grown man AAU team. We’re always around each other. We’re always laughing, making jokes, going out to eat with each other. We had sweet potato pie on the plane yesterday. It’s a real family.”

Garland made his second All-Star team this season. He’s averaging 20.7 points, 2.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists for the Cavaliers while shooting 47.4% from the field, 40.4% from beyond the arc and 88.2% from the free-throw line. 

Behind Garland and Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland is first in the NBA in points per game and offensive rating. 

“I just like to dance with the ball,” Garland said. “I’m a dancer…I just use my shiftiness, my quickness, and then I like to give [Mitchell] the ball, because he’s just so explosive.”

The Cavaliers look like legitimate title contenders for the first time in the second post-LeBron James era.

Garland, though, knows that talk is cheap in the NBA. 

“Until we have this parade in Cleveland, [and I’m] on the floats and [have] a ring on my finger,” Garland said, “we haven’t done anything.”

Cleveland drafted Garland with the fifth overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Garland, 25, has career averages of 18.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 6.7 assists. 

There were rumors last offseason that Garland could ask out if the Cavaliers extended Mitchell, but it was just white noise, as Garland never considered requesting a trade from Cleveland.