Cleveland Cavaliers and Australian Boomers point guard Matthew Dellavedova is back in the country after becoming the 6th Australian to win an NBA championship.
Delly, who already has a reputation for ‘hard work’ jumped straight off a plane to make an appearance at Melbourne’s Kickz101 to sign autographs for thousands of fans and give people a preview of his signature shoe from PEAK Sport.
“This is awesome to see so many fans here, it’s no 1.3 million parade like in Cleveland, but it’s special because it’s back here” noted Dellavedova
There were over 2,000 people lined up to get into the store which Peak GM Greg Bickley noted was much more than when Kyrie Irving came to visit last year.
“Delly has so many passionate fans from in and around both Australia and in Cleveland and it’s extremely cool to see so many people following his journey so passionately” said Bickley
When asked about his signature shoe, which is still a prototype and not the final version which will be released for sale, he explained he has had a pretty active role in putting the shoe together thus far.
“I have had a pretty active role in the shoe, it’s still coming along but I need a shoe which is low to the ground, low cut, something which helps me move defensively”
Dellavedova was keen to have a laugh about the “kid” from Maryborough now having his own signature shoe. He responded jokingly to one question about whether his hometown basketball association would be making the “Delly” shoe part of the team uniform.
“Haha maybe, it might clash with the Blazers yellow and blue colours though, we might have to see if they’re happy to change their team colours to green and gold.” joked Delly.
Turning his attention to his Boomers teammates, Delly noted that Andrew Bogut is still a part of the squad and he hopes he will be a part of the team’s Olympic squad for Rio.
Delly noted that losing Exum from the team and now possibly Andrew Bogut would be a huge loss for the Boomers.
“People don’t understand what Bogut brings, he has a strong offensive game people which people underrate and his defensive presence is something you can’t deny. It’ll be a huge loss if we have to go to Rio without him”
Dellavedova will join Andrew Bogut and his Boomers teammates tomorrow in preparation for the farewell tour against the Pac-12 All-Stars.
Cairns Taipans Writer, Historian & Tragic! Cover the Snakes for AussieHoopla as well as host Cairns Taipans Fan Weekly #OrangeArmy
