Appearing on The Richard Jefferson Show <\/a>with, of course, former teammate and now media star Richard Jefferson, Dellavedova revealed why he loved playing enigmatic talent JR Smith so much despite the sharpshooter being a polarising figure for much of his NBA career. <\/p>\n When Jefferson asked Delly who he was looking forward to seeing most at the 2016 Cavaliers reunion, which went viral on social media, he didn\u2019t flinch when he answered.<\/p>\n \u201cProbably JR,\u201d he told Jefferson.<\/p>\n \u201cI hadn\u2019t seen him in a long time, and I always enjoy hanging out with him. Swish is a good time. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s always had my back in like, whenever there\u2019s a little scrap, he\u2019s always first in.\u201d<\/p>\n As the pair reflected on one of the craziest runs to a championship in NBA history after coming back from a 3-1 deficit against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors<\/a>, Jefferson praised the impact Dellavedova had on the Cavaliers. <\/p>\n His role may have been smaller in the 2016 NBA Finals than in 2015, when he famously chased Stephen Curry<\/a> on every possession and needed an IV drip after Game 3. However, Jefferson still pointed out why the Boomers icon was such an important piece. <\/p>\n \u201cI said this, and I say this as a compliment to your work ethic: I would always say, if (Delly) worked at 1% less, you wouldn\u2019t be in the NBA, just 1%,\u201d Jefferson said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you worked harder than anybody on the team, and I would include (LeBron<\/a>), and I would include Kevin (Love).<\/p>\n \u201cYou were the heart\u2026 for how hard you worked with a level of consistency every single day, you were pound for pound the hardest worker on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n Not bad praise for a kid from Maryborough who went undrafted after a successful college career with St Mary\u2019s.<\/p>\n Dellavedova said his work ethic came from his parents early on, and he also had the chance to learn from one of the greatest players of all time, LeBron James. <\/p>\n \u201cI think I always aim to be (the hardest worker on a team), but seeing LeBron, how he takes care of his body and stuff,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The man who won his first NBL title <\/a>with the Sydney Kings<\/a> this season also shared a story about how his breakout playoff performance in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls almost never happened if it wasn\u2019t for veteran Cavalier Anderson Varej\u00e3o. <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re up 3-2 in Chicago, (physio) lets me know Kyrie isn\u2019t coming back in. I\u2019m like, alright, I need more coffee,\u201d Dellavedova said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I go over, and in the locker rooms they always have coffee, but there\u2019s no coffee there. <\/p>\n \u201cAnderson Varej\u00e3o, my vet, sees me looking and he asks, \u2018what do you need?\u2019 and I said some coffee. So he goes around the stadium, finds me some coffee, because he\u2019s injured at this point, brings me a couple of cups of coffee, I smash those, go out the second half, have a good second half, and we close them out on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n To be clear, Dellavedova didn\u2019t have a \u201cgood second half\u201d; he had a great second half, scoring 19 points for the game while going 3-from-6 from beyond the arc compared to Rose, who had just 14 points in 35 minutes. <\/p>\n On the podcast, Dellavedova also spoke about his desire to make the 2027 Boomers FIBA World Cup team.<\/p>\n Well worth the listen!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew Dellavedova reveals why JR Smith was a favourite teammate during Cleveland’s 2016 title run. 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Matthew Dellavedova #8 and JR Smith #5 of the Cleveland Cavaliers celebrate after beating the Toronto Raptors in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada, on May 28, 2016 (AEST). Photo: Nathaniel S. Butler\/NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n