Cavs’ Darius Garland gets brutally honest on All-Star Weekend

After the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Toronto Raptors to head into the All-Star break, the team will be represented by several players during the weekend. One of those players is Cavs guard Darius Garland who’s in the three-point contest and an actual selection in the All-Star festivities.

He spoke during practice Saturday to talk about the experience of being on this stage along with other talent and where he was exactly a year ago. To start, he wouldn’t hold his excitement to NBA TV saying he’s “super excited” to be participating in All-Star weekend.

“Just super excited being out here with so much talent, with some of the greatest fans,” Garland said. “Super excited, super fun being here. It’s a blessing being here. So I’m excited. I’m happy.”

The 25-year-old is now a two-time All-Star among other productive players on Cleveland, Garland is averaging 21.6 points, 6.7 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 49.8 percent from the field and 43.1 percent from beyond the arc.

As Garland was executed to hear he was a two-time All-Star, part of that emotion is justified since almost this time last year, his jaw had to be wired shut due to an injury. He spoke about how “crazy” time flies and sees it in a positive light, calling it a “blessing” that he’s in this current position.

“I mean, it’s a big difference,” Garland said, “It’s crazy what a year can do for you. So just being here now and just thinking about what I was doing last year is a blessing. It’s cool just to see what God could do in just one year. Super happy to be here. I’m blessed, and just gonna just enjoy the opportunity.”

Cavs’ Darius Garland on how All-Star weekend connects to his father

David Richard-Imagn Images

His father was a basketball player, Winston Garland, who played for the Golden State Warriors from 1987-1990 and now the son will be in the All-Star Game taking place in the city of San Francisco. It’s no doubt a full-circle moment as the Cavs star spoke about how “super cool” it is to go through that.

“Man, it’s super cool,” Garland said. “He always talks about it, he always talks about the crowd just being on top of him, it’s super loud, so just experiencing it now, it’s super cool.”

Along with being selected as a reserve for the All-Star games, he is also in the three-point contest as said before where he spoke about who he’s scared of most to face. His answer was Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard, an easy answer as he has won it the past two seasons, looking for the “three-peat” as Garland said.

“I know Dame is gonna come in and try to represent his hometown, I know he’s gonna go for a three-peat,” Garland said via an episode of FanDuel’s Run It Back. “I know Dame’s gonna come hard for it.”