The newest Cav, Larry Sanders, made a surprise debut on Tuesday at Quicken Loans Arena. With the Cavs blowing out the Pistons at home and the result already taken care of, coach Tyronn Lue put Sanders in the game for the final 1:58 of the contest.
Sanders, who wore the number nine jersey for the Wine and Gold, stood in the Cavs locker room with his familiar googles before the game in the seat Jordan McRae used to occupy as well as Andrew Bogut for a day.
It’s been a long road for the former lottery pick to return to the hallowed NBA floor, but Sanders was clearly overjoyed to be back on the court after so long. He was warmly welcomed by the Cavalier faithful, as a rapture of applause broke out around the arena.
It’s the perfect second chance for Sanders, and team leader LeBron James couldn’t be happier that Sanders now calls Cleveland home, via Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com:
“For us as his brothers now, it was great to just see him back out there,” LeBron James said. “To have a two-year hiatus like he had and doing the things he needed to do to shore himself up to be a part of this league again, he was back where he belonged tonight.”
It wasn’t expected Sanders would see any playing time, but with the Cavs blowing out the Pistons by 32 points, coach Lue got permission from general manager David Griffin to put Sanders to finish the game.
“I really just wanted to introduce him to the crowd and have him get in, give him a chance to have a standing ovation,” Lue said. “I thought it was good for him. When you go through what he’s went through, and you have a chance to get back in the NBA on a pretty good team, I thought it was cool.”
It was a huge step for Sanders, who has dealt with off-court issues and undergone personal development to finally make his dream come true all over again. This is the first step to Sanders’ resurgence within the NBA, and Northeast Ohio couldn’t have been a better choice.
Sanders himself was grateful and happy to get back on the NBA hardwood.
“Got a chance to touch the floor, the crowd showed great support,” Sanders said. “It was great to get out there.”
