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'No doubt in my mind': Darius Garland earns All-Star selection after nightmare season
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- 'No doubt in my mind': Darius Garland earns All-Star selection after nightmare season
CLEVELAND — Darius Garland's inclusion as an All-Star was, in a sense, an official acknowledgment of his return to prominence as one of the league's best guards after a nightmarish year and a difficult road back.
It wasn't easy.
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Back in 2021-22, Garland earned his first All-Star selection and then put up eerily similar scoring numbers the next year, though his bid for back-to-back All-Star nods fell short.
Then came last season, and a series of speed bumps that must have felt like waves ceaselessly crashing against the shore.
Garland was somehow repeatedly hit in the face. The worst of it required surgery. For several weeks, he had his jaw wired shut. He had to eat all of his meals through a straw , including when the team went to Paris.
As a result, he quickly lost 12 pounds and struggled to put the weight back on during the season. He wasn't the same player. His points per game dipped. His shooting percentages, both from the floor and from behind the 3-point line, took a negative hit.
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An avalanche of negative attention online and on social media followed. Then came trade rumors, and reports he'd want out of Cleveland if Donovan Mitchell signed a long-term extension, something Garland later called "definitely false."
In both literal and metaphorical ways, Garland took hit after hit after hit. And then Thursday night, Garland — along with teammate Evan Mobley — was announced as an All-Star reserve . Mitchell was named an All-Star starter earlier this month, and Kenny Atkinson will coach the East .
"I remember last year around this time, I was at home with [my] jaw wired shut, couldn't eat, couldn't talk," Garland said Thursday night after the Cavs beat the Atlanta Hawks 137-115. "Being here today, it's a blessing, all the hard work put in and the sacrifices."
It was the type of down year that can plague any NBA player. Garland was just hit especially hard.
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"Every NBA player goes through that type of year," Mitchell said, adding that for him it was his second appearance in the playoffs when he was with Utah. "I shot, like, 5 of 23, and then I said to myself, 'It's only gonna make me better. I'm gonna respond.' … And I haven't missed an All-Star Game since."
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) drives to the basket as Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) defends on Jan. 30, 2025, in Cleveland.
Donovan Mitchell 'pissed off' by negative criticism of Darius Garland
The injuries that piled up were largely freak accidents that happened on the court. To Mitchell, the negative circumstances were mostly out of Garland's control. But regardless of what caused it all, it was the response to it that mattered.
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"He took the summer, took all the criticism, took all that stuff, whether it was warranted or not, which I feel like it wasn't, we all did, but he went into the lab, got back to what he does, got his joy back, his confidence back, and now he's playing like an All-Star guard," Mitchell said. "Now look at him."
The Cavs weren't happy watching Garland take the brunt of criticism considering the circumstances.
"The way the narrative was about DG got so bad, and it pissed me off. I know it pissed him off," Mitchell said. "If anything, he's playing his best basketball after a year where people had written him off for unfair reasons."
Now, Garland is in the midst of his best season by a long shot. He's averaging 21.7 points while shooting a career-best 49.9% from the floor and 42.5% from 3-point range. He's also taken up a challenge from coach Kenny Atkinson on the defensive end , which wouldn't have possible without the added weight a year ago.
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Garland knew he'd be back. It was just an uphill climb.
"Never had no doubt in my mind," he said. "Just having that confidence, having last summer just to actually work on my body, get back in the gym, get back in the weight room a lot more, have a complete summer where I could just really work.
"I worked my ass off this summer, so I'm happy to be back here."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland named All-Star reserve
