NBA All-Star Darius Garland on LeBron Connection, Team USA Breakout, Rising Cavs

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The NBA world has descended upon Cleveland, and All-Star guard Darius Garland has relished his pseudo role of host for the weekend. 

Garland has cemented his status among the game’s best floor generals. At the break, the third-year guard is one of only four NBA players averaging at least 20.0 points and 8.0 assists per game this season. Alongside the stellar play of fellow All-Star and Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen and standout rookie big man Evan Mobley, Garland’s dazzling off-the-dribble threes and dances to the rim have powered Cleveland to fourth place in the Eastern Conference.

Going back to his performance at Team USA’s minicamp in Las Vegas this summer, there were early signs of his explosion into an All-Star. “Darius was one of the best players on the Select Team by far,” said Chicago Bulls All-Star guard Zach LaVine. “He’s a killer.”

Garland’s Cavs stand at 35-23. They surpassed last season’s win total of 22 games on January 10. 

“His ability to lead us, last year you saw the beginning of his ability to be a vocal leader,” Allen said. “Now you’re seeing it everywhere, off the court, how he’s pushing us all to get better.” 

Burrowed within a green jacket on Friday afternoon at All-Star Weekend, he smiled wide atop the stage at Mountain Dew’s Courtside Commentary, with a flock of fans hanging on the young phenom’s every word. The lights of the league’s midseason classic always shine bright on first-time All-Star honorees. 

“It’s super cool. They’re bringing a lot of fans out to get closer to us and have an opportunity to interact with us,” Garland told Bleacher Report. 

B/R caught up with the Cavaliers’ table setter ahead of his Sunday night All-Star debut to discuss his relationship with a certain Ohio native and talk about the future of the Cavs’ budding young core. 

Bleacher Report: LeBron said on the All-Star Draft Show that he needed you on his team as coverage for leaving Cleveland twice. You guys of course share an agency. What’s your relationship like with him now, and has he been a big brother for you throughout the All-Star experience in particular?

Darius Garland: Yeah, Bron’s been a big brother to me since before I was even drafted, really. Klutch is really a big family. I don’t really consider them as an agency. Everyone’s super close. Everyone’s on the same page. They make life a lot easier, in my opinion. 

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Bron’s always been in my ear, just telling me to be great, just go be myself, go play my game. He’s told me a lot about All-Star because he’s done that a lot. He’s given me a few pointers. 

B/R: What are LeBron’s top three All-Star tips?

Garland: He just told me to have fun. He said they want to alley-oop when I get in the game. So I gotta try and get one up to him. Then he just told me to stay off my feet as much as possible so I can be ready for the second half of the NBA season. 

B/R: When talking to a few coaches, players and executives this summer about who stood out at Team USA scrimmages, your name consistently popped up. What did you take from that experience to feed into this season that helped you become an All-Star? 

Garland: This summer really just gave me confidence. Just playing against all the top guys in the league and all the top guys in the world, it just gave me the confidence that I can do what I do best and be myself. They were just always in my ear and going out and playing my game and not worrying about anything else. 

B/R: He got hurt and was part of the deal that brought you guys Caris LeVert, but can you describe just how impactful Ricky Rubio’s presence was for the early start you guys had and the overall success of Cleveland this year?

Garland: Yeah, Ricky was a huge part of our success early on. He was the leader of this group. He just brought that heady mentality. He’s been in the league for a long time. He knows the ups and downs and ins and outs of the league. He taught everyone a lot of things, including me, especially just being a leader, trying to take control of the team and trying to use my voice as much as possible. 

B/R: Along those lines, it’s been interesting that you guys have had all your success and Collin Sexton hasn’t been able to be a part of it. With his contract negotiations upcoming this offseason and adding Caris to the backcourt as well, what are your thoughts on bringing Collin back to this situation?

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Garland: I would love to bring Collin back. I mean, that’s a brother to me. I would love to be in the same backcourt with him and just be in attack mode as always. I had a couple years with Bull that were pretty good, so hopefully we bring him back next year and see what happens. 

B/R: At the trade deadline, the conversation around player empowerment took center stage yet again. Ben Simmons landed in a situation that he wanted to get to. James Harden landed in a situation that he wanted to get to. What is your involvement in those decisions for Cleveland? Now that you’re an All-Star and the team is playing at this level? 

My role is just to try to win games, try to lead my team to wins and championships and that’s my whole goal. The front office handles everything else. I don’t really have a say-so in everything. I just try to go out there and do my job. 

B/R: Can you make your best argument for Kevin Love to win Sixth Man of the Year? 

Garland: For sure. Highest three-point percentage on our team. Off the bench, I think he’s averaging like 16, 17 off the bench? [Editor’s note: Love is averaging 14.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 22.3 minutes per game and is first in three-point percentage among the regular rotation.] He’s just a big sparkplug for us. He comes in, hot shooter, comes in and rebounds. He leads our second unit for sure. 

B/R: What about Evan Mobley for Rookie of the Year? Has it just been unbelievable that he’s picked up so many intricacies on both sides of the ball at this level? 

Garland: He’s so young, and he’s just picking up everything. I wasn’t expecting it would be this early, but I definitely think he’s stamped as Rookie of the Year. 

B/R: Cavs personnel talk about the off-court chemistry of your group. Do you have a best memory from this season, or something you guys did in training camp, that’s indicative of how close you’ve all become this year?

Garland: I mean, all the guys just like being around each other off the floor. We have dinners almost every road trip. We go out to eat in Cleveland a lot. We go to games. We watch games. Everybody just likes being around each other, so when we’re on the court, it just makes it a lot easier to talk to people and communicate. Everyone knows it’s coming from a good place, and everybody wants to win. It makes it a lot easier. 

B/R: Last decade, there was the big Deron Williams vs. Chris Paul debate. You and Ja Morant are kind of ascending on the same level. Is he someone you’re viewing as a rival, as a peer, of young point guards taking their teams into this contending sphere? 

Garland: Yeah, I think everyone has that competitive spirit in the league, with any position. I don’t think it’s just with Ja; it’s every point guard that I come across. Every team has a great point guard in this league. It’s always gonna be a tough night, a tough matchup every night. It’s not just one person. There are a lot of other guys in this league.