In just 48 hours Matthew Dellavedova transformed himself from a nobody, to a villain and then the NBA's new star.
It wasn't too long ago NBA legend Charles Barkley couldn't pronounce the Australian point guard's surname, Cleveland Cavaliers fans wanted him sacked because he was deemed too slow and the team openly admitted they were looking for a replacement.
Headlines on sports pages across the US on Friday told a different story.
They hailed the former Aussie rules player from the Victorian country town of Maryborough after he combined with Cavaliers' star LeBron James to knock the Chicago Bulls out of the playoffs.
"Undrafted Matthew Dellavedova has become ultimate X-factor for Cavaliers," USA Today proclaimed.
"Unknown Matthew Dellavedova powers Cleveland Cavaliers to series win over Bulls," was the headline on the Bleacher Report website.
Dellavedova stepped up on Thursday night when Cavaliers All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving hobbled off early.
The publicity-shy Boomer responded with a team-high 19 points from 7-11 shooting, including three big three-pointers that buried the Bulls.
It came as Chicago fans booed Dellavedova after he sneakily performed the leg lock manoeuvre on Taj Gibson in game five, inciting the Bulls forward to kick out and get ejected.
The NBA website titled a montage of the Aussie's big game six shots as "Dellavedova's Dagger".
The 94-73 rout on the Bulls' home court gave Cleveland a 4-2 series win and they can sit and rest ahead of the eastern conference final series while the Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks battle it out to be the Cavaliers' opponents.
There is the very real prospect Dellavedova could play fellow Aussie Andrew Bogut's western conference favourites the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals.
But, don't expect Dellavedova to get carried away with his new-found fame.
He's the prototype of an Aussie country lad - not big on words, image or fashion.
And like many Aussies, he's a coffee lover, with his pre-game ritual involving a shot of hot caffeine.
With James needing the man he calls "Delly" to fill Irving's shoes, the world's best player took time out at halftime to pour his Aussie mate a cup.
There's plenty for Australia to love about Delly.
You don't have to reach for your thesaurus while transcribing his post-game interviews and he's content to put on jeans and a jumper or hooded jacket after a game rather than a lairy suit, sunglasses and a bowler hat like many of his NBA peers.
And that's exactly why James, Cav teammates, head coach David Blatt and Mike Brown - the former Cleveland coach who invited Dellavedova to play on their Summer League team after every club snubbed him at the draft - love him.
He's a blue collar, no fuss, high work rate, team-first player.
Dellavedova and another unheralded Cav, forward Tristan Thompson, were given the ultimate acknowledgement from James when he had them sitting alongside him at the post-game press conference.
How did he like being in the spotlight?
"This is all of the extra fluff stuff," came Dellavedova's monotone reply.
"What matters is what happens in the game."
Share
