Cavs' Matthew Dellavedova voted NBA's dirtiest player in recent poll

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25452479/cavs-guard-matthew-dellavedova-voted-nbas-dirtiest-player-in-recent-poll?FTAG=YHF7e3228e



Cavs' Matthew Dellavedova voted NBA's dirtiest player in recent poll



By Ananth Pandian | NBA writer


January 17, 2016 11:38 am ET



Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova is a hard-nosed player that often sacrifices his body to make a play. This leads to times when Dellavedova may seem too aggressive.

Like in last season's playoffs when Dellavedova fought for a loose ball with Kyle Korver and coincidentally ended up injuring the Hawks guard on the play. Or when in an earlier playoff series last year, Dellavedova locked legs with Taj Gibson, preventing the Bulls forward from getting up. Gibson was ejected from the game after he kicked Dellavedova while trying to get free. Then in the Finals, Dellavedova got involved in a brief war or words with David Lee that resulted in Stephen Curry coming to his teammate's aid by pushing the Cavs guard.

With instances like this, it should come as no suprise that Dellavedova was named the dirtiest player in the NBA in a Los Angeles Times poll of coaches and players.

Dellavedova received 13 votes. Oklahoma City center Steven Adams was next with seven votes. Golden State center Andrew Bogut (5), Memphis forward Matt Barnes (4) and Oklahoma City forward Serge Ibaka (2) rounded out the top five.

“Wow! Delly and Bogut are both from Australia,” an Eastern Conference player said about the tally. “How about that! Delly is kind of dirty and he does cross the line. But I don't even think it's even close with Bogut. Dellavedova is a little bit wild and out of control.”

“He ain't dirty. He just plays hard,” said an old-school East assistant coach. “See, guys resent people that play hard because they don't want to play hard. So if a guy plays hard, he's dirty. He's not dirty. He just plays hard. People question the play he made in the playoffs against Korver. I just think it was poor judgment.”

A total of 24 people were surveyed for the poll and Broderick Turner, who conducted it, doesn't specify how many were players and how many were coaches. And although this is a small sample size, it shows that Dellavedova does have a bit of a reputation around the league.





Delly (USATSI)
Matthew Dellavedova can't believe people think he's dirty. (USATSI)



bob
MY NOTE:  That's why his nickname is "Dellava-diver".  It's because he's like a kamikaze pilot aiming for other players' knees.  The good news is that Kelly Olynyk isn't even in the top 5 and is now off the hook for the Kevin Love incident.


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Olynyk's thing with Kevin Love was a one-time deal. Dellavedova's dirty is an integral part of his game.

While I understand that a guy will do about everything/anything to stay in the best league around, but some day this guy is going to eat a well placed knee in the teeth for his efforts down by other players knees.