Matthew Dellavedova is the villain the NBA Finals needs

Matthew Dellavedova is a villain. Plain and simple. That is not to demonize him; every great story needs an equally apt antagonist. The ambiguous nature of the incidents that he’s been involved in so far only serve the story even further: is he dirty or is he just in the wrong place at the right time? While that answer changes depending on who you ask, the results are so beneficial to his team that even through the cynicism, you almost have to admire his work.

Delly fits right into the small, scrappy and hard-working category. His narrative so far is that of a player who, while not as talented as those he is around, is willingly to outwork everyone on the team. Heart over ability, like an Australian Aaron Craft. LeBron James has vouched for his dedication to the game along with 76ers and former Australian men’s national team head coach Brett Brown. He works his tail off they say. He beats the odds. It’s an unfair assessment to call him dirty. It’s just how he’s always been taught to play.

So, in this aspect, he’s a hero. The boy who overcame limits placed on by nature to achieve his dreams -- not unlike Stephen Curry. The one that does whatever necessary for his team. The heart of the squad.

Delly, though, is pretty darn talented. One doesn’t make it into the NBA and become a key contributor in a championship caliber team without actually being good. There are countless aspiring basketball players both old and young who have poured blood, sweat, tears and time into the sport who will never achieve half of what Delly has so far. Hard work can only maximize your talent, it doesn’t create an entirely new ceiling.

There is truth in the assertion that he’s not the most gifted on the team, but playing down his skill level is just another tool used to elevate him into heroic status. It’s a ploy to excuse his style of play.

With that being said, an important part of his divisiveness is his agency. It’s not just that he’s Australian and that’s where the toughness comes from, or that he plays like that to bridge the talent gap -- all those things may be true but he actively chooses to do the things that he does. For better or worse.

He makes the decision to dive for the ball against Kyle Korver and turn his back to him. Delly’s explanation that he turned his back so he could kick it out to a teammate and avoid a jump-ball situation is believable and legitimate for all that we know, but it also resulted in a severe ankle sprain for Korver. Many players would have just taken the jump-ball play and protected the opponent in that regard. Delly didn’t. He wanted the ball but also managed to end Korver’s season as a result.

The same applies with the Al Horford situation: Delly explains that Horford had him by the arm and dragged him down. Yet, it was clear that he was also rolling into Horford’s legs which angered Horford and resulted in the forward dropping the people’s elbow on Delly in retaliation. Horford was ejected, the Cavaliers won. It’s smart and it’s dirty. The ability to antagonize someone as calm as Horford to that extent is beyond cunning, it’s downright genius.

With the Taj Gibson situation, it’s hard to see the play as anything but an attempt to injure. It was an unnecessary and injurious foul. An MMA-style leg submission that was rationalized by his supporters as payback for the hard screens that Gibson had set on Delly earlier. But screens are basketball plays, hard or not. Scissoring the legs of an opponent is only done with the intent to hurt.

One reason that the Cavaliers allow Delly to play in that manner is that he’s dispensable. While he’s become a growing influence, he’s not really Kyrie Irving. So, him being an irritant to the other team, luring crucial opponents into being ejected is a welcome trade-off. It’s like sacrificing a pawn for a better endgame in chess. Any good coach would and should sanction that.

Players like him are a staple in the NBA. It wasn’t that long ago that Mike Dunleavy Jr. toyed with the naive Giannis Antetokounmpo and got the Bucks forward ejected. And LeBron James was protected by one Udonis Haslem during his tenure with the Miami Heat. Even Andrew Bogut, a fellow Australian who, of course, doesn’t think that Delly is dirty, is becoming a master of it. If not for some questionable refereeing, he would have gotten Dwight Howard after Howard reacted to a shirt pull and clearly punched him in the face.

As long as these players are on your side, they are beloved. There’s no reason to sugarcoat what Delly is here. While he’s the intense, minuscule guard who has earned every inch of his career, he is still the player that will push the limits of his opponents and the rules. He’s the guy that is willing to injure Korver, Horford or Gibson in order to ensure that his team wins.

He’s willing to sacrifice his reputation and body for the greater good in the blink of an eye. Every team needs someone in this mold and the ones that have them, appreciate and protect them.

So going into the finals against the Golden State Warriors, he will be in the middle of another altercation. He will fight and he will dive for every turnover and he will once again put his body between the opponent and the ball as he’s been taught. The Warriors will rightfully loathe him and yet the subsequent reaction and chance ejection that he will generate could decide the series. Or maybe he “accidentally” injures one Stephen Curry. It could happen.

If it does, he will solidify once again what he’s always been: a hero to those who are with him and a villain to his opponents.

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