The 2016 NBA Finals tipped off last night between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, and this year’s best-of-seven series is ripe with sub-plots. Will LeBron finally bring a championship to his hometown of Cleveland and end the city’s 50+ year title drought? Can anyone stop the Splash Brothers? Will Draymond Green kick another dude in the junk? And perhaps most pressing, will Matthew Dellavedova return to his pre-game ritual of drinking coffee an hour and fifteen minutes before the tip? GQ says yes.
Dellavedova is Cleveland’s 25 year-old Australian-born point/shooting guard who gained somewhat of a cult-like status after last year’s Finals, where he came out of nowhere to help the injury-riddled Cavaliers steal Game 3 and take a two-to-one lead on the Warriors. After putting up serious numbers, Dellavedova had to be hospitalized for dehydration, with many believing that his pre-game coffee was to blame; it was like Jordan’s “Flu Game” but with coffee. Before Game 4, Dellavedova announced that he would discontinue this pre-game routine, one he had since his rookie season.
Delly’s “Coffee Game” eventually led to him getting his own blend with Cleveland Coffee Company called the G’Day Mate (because he’s, you know, Australian). A mix of Sumatran and Peruvian coffees, the G’Day Mate is a medium dark roast, and doesn’t really sound all that appealing to me, but to each his own. And what do I know? No one has named a blend after me. I’m probably just jealous.
When asked by GQ’s Alex Wong if he would be reinstating his pregame coffee ritual, Dellavedova confirmed that he’s back on the wagon:
That was just an extreme case of playing a lot of minutes at a very high intensity. It didn’t have anything to do with the coffee.
The reemergence of Dellavedova’s pregame ritual complicates the arbitrary bandwagon-jumping calculus for the otherwise sports-disinterested coffee drinker. Do you support the known coffee drinker? Do you root for the team in the Bay Area where the coffee scene is poppin’ without knowing any of the players’ particular affinities? GQ says LeBron James “refuses to have anything to do with coffee.” How does that measure into your decision? Only you can decide.
Cavs in six. [Editor’s note: this article was written before last night’s game, but the writer heroically stands by his prediction.]
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
*top image via Cleveland.com
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