CLEVELAND — Last season was a rollercoaster for Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland. While he tried to ride the highs, the lows took a toll on him, both physically and mentally.
Garland sustained a fractured jaw last year, which required his jaw to be wired shut and sidelined him for well over a month. Being away from game action was tough, but it was the challenges in his everyday life that were the biggest struggles.
"I was mentally frustrated because I've just been through so much in the league already," Garland said. "Not being able to eat, not being able to talk, not being able to brush my teeth. Just having regular normal life ended for like a month-and-a-half for me."
Unable to open his mouth more than just a sliver, Garland struggled even just to smile, something he said he loves to do.
Perhaps most daunting of all, Garland had to get his food through a straw, which meant the food needed to be liquid. His mother, Felicia, helped as she could, blending up food, and serving up soups and chili for her son. But soups and chili aren't always available, so Garland began trying different foods blended up. One of those meals pushed the boundaries on what should be consumed by a person.
"The most crazy one was chicken nuggets in Paris," Garland said, looking like he was about to admit to some deep secret. "Yeah, I was hungry and I just ordered some McDonalds. Just blended some chicken nuggets up. That was interesting. It wasn't my best meal but it was cool though."
If you were wondering if any of those habits carried over after his jaw healed, the answer is a hard no.
"Not blending nothing. I'm barely drinking smoothies now," Garland laughed. "I don't even want to see a straw. I'm cool off of it."
But when Garland was forced to blend his food, keeping on weight became impossible. In the weeks he was recovering from a broken jaw, Garland lost 15 pounds. Once he was cleared to return from the jaw injury and the wire was removed, the impact that remained was felt on the court.
"Me just being so eager to get back on the court, I came right back after the injury. As soon as I got my wires off I came back to playing and I was playing at 170 (pounds)," Garland said. "I haven't been 170 since I was in high school, so it was totally different just being out there and especially in the playoff atmosphere. That physicality and just the mental fatigue of the playoffs. It really got to me."
Garland didn't feel like himself on the court upon his return. His new size made defending players difficult, and finding a lane in the paint felt nearly impossible.
Before the injury, Garland was averaging 20.7 points per game while shooting 47% from the field. From his return to the end of the regular season, Garland's average dropped to 18 points per game while shooting 44.6% from the field. In the playoffs, it dropped even more. Garland averaged 15.7 points per game and shot 42.7% from the field.
On top of all the struggles he was facing physically, Garland was dealing with grief after losing his grandmother.
"Yeah, it impacted me a lot. That was my last grandmother, my last grandparent period. So I just wanted to cherish her and just be around her all the time," Garland said.
Garland's mother and father, Felica and Winston, attend as many of their son's games as they can. They're frequently in the stands supporting Garland. But amid the loss of his grandmother, they had to miss games, an uncharacteristic situation that Garland had to navigate, on top of his own back and forth trying to get that cherished time with his grandmother before she passed.
"I was going from game to flying to Indiana and coming back for practice—come back for a game then flying right back. It was just a mental and physical toll," he said.
Last season, there was a lot for Garland to navigate. The challenges certainly took their toll, and as his production took a dip upon his return last season, external doubt arose.
With each game that Garland's struggles showed, criticism against him grew. From social media to national sports talk, Garland couldn't escape the noise—but that doesn't mean he put any weight into their opinions of him.
"That comes with it though," Garland said when asked about the outside noise. "Twitter haters, Instagram haters are going to be there. If you have one bad game or don't hit on their parlay, they're going to call you 'such and such,' and say they wasted so many dollars on you, but it's whatever, that's what comes with our job. I just look through the B.S."
This offseason, Garland had to hear all the reasons the Cavs were no longer interested in him. Trade rumors circulated, and external doubt about his fit within the future of the franchise grew. But internally, Garland had the support of the Cavs front office—and his teammates.
Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell took time during his post-game press conference to praise Garland.
"You go through stuff and obviously he had his ups and downs but the year before that, he was hooping, you know what I'm saying? We just saw how soon we forget—and that's what pisses me off and that's why I'm so happy for him to continue. He won player of the week and I asked him, I was like, 'You didn't win one last year?' He was like, 'No, I'm like 'That's one of many,'" Mitchell said. "Because this is who he is. I feel like people just automatically forgot. We live in such a recency-biased world and I hate it because this is who Darius Garland is. This is why he was an All-Star. This is why he got paid what he got paid. This is who he is. So for him, it's great to see him continue to be this guy that he's been even before I got here."
Garland held a cell phone, playing Mitchell's comments, listening to his teammate have his back. He also learned what teammates Sam Merrill and Jarrett Allen had to say about him, which mirrored what Mitchell had to say. As he handed the phone back, Garland held a smile on his face, simply responding, "That's cute."
While the team is tight-knit, they're like brothers at the core. They have a love for each other but don't show that "sweet and sugar pie honey" side, as Garland described it. They like to joke around instead. But hearing the words from his teammates was meaningful to Garland.
"It means a lot, especially from my teammates for sure. It lights up my day, it brings our bond a little bit closer too, so it's super cool to hear that," Garland said.
Garland has said all season that he's playing with joy this year—able to smile as he plays, both because he doesn't have his jaw wired shut and because he's in a better state of mind.
He's put the weight back on and stays active in the weight room to keep it there. Physically, he feels great. Mentally, he's strong.
"The weight, the confidence, the mental is very good and healthy right now," Garland said.
Even an off night against the Boston Celtic on the road, where Garland shot just 3-for-21, wasn't enough to shake that mental fortitude he's built from last year. He said the shots just weren't falling, and even though he didn't play the next game with a groin injury, he was preparing to bounce back the next day.
Garland won't be shaken this year. He aims to bring leadership and production to his team throughout the season. With the Cavs 17-2 and Garland averaging 20.2 points and 6.9 assists while shooting 48.9% from the field, it's already showing on the court.
And as he continues to prove the doubters wrong, he has a goal for this season—one he doesn't want to talk too much about but instead wants to show the world why he should achieve it.
"Yeah, for sure. I don't even want to talk about it, but for sure. Yeah, I want to be an All-Star again," Garland said when asked if he should be an All-Star once again this season. "I'm going to let the work just do the talking, but I'm definitely looking forward to February for sure."
You can watch the whole interview in the player above.
