Column: Dellavedova dirty? It's not that simple

CLEVELAND – There are 200 — could be 300, 400, even more — basketball players with more talent than Cleveland Cavaliers guard Matthew Dellavedova who are not in the NBA.

But as LeBron James said in the post-midnight hour on Sunday of Dellavedova: "He works his tail off every single day. He beats the odds, and he comes to play as hard as he can every single night."

Dellavedova got to the NBA, from Australia and four seasons at St. Mary's in California, with a style of play predicated on hard work, hustle and knowledge, compensating for lack of talent to earn an NBA paycheck and meaningful minutes in the playoffs. If you say he had to fight, scratch and claw his way to the NBA, it might be more than figurative speech.

Dellavedova has become the playoffs' most polarizing player, a wanted man in Chicago and now Atlanta after what happened late in the second quarter of Cleveland's 114-111 overtime victory against the Hawks in Game 3 on Sunday, giving the Cavs a 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.

Dellavedova was involved in the incident in which he blocked out Al Horford after Horford missed a shot. The two players tangled and Dellavedova fell into Horford. As Horford fell on top of Dellavedova, Horford threw a forearm and elbow at Dellavedova. Referees called a flagrant foul two on the normally cool Horford, resulting in an automatic ejection.

It was not the first time Dellavedova has been involved in a pivotal play during the postseason. He and Chicago's Taj Gibson were involved in an altercation during the conference semifinals, resulting in Gibson's ejection, and Dellavedova fell on Hawks guard Kyle Korver's leg while trying to secure a loose ball. Korver sustained a severe high right sprained ankle and is done for the season.

Not everything is black and white. It's not all "Dellavedova is dirty." It's not all "Dellavedova just plays hard."

Hawks fans feel one way. "Get the menace off the floor!"

Cavs fans feel another way. "Great play Delly!"

But life is not always black and white. It's shades of gray. Life, even in sports, is nuanced. But nuance is drowned out by the shouting, the hot take, come hard or don't come at all, the First Take-ification of sports where one side is right, one side is wrong.

The truth about Dellavedova rests in the shadows, in the gray, where the picture isn't always clear. There are plausible circumstances and explanations for each incident:

•On the Korver play, Dellavedova legitimately dove for the ball and got to it before Korver and offered this explanation for turning his back to Korver. "If I stay on my belly, it's going to be a jump ball. So I protect the ball and kick it out to a teammate."

•On the Gibson incident, Gibson set two hard screens, including one where he led with his shoulder into Dellavedova's face before shoving him under the basket. How much more was Gibson going to get away with? How much more was Dellavedova going to take? So Dellavedova responded with the leg lock after a made basket, and Gibson lost his cool. Sneaky? Clever? Dirty?

• Horford-Dellavedova is more nebulous and more open interpretation, with Horford believing Dellavedova was rolling into legs, possibly his knees, and Dellavedova explaining that Horford had him by the arm and dragged him down.

Understandably, players are sensitive about knees, legs and feet. They want to protective their lucrative, short-term livelihood. There are respectable basketball minds on both sides of the issues, and some did not like the look of Dellavedova falling into Horford's legs.

No doubt, Dellavedova is irritating to play against, and the NBA has a history of players who like to instigate and fluster opponents.

It's probably even more frustrating that Dellavedova has turned into a valuable contributor and improved as a player from last season to this season. He led the Cavs in scoring in Game 6 against the Bulls and had 17 points against the Hawks in Game 3. He is shooting 35.4 percent on 3-pointers, has four double-digit scoring playoff games and is a stickler on defense.

It's one thing when LeBron James beats you. It has to be hard to take when Dellavedova is doing it, too.

Dellavedova made it to the NBA with his energetic reckless abandon, and maybe that's the crux of the issue. Players appreciate guys who play hard. Maybe they'd just like less recklessness. Horford acknowledged that Dellavedova plays hard.

"He's only been in this league for a couple of years or whatever. But he's got to learn at the end of the day it's a big brotherhood here," Horford explained. "Guys look out for each other. I don't think it was malicious, but he has to learn."

It was a reasoned response from a player who was kicked out of an important conference finals game. In totality, he saw all the varying shades of gray.