Australian professional basketball player Matthew Dellavedova started playing in the NBA in 2013, joining the Cavs as an undrafted player. Dubbed a dirty player, Dellavedova for a handful of times caused a stir online for his style of play. He was part of the Cav team that won the 2016 NBA championship. He was traded to Milwaukee Bucks in 2016 in a sign-and-swap deal that secured him $38 million over 4 years.
Matthew Dellavedova Bio
Dellavedova was born on September 8, 1990 in Maryborough, where he was also raised. The son of athletes (his dad Mark played Aussie Rules while his mum Leanne played netball) Matthew Dellavedova was born with athletic genes which started showing at the age of 4 when he started to play basketball. Matt has two siblings, the two sisters named Yana and Ingrid. He is the oldest of his siblings.
For high school, Matt attended Maryborough Regional College, where he explored his athletic skills by playing basketball, soccer, Aussie rules and tennis. Of all these sports, Matthew was exceptional at Australian rules football and basketball, but then chose to focus on basketball.
From 2007 to 2010, Matt attended the Australian Institute of Sport tournament in Canberra, the Australian capital. While there, he played in the South East Australia Basketball League. His talents at SEABL were immediately noticed by American scouts and the Saint Mary’s College Gaels of California came knocking on his door in 2009.
Matthew signed with them and packed his bags overseas. He went on to have an impressive freshman season in the NCAA and got better with each passing year. Upon graduating in 2013, Matt wrote his name on the Gaels history book. He was the all-time leader in scoring, assists, games played, free throw percentage and three-point shooting. Thanks to his incredible college stats, his No. 4 was retired by the school. He is a graduate in psychology.
Matthew was not drafted into the 2013 draft, as a result he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2013 NBA Summer League, which would lead to a 2-year, $1.3 million contract with $100,000 guaranteed. When the contract expired, Matthew signed with the team for another season which would be the 2015/2016 season where Matt was part of the NBA championship winning team. The Milwaukee Bucks showed interest in him at the end of that season and in July 2016 he joined the team.
Domestically, Matthew plays for Australia. With the national team, he won 3 gold medals in the FIBA Oceania Championship and a silver in 2009.
His contract and salary
For a player who entered the NBA undrafted, Matthew did very well for himself, working hard in Cavs training camp to earn a spot on the team. His position as a secondary playmaker blossomed very well after LeBron James reportedly joined the team in the 2014/2015 season.
After his initial 2-year contract with the Cavs was about to expire, Matthew wanted a multi-year deal with the Cavs, but was signed for a one-year extension only, giving him the chance to become a restricted free agent. , after which the Bucks came knocking.
The Bucks’ deal with the Cavs to acquire Matt was a sign-and-trade deal that saw the Cavs receive $4.8 million and their rights to Spanish center Albert Miralles. On the other hand, the Bucks, in addition to acquiring Matthew Dellavedova, also received cash consideration.
The deal was a four-year deal worth $38 million. In 2019, his penultimate year on the market, Matthew earned a salary of $9.6 million.
Dellavedova Body Stats O Other Facts
height : 6 feet 4 inches
Weight : 198 lbs (90 kg)
Matthew’s two sisters also play basketball. Yana played for Long Beach State during the 2012/2013 college basketball season.
He has a cousin named Matthew Dellavedova who plays tennis in Australia.
Matthew is a 6th generation Italian-Australian.
The leader is very popular on social networks. He claims 185K on Twitter and 450K on Instagram.
Matthew is married to one Anna Schroeder, his sweetheart from college whom he met while studying at Saint Mary’s.
Anna was on the women’s varsity volleyball team and was also an honor roll student. Their relationship which began in their senior year led to marriage on July 1, 2017.