SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Led by New Balance athlete Darius Garland, the Cleveland Cavaliers were well-represented at the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. Garland, alongside Cavs teammates Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, were all named NBA All-Stars and were the only team in the league to feature three players in Sunday’s exhibition.
For Garland, however, it was a sign of redemption after a rough season with the Cavs in 2023-24.
“Last year, a lot of people doubted me and the team,” Darius Garland told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview at a New Balance event at NBA All-Star Weekend. “So now, we’re putting the whole world on notice, and it means a lot to all of us.”
Through the NBA All-Star break, Garland and the Cavs put together a 44-10 record, best in the Eastern Conference by a five game margin and tied with the Oklahoma City Thunder for best in the entire NBA.
The Cavs guard has been a strong part of that success, averaging 21.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.1 steals per game on a career-high 49.8 percent shooting from the field as well as a career-high 43.1 percent from three.
Garland, who joined New Balance in the winter of 2023, wore his own PE’s of the New Balance Hesi Low V2 at the 2025 NBA All-Star Game. The Cavs’ guard spoke with ClutchPoints exclusively this weekend to discuss everything from his decision to join New Balance to his relationship with Donovan Mitchell as he and the Cavs continue to shock the world.
Darius Garland on New Balance, relationship with Donovan Mitchell, and Cavs strong start
Tomer Azarly: First of all, congratulations on being named an NBA All-Star again. This is your second time being named an NBA All-Star. It’s been a big year for you and the Cavaliers. What it’s like to be named an All-Star and to be here this weekend?
Darius Garland: It means a lot man. It’s a blessing to be here. Just enjoying all the festivities. I’m in the Three-Point Contest, so I’m pretty excited about that. Yeah, just to join the festivities, being around my family, being around some friends, and just enjoying it.
TA: Let’s start with with New Balance here. You’ve been with New Balance for a little over a year now. Why did you feel like New Balance was the right fit for you at that point in your career?
Darius Garland: Yeah, it was family oriented and I’m really all about family. It’s a super close-knit of guys that’s with the with the group. It’s only five or six basketball guys right now, so super close. I mean, it was just perfect for me. I mean just the company itself. They’re just super welcoming. They welcomed me with open arms and they was willing to do a lot of things that I wanted to do, especially in the community. So I’m super excited about that.
TA: You just mentioned community and family? What’s it been like working with this team from that aspect?
Darius Garland: It’s super fun. They’re super proactive. They’re always willing to listen and learn and they give me a lot of feedback as well. So it’s super cool. Especially on the creative side. They always give us and me some good ideas on PE’s and things like that. So super exciting.
TA: How into that are you, like different colorways or designs? Is that like a big thing for you?
Darius Garland: Yeah, the super different colorways and crazy colors. That’s definitely me. But yeah, I mean they put their little spices into it. So I really like that for sure.
TA: New Balance has grown pretty dramatically in popularity. I think they were known for mostly running shoes, maybe lifestyle, but they’ve taken the game over a bit in basketball, like it’s been a big thing for them. Does it kind of feel like you know the way you’ve carved out a career for yourself and the way New Balance kind of Rising that you guys were kind of a perfect fit for each other at the time.
Darius Garland: Yeah, for sure. It was like a glow up at the right time, it feels like. As the basketball side is growing, I’m growing as a player. And then even other guys, like Tyrese Maxey is growing. Kawhi [Leonard] has always been an All-Star and be a perimeter All-Star. Zach [LaVine] is gonna be a perennial All-Star. So it’s cool just have those guys just like around me and then just feeling now, just New Balance itself. So it’s super cool that we’re all just rising at the same time. It’s super cool.
TA: Is there a signature shoe in the future? Have you eyed that or have you thought about designs and different things like that?
Darius Garland: Haven’t talked about it as much, but I would love to have a signature with the brand. It’s a cool partner to work with, so I’m willing to, for sure.
TA: Is that kind of like a goal you want to set for yourself? Is that something you want like in your career?
Darius Garland: Yeah, I mean, that’s every player’s goal. Just have like their signature shoe their own shoe that they can just wear. It’s definitely a goal of mine. I would definitely love to have one with New Balance and hopefully it’s in the works someday.
TA: Statistically speaking, you’ve had an incredible year with the Cavs. Back to your All-Star numbers from a couple years ago, but your efficiency is just through the roof. How have you been able to make that happen this year?
Darius Garland: Man, I give all the praise to my teammates and the coaches man. They put me in some really good positions for me to be successful. My teammates they just have so much confidence in me and they would just want me to go out there and be the best player that I can be. And yeah, just the players and the coaching staff are giving me that confidence to just go out there and just be me. It opens up a lot for me and that’s why I can just be aggressive and go play my game.
TA: At a 44-10 record, you guys are you know, five games above the next team in the East like what’s changed this year for the Cavs?
Darius Garland: Ah man… Our camaraderie is pretty good right now. This group has been together for two to three years now. So our guys are just pretty normal around each other. They have like a really good feel for each other on and off the floor. And so the camaraderie is overwhelming, it’s just putting us over the top.
TA: There were a lot of claims thrown around about you and Donovan Mitchell, maybe not being able to work together on the Cavs and splitting you up. You guys have not been able not only been able to make it work, but you guys are thriving off each other. How have you guys been able to do that together?
Darius Garland: Conversations, bro. It’s some grown man conversations that’s been taken on. And just watching a lot of film together. Trying to figure out where we can help each other out on the court, trying to find different spots where we can both be aggressive in. I mean, it’s just taken a turn from the last couple years where people saying that we couldn’t play together. And now everybody is saying that we’re the best back court in the league.
TA: When you say grown man conversations. What is that, like hard conversations about different things you see on the court and stuff like that?
Darius Garland: Yeah, just some different things that we could talk about, our differences, our similarities, stuff where we can be better on the basketball floor together.
TA: I don’t think many people saw this kind of start for you and your team this year. I don’t think anyone did, probably outside of your locker room. I remember talking to Donovan last year before he signed the extension. He was very confident about this Cavs team, knew you guys could be something special. Against the Celtics, you showed what you could be. What was that kind of mindset coming into the year? I mean, obviously, I don’t know if you saw 44-10, but like, what was the kind of mindset coming into this year?
Darius Garland: It was really for us just to get better. I know we didn’t finish as good as we wanted to last year. So we definitely just wanted to be a little bit better than we were. Our main thing is just to keep increasing and just growth in every year. So that’s what we tend to do every year. I mean, that’s what we’re doing now. A lot of people don’t think that we were that good this year or even last year. So now just putting the world on notice and show that we can really be one of those top contending teams, it means a lot to all of us.
TA: Obviously championship is the goal, but does it kind of feel good to prove some of those doubters wrong that you guys keep not only winning, but winning decisively in these games?
Darius Garland: Yeah, for sure. As a team and me personally. Last year, a lot of people doubted me and the team. So now, putting the whole world on notice, it means a lot to all of us.
TA: I wanted to ask you kind of a big picture question here. Once your NBA career is done, what do you want your legacy to be? What do you want to be known for, if anything.
Darius Garland: I want to be one of the best point guards to ever play this game. And then just like a hard worker, a guy that’s pretty likable, someone you can relate to. And then just a good guy, on and off the floor, a good teammate, a good locker room type of guy, a good basketball player, of course. But yeah, that was just some of the main things.
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The Cleveland Cavs will resume their regular season on Thursday night when they visit the Brooklyn Nets.
The post Exclusive: NBA All-Star Darius Garland on relationship with Donovan Mitchell, Cavs strong start, and New Balance appeared first on ClutchPoints.
