Are we witnessing Matthew Dellavedova's revenge tour?

This NBL season, Dellavedova returns to Melbourne United with a point to prove.

Matthew Dellavedova is one of Australia’s most decorated Boomers, with three Olympic tournaments and two FIBA World Cup appearances on his resume. When the 33 year old was allegedly left out of Australia’s initial roster, ahead of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, there was bound to be some friction. According to Boomers stalwart Andrew Bogut, a former teammate of Dellavedova, head coach Brian Goorjian was challenged to try and cut the veteran point guard only after training camp.

“I heard that Delly was actually told not to come to Cairns camp,” Bogut said, on his podcast, Rogue Bogues. “I heard that Delly was basically not in the initial [17-man] squad a la Aron Baynes who got told, ‘we’re not bringing you to the Cairns camp’.

“The conversation, with whoever called him to make that call, I think it was [Brian] Goorjian and [Basketball Australia] staff, and Delly was like ‘nah f—k that, I’m coming to the camp’.