Jaylon Tyson earns Cavs respect: ‘He’s a little crazy’

It takes an extra level of confidence to call out your teammates. It’s a whole other thing for a sophomore player to question the effort of his veterans, who won 64 games the year before without him. But that’s the kind of competitor that Jaylon Tyson is.

“He’s a little crazy, in a good way,” Kenny Atkinson said about his 23-year-old wing. “He’s got no filter, in a good way. I know his brother plays football, so he’s got that football mentality in him, you know, he’s just brash.”

Tyson isn’t afraid to call it how he sees it. The Cavs hadn’t been playing up to par, particularly with their effort and energy, and so Tyson said as much in his media availability. But even when you’re telling the truth, you risk ruffling some feathers in the process.

Thankfully, Tyson doesn’t have to worry about that in Cleveland.

“We encourage that,” Atkinson said. ‘There’s no like ‘hey, be careful with your comments, we rock with it, and the vets respect it because he plays so darn hard.”

It would be hard not to respect Tyson with the way he played on Monday night. In the aftermath of his comments, Tyson scored 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on the way to a win over the Indiana Pacers. That’s walking it like you talk it.

Tyson’s development has been one of the brightest spots of the Cavs’ season. Being in an environment where criticism and feedback are welcomed could be part of the reason for his success.

“Donovan and Darius are phenomenal with the young guys,” Atkinson said. “I’ve seen other cases where vets can be real hard on young guys… I would say our leadership is so positive, and there’s a teaching part to our vets that really drives development to me.”