Georges Niang calls out Darius Garland for lying about him still being in Cavs group chat

Former Cleveland Cavaliers forward Georges Niang (who is now with the Atlanta Hawks) called out Cavs guard Darius Garland for lying about him still being in the team’s group chat.

Niang claimed on social media that he left the chat on his own.

The Cavs traded Niang before the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline in a deal that brought wing De’Andre Hunter to Cleveland.

Hunter gives the Cavs some more size and scoring at the forward spot as the team attempts to make a run at an NBA title this season. During the 2024-25 campaign, Hunter is averaging 18.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from 3.

In two games with the Cavs this season, Hunter is averaging 15.0 points per game.

Niang joined the Cavs ahead of the 2023-24 season and helped them reach the second round of the playoffs. The veteran forward appeared in all 82 of the Cavs’ games last season, making 10 starts. He played 22.3 minutes a night and averaged 9.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

This season, Niang saw his role with the Cavs diminish a bit. While he appeared in 51 games for Cleveland (making one start), his minutes dipped to 20.6 per game and his scoring also took a hit. The former second-round pick averaged 8.7 points per game for Cleveland this season.

Even though he was traded, Niang appears to still have a good relationship with Garland and his other former teammates.

Unfortunately for the former Cav, his new team isn’t in nearly as good of a position to make a deep playoff run this season. Atlanta currently holds the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and is three games under .500.

The Cavs (44-10) are the No. 1 seed in the East and have a 5.5-game cushion on the No. 2-seeded Boston Celtics.

It is possible that Niang could meet his former team in the playoffs this season, as the Hawks would play the No. 1 seed if they remain in the No. 8 spot after the league’s play-in tournament.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Eastern Conference standings shake out for both teams over the final stretch of the regular season.