Cleveland Cavaliers star guard Darius Garland recently hosted his inaugural celebrity softball game, and he touched on his offseason toe surgery at the event.
Garland was unable to play in the softball game due to his injury, but he did share a positive update about his recovery ahead of the 2025-26 season.
“I feel great,” Garland said. “The recovery process is going well. But I’m here for my foundation. I’m here to spread some positivity around the city of Cleveland and trying to have a good time. I always loved baseball, so I tried to make it a little bit competitive and kind of friendly as well.
“It’s my first one, so I’m kind of nervous, but I hope it’s going to be really cool and everybody really enjoys themselves.”
There’s a chance that Garland could miss regular-season games in the 2025-26 season due to his injury, but it appears that he’s on his way to a full recovery.
“I wasn’t myself,” Garland told Cleveland.com about the decision to have surgery. “It was difficult. I was hoping to avoid it for the long run, but it got to the point where I had to get surgery. That’s just what it was. An easy decision that was going to get me back healthy.”
During the playoffs in the 2024-25 season, Garland sat out against both the Miami Heat (in the first round) and the Indiana Pacers (in the second round) due to his toe injury. While he did eventually return in the Pacers series, it wasn’t enough to help the Cavs advance.
“It’s basically like a brand new toe really,” Garland said. “I got my 10th toe back. I had no big toe at the end of last season. I had like nine toes. I felt like I was playing with nine toes. That’s how I would describe it.
“Any type of movement was tough. Putting on a shoe was tough. Walking. Running. It was difficult. I said it last year to you guys: Nobody really understands what any athlete goes through. At least, injury-wise.”
Cleveland lost to Indiana in just five games, losing three times at home in the process. The 2025 NBA Playoffs marked the second straight time that the Cavs were eliminated in five games in the second round.
Even though Garland’s toe injury took him out of some playoff games, he still had a very successful 2024-25 season.
The Cavs guard earned the second All-Star nod of his NBA career, and he finished the season averaging 20.6 points, 6.7 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 40.1 percent from beyond the arc.
It appears that the Cavs are going to head into the 2025-26 season with their core group of Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen all on the roster.
However, it’s possible a new face could join the starting lineup if Garland misses time to start the season. Cleveland traded for guard Lonzo Ball in the offseason to give it more depth behind Garland and Mitchell in the backcourt.
Hopefully for the Cavs, Garland continues to progress in his recovery and is ready to go early in the 2025-26 season.
