Basketball: Cleveland Cavaliers fans hungry for title chew on Delly Dogs as Game 5 tips off

The hot new hometown delicacy in Akron is the Delly Dog. -- PHOTO: Akron RubberDucks
The hot new hometown delicacy in Akron is the Delly Dog. -- PHOTO: Akron RubberDucks

As Cleveland-area fans hungry for an NBA Championship when their Cavaliers return to the court against the Golden State Warriors today, they have the Delly Dog to chew on - and more.

Named for the Australian point guard who has shot to international fame with his gritty play during the NBA Finals, Matthew Dellavedova, the hotdog is now on the menu in King LeBron James hometown at minor league baseball games of the Akron RubberDucks.

The jumbo-sized all-beef frankfurter is slathered with ham, salami, provolone, and the favourite local spicy stadium mustard. It goes for US$6 (S$8).

The Director of Food and Beverage Brian Manning at Canal Park, where the Ducks play, told a local TV station: "We wanted to include an assortment of 'deli' meat as a fun note, but also show how we are 'ALL IN' by using Northeast Ohio's legendary Stadium Mustard on top to bring it all together."

#ALLinCLE has been the theme of the championship run by the hometown NBA team this year.

An Akron restaurant, the Diamond Deli on Main Street, has also added an item named for Dellavedova, who has been credited with keeping Oakland Warriors Most Valuable Player Stephen Curry in check during the hard-fought series.

Called the Diamond Dellavedova, the sundried tomato wrap is stuffed with filled with roast beef, turkey, scallion cream cheese, colby cheese, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and honey mustard in a sundried tomato. It goes for US$7.50 (S$10).

Meanwhile, the Australian's legend now loooms so large in the United States, growing with each game - he played so hard in Game 3 that he was taken by ambulance to the Cleveland Clinic with severe cramps where he was pumped with intravenous fluid and still returned two nights later for Game 4 - that his Number 8 basketball jersey is now the nation's top-seller.

Sports retailer Fanatics said Dellavedova's jersey has overtaken the sale of the former top-seller - that of his superstar teammate James, as well as former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan.

Fanatics president of merchandising Jack Boyle told ESPN: "We don't see players rise to top from out of nowhere like this often."

Dellavedova has come out of obscurity, putting up a career-high 20 points in a Game 2 victory over the Warriors.

The series is now tied at 2 games each, with Game 5 of the best of seven series tipping off in Oakland at 8 am this morning in Oakland, California.

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