Cleveland Cavaliers: 1-On-1 Interview with Lamar Stevens' Trainer Henry Woo Jr

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the grittiest team in the NBA, and nobody embodies that junkyard dog mentality like Lamar Stevens. In his third year out of Penn State, Stevens has embraced his role as the energy guy in the Cleveland lineup. 

Stevens is an absolute gamer. He works hard and has come back to the Cavs better after every offseason. Now in his new role as a starter, I wanted to find out more about the little things he’s done to take the next step and become a valuable starter in the NBA. 

I interviewed Henry Woo Jr, who has worked with Stevens in the offseason to help him hone in on a few aspects of his game to help him take that next leap. Here’s an inside look at Cavs starter Lamar Stevens.

Fine-Tuning The Jump Shot

When asked about what was done to improve Stevens' three-point game and overalll jumper, one thing stood out from Woo Jr; Stevens' spends the bulk of his time in the gym, always preparing for when his time might come. 

 “Just lots of reps and time in the gym. Lamar’s focus level on improving his shooting was the number one area we locked in on both this offseason and also throughout October and November when he wasn't playing. Lamar is the definition of a gym rat. He loves being in there!”

Defensive Abilities

Being a gym rat doesn't mean just hitting the gym and putting up 500 shots per day, it means working on your game a whole.

 I asked Woo Jr what the biggest key is to Stevens being able to be so versatile on defense, and how he can guard guys faster than him but still be able to make solid rotations when needed. 

“I think that's just a natural ability Lamar has. His 6’7” frame allows him to guard multiple positions where he can use his length and size. Then you couple that with his ability to move his feet so well and you have a high-level wing defender. I think an underrated aspect is that he studies his opponents. He watches the film and really keys into the scouting reports JB and the coaching staff put together.”

Off-The-Dribble Slashing

One thing that I've noticed in Stevens' game that really boosts the Cavs production on offense as a unit is his slashing ablility, particularly off-the-dribble. I asked about just that, and what he does in the gym to work on it. 

“Lamar has always been a high-level finisher. I think we really locked in on his touch at 5 to 15 feet from the rim when he can’t get all the way in for a layup or dunk. Just working really hard on his floaters and mid-range game to give him another avenue to score if for whatever reason he can’t get all the way to the basket.”

To close out, when asked about the most under-appreciated thing by Cavs fans in Stevens' game, Woo Jr believes that Stevens is just a flat-out winner. 

"Maybe not under-appreciated but Lamar is a winner! He makes tons of plays every game that sometimes won’t show up in the box score but translates to winning.

Deflections, box outs, cuts that lead to someone else being open, running the floor extremely hard on both ends, or just bringing the energy needed when the team is lacking it. He does the little things a normal fan may not see or understand.

I think Donovan Mitchell said it best yesterday, he holds guys accountable, he's a great teammate, and he brings a consistent energy for people to feed off. Finding winning basketball players in a league where 29 teams finish as losers is hard to find.

It’s easy to find guys who score a ton of points or know how to pad a box score. It's a lot harder to find guys who are bought into winning and are all about the team's success!”

There's no denying that Lamar Stevens is a flat-out winner and a gamer, and Cleveland may have found a diamond in the rough from the kid out of Penn State.