Cleveland Cavaliers: It’s hard not to like Larry Nance Jr.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have started the season 0-5, which is worse than everybody would’ve thought, but Larry Nance Jr. is somebody that can relate to what the fans are going through, and it’s one of the main reasons I’ll always appreciate the dude.

The Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Detroit Pistons last night by a score of 110-103,  but they made some strides. I know, I know, I know, nobody wants to hear that type of thing right now. A good amount of you reading this are probably Cleveland Browns fans, and probably don’t want to hear that “progress” jargon, and that’s fine. The Cavs have been better the last two games, though, and Larry Nance Jr. is a reason for that.

As KJG’s Jackson Flickinger noted in his recent article, Cleveland got pounded by Detroit’s lethal 4-5 combination of Blake Griffin–Andre Drummond to the tune of 52 points and 32 rebounds. Watching Griffin, Drummond, and Reggie Jackson dismantle the Cavs inside and out was rough, especially on the glass without Kevin Love, who was out due to reported foot soreness.

After the game, though, Nance provided some words of encouragement for the ole Cleveland faithful (h/t Virgil Villanueva of Cavs Nation).

It’s understandable for some fans roll their eyes at this kind of thing, considering they might construe it as the classic “Coach Speak” if you will, but it’s really just Nance to the T. His dad Larry Nance was a legend with the team, and has his name in the rafters at the Q.

In addition, the younger Nance chose to stay with the Cavaliers long-term (he signed a four-year, $44.8 million contract extension, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor).

Nance missed the first two games of the season, and although he’s not going to stuff the stat sheet with scoring, his defensive awareness, effort on both ends, passing ability, basketball IQ and love for Cleveland make the above Tweet much more meaningful. Putting it bluntly, Nance cares a whole lot, and that type of drive is what it’s going to take for this team to figure this out.

In an interview with Fox Sports Ohio post-game, Nance’s leadership ability was palpable.

If you’re asking Nance to be doing step-back three’s off the bounce and be a 25 point per game scorer, that’s unrealistic. However, he’s going to play really hard every night, and he’s one of the few players who could develop into being a plus defender for the Cavs, alongside Cedi Osman, David Nwaba and potentially Collin Sexton and Rodney Hood in some matchups. He had three steals on the night and had a +5 plus-minus in 28 minutes.

That kind of positive attitude is something that is contagious in a locker room, and it seems as though Nance projects as a guy that will be (and probably already is) a key leader for this team. Echoing your love for the team and the fan base isn’t going to make any headlines, but it’s at least better than burying your head in disgust.

That’s not something you’ll ever see from Nance, and with the way the guy plays, it’s pretty difficult to not like him, and being around Kevin Love, I would expect him to gradually add some more elements to his offensive game.