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Point guard to pizzaiolo? Darius Garland tosses pies, meets fans at Cent's Pizza in Cleveland

Darius Garland charity event
Darius Garland Cent's Pizza
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CLEVELAND — Inside Cent's Pizza on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, a new guy was in the kitchen tossing the wood-fired pies on Monday evening. Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland traded in his jersey for an apron, as he made pizzas he met with fans and helped raise money for his Darius Garland Foundation.

Cent's Pizza, a Cleveland hot spot, created the Garland special, a pizza called the "Ten Fold."

"I got a pizza called Ten Fold. Pepperoni, sausage and peppers," Garland said. "It's super cool. I grew up on pizza, I still love pizza to this day, so having a pizza that I can create and that's at a pretty well-known spot is super cool."

It wasn't easy work for Garland at first, but the staff at Cent's helped Garland get a knack for pizza making.

"I was flipping the pizza dough a little bit. They said that's like dribbling, so I'll just kind of replicate that. One guy was telling me when I was putting the mozzarella on the pizza, he was like 'Spread the floor,'" Garland said. "Just getting the dough at the right consistency, of course, the shape, I think that's really important. The sauce has to be well, the mozzarella has to be well, the toppings have to be perfectly spread around so it's pretty tough, but I take my hat off to them for sure."

Garland got to make his Ten Fold pizza for a restaurant full of Cavs fans, taking pictures with them, signing autographs and spending time in the city he calls home.

"Seeing him out in the community interacting with the general public was so cool. It's not just a normal take pictures, autograph session," said Cavs fan Laurel Slawinski, who went to the event at Cent's with her dad. "I felt like he was really in his natural element, it's just been so cool."

Proceeds from the event Monday night went to the Darius Garland Foundation, which aims to give back to the youth and positively impact the next generation.

"Just to keep continuing to put a smile on people's faces. In the holidays, try to brighten up that holiday a little bit and then every day, like I said, just putting a smile on people's faces. I like smiling, my family is all about love and smiling, so that's what I try to bring back to Cleveland."

Garland was paid a visit during his shift at Cent's by some of the Cavs' front office, including president of basketball operations Koby Altman and Chief Executive Officer of Rock Entertainment Group Nic Bartlage.

While Garland had plenty of support in his fundraising efforts and the fans enjoyed watching him in the kitchen, the consensus is that he should stick to cooking on the court, something fans are excited to see this season once he's able to get on the floor from his toe injury.

"He has a pizza here, and we did order that tonight and it's very good, but I want to say, Darius, stick to basketball because we love you on the court. We're going to have a championship run this year and it's going to be awesome and let's go Cavs," said fan David Slawinski

To learn more about the Darius Garland Foundation, click here.

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