The year 2025 has been pretty good to Ty Jerome.

On January 24th, Jerome made history as the first Cleveland Cavalier to hit eight threes in a game without a miss and joined Stephen Curry as the only players to accomplish that feat in the NBA this season and just the 11th player in NBA history to do so.

A couple of weeks later on February 6th, Jerome learned that his best friend and former UVA men’s basketball teammate De’Andre Hunter would be joining his team as the Atlanta Hawks traded Hunter to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Now, Jerome and Hunter are leading the bench mob for a team that has won eight games in a row, owns the best record in the NBA at 48-10, and has a legitimate shot at winning the NBA Championship in June.

Jerome was already in the midst of a breakout season, but he has elevated his play even further since Hunter joined the Cavs. In his last three games, Jerome is averaging 21.7 points per game and shooting 59.0% from the floor and 58.8% from three.

Jerome scored 26 points in Cleveland’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday and then he came back and tallied a team-high 20 points and was +20 in 21 minutes on the floor as the Cavs beat the Orlando Magic on the road on national TV on Tuesday night. The NBA on TNT broadcast interviewed Jerome after the game and asked him about his reaction to hearing the news that Hunter, who was second on the team with 17 points against the Magic, would be joining the team at the trade deadline.

The Cleveland Cavaliers official YouTube channel went ahead and posted a combined highlights video for Jerome and Hunter from the win against the Magic. It’s as if they knew some people (UVA basketball fans) would enjoy that.

The 2024-2025 NBA season has been the best year of professional basketball for both Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter. Jerome is averaging career-highs in points (11.8 ppg), field goal percentage (52.2%), and three-point shooting (44.4%), while Hunter is averaging career-highs in points (18.3 ppg) and three-point shooting (41.2%) as well.

Hunter was already among the leaders in the race for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award as he was lighting it up off the bench for Atlanta, but now the argument could be made that the Cavs have two players on their bench who could be top candidates for the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award.

Maybe they can share it.

Jerome’s breakout season goes beyond the numbers. Just the fact that he has played this many games and remained healthy this season is unprecedented in his NBA career. Jerome had each of his first five seasons in the NBA derailed due to injuries, playing 31 games as a rookie in Phoenix, then 33 games the next season, then 48, 45, and then just two games in his first season with the Cavs last year.

“I’ve dealt with a lot of injuries, This is the most games I’ve played in my career in a season already,” said Jerome after Sunday’s win over the Grizzlies. “So, just taking care of the body is the biggest thing. And then from there, I feel like I’ve always had this from a skill perspective, it’s just getting a little stronger, taking care of my body, and sometimes opportunity meets timing, and it just clicks.”