Donovan Mitchell is seen as the best player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, which means he receives a ton of glory – and a ton of criticism, too.
But his teammate Max Strus believes Mitchell shouldn’t hear so much pushback from critics who say he didn’t do enough to guide his team this year.
“There’s no reason he should be (assuming all blame),” Strus said of Mitchell, via Cleveland.com. “That guy literally put us on his back too many nights, and we all understood that. We needed to be better as a team. All year it was about depth, it was all about strength in numbers and everything like that, and there’s no reason you can say when things are going good that it’s all because (of) strength in numbers, and then when things go bad, it’s because of one person.”
Strus is right when he said that Mitchell put the Cavaliers on his back multiple times this year.
That was especially true during the playoffs, when he had several high-scoring games, while other players weren’t able to contribute as much.
His numbers prove he was the leading force in many ways for Cleveland, which means he was a big part of all their success, and of course, their failures, too.
Mitchell has taken on the role as his team’s leader, and he said he personally takes responsibility for Cleveland’s early departure from the playoffs.
He said the people around him feel he puts too much blame on himself, but he isn’t going to stop anytime soon.
Strus believes the wins and losses are because of the whole team, but Mitchell is shouldering much of it by choice.
That’s the sign of a true leader, but should he change his perspective a little?
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