Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen all have legitimate arguments to represent the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
Mitchell and Garland have been torching opponents with their offensive play, as they’re both averaging 21-plus points and four-plus assists per game this season on strong efficiency.
Allen and Mobley, on the other hand, have given the Cavaliers very productive two-way play. The former is averaging a double-double in 37 games played to this point, while the latter is scoring a career-best 19.0 points per game in his fourth NBA season. They’ve been efficient as well, and they both remain fantastic defenders.
Max Strus opened up recently and explained that on top of what the Cavaliers’ four stars bring to the table on the court, they’re also the “best people” in the locker room. Strus said that’s an indicator of a “really good” team.
“We have four All-Stars talent wise, but they’re all also All-Star human beings,” Strus said, via Serena Winters on X. “I think that’s the biggest thing throughout an organization. If your stars are the best people in your locker room that don’t come to work with an ego, that’s when your team’s going to be really good, and we have that, and we have four really good basketball talented players, but they’re great people too. And it just allows everybody to be comfortable in themselves and to be comfortable on the court. And when they have that trust in each other, it builds a huge sense of community for everybody involved.”
Strus made his season debut for the Cavaliers not all that long ago. After he sat out Cleveland’s first 27 games of the campaign thanks to a sprained ankle, he suited up against the Milwaukee Bucks back on Dec. 20.
He started all 70 games that he appeared in with Cleveland just one season ago but has yet to start a game under head coach Kenny Atkinson through his nine contests played this season.
It seems as if the egoless manner with which the Cavaliers operate has paid dividends for the team in the win column. Cleveland has played 37 games to this point and has won all but four of those contests.
Additionally, the Cavaliers have been particularly on fire as of late. The team’s 12-game winning streak is the longest active one in the NBA, and Cleveland snapped the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 15-game winning streak earlier in the month.
The Cavaliers will play the Indiana Pacers on Sunday. The Pacers are on a winning streak of their own, as they are winners of each of their last five games.
