Cavaliers Forward Gets Brutally Honest on Cleveland's Reputation

The Cleveland Cavaliers were bounced from the second round of the NBA playoffs yet again this year, falling to the Indiana Pacers in five games.

This season, however, it was very different, as the Cavaliers won 64 games and were viewed by many as shoo-ins to at least make the Eastern Conference Finals. Instead, Cleveland barely even put up a fight against a 4-seed, and now, the Cavs will have an entire summer to regroup.

Throughout the year, however, many questioned if the Cavaliers had the mental fortitude to win a championship considering they were yet to make a deep playoff run since Donovan Mitchell arrived ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

Those who doubted Cleveland were proven right, and Cavs wing Max Strus revealed the harsh reality about anyone who hesitated to crown the Cavaliers this season.

“We can sit here and talk about it all we want, but until we do it (go deeper in the postseason) no one is going to give us that respect,” Strus said, via Joe Vardon of The Athletic.

It's the brutal nature of basketball. You can win as many games as you want during the regular season, but as the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls once coined, it "don't mean a thing without the ring." Just ask the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who broke the Bulls' single-season wins record, only to flame out against Cleveland in the NBA Finals.

In the case of this Cavs squad, though, not even a conference finals appearance exists on its resume, which is particularly incriminating.

Perhaps the Cavaliers will use this latest postseason exit as a learning experience and come back stronger next season.