Max Strus has gone viral for sending an unfortunate message to the Cleveland Cavaliers group chat shortly before they were eliminated from the postseason.
Cavaliers and Max Strus eliminated
The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t last long in the NBA playoffs after they went 3-1 down to the Indiana Pacers and no comeback was staged in Cleveland, as Indiana advanced in five games following another win on the road Tuesday night.
The number one seed in the East missed crucial shots down the stretch as the Pacers caused an upset for the second year running to advance to the Conference Finals.
Max Strus went viral shortly after the loss, when it was revealed that the 29-year-old messaged the Cavaliers group chat with some motivation just before their final game of the year.
Strus reportedly sent a message to the team’s group chat ahead of game 5, saying: “If you don’t believe, then don’t show up for work.”
Max Strus sent a group text message to his Cavs teammates before game 5:
“If you don’t believe, don’t show up for work.”
Max Strus went 0/9 and the Cavs were ELIMINATED
😭😭😭
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) May 14, 2025
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers it was Strus who didn’t show up for work, with the guard going scoreless in his final game of the season.
Strus went 0/9 from the field and 0/6 from beyond the arc on Tuesday night despite playing 26 minutes.
Unfortunately for Strus there will be no shot at redemption this year for the Cavaliers and instead, he was laughed at by almost everyone who saw his comments before the game.
Cavaliers ‘let the city down’
Donovan Mitchell was quick to apologise to the city of Cleveland following the Cavs elimination but vowed that he and his teammates would be back next year.
“That energy, that crowd. We were 0-3 at home, let the city down. This place is special. This place is really special and we didn’t get it done.”
“We’ve had a lot of positives,” Mitchell said of his team. “But we didn’t capitalize. Now we’ve got to use this motivation. Everybody’s going to write us off… we’ll be back.”
Mitchell himself was as brilliant as ever during the postseason, averaging 29.6 points through the playoffs including 35 in the Cavaliers last stand over Indiana.
