Donovan Mitchell Backs Up Jarrett Allen After JB Bickerstaff's Shade

The Cleveland Cavaliers were involved in a ton of drama following their second-round loss to the Boston Celtics in the playoffs. One of them was about Jarrett Allen and his alleged lack of desire to play through his rib injury in the playoffs. In fact, recently fired head coach JB Bickerstaff made a comment after the NBA Finals that was received as a potential shot at the All-Star center.

When defending Luka Doncic for his performance in the NBA Finals, Bickerstaff applauded the superstar for taking shots in his ribs and playing through pain. This was the exact same thing some have accused Allen of not doing.

Donovan Mitchell, however, didn't waste any time in showing support to his teammate. On an Instagram post right after, Mitchell posted a photo of him and Allen hugging on the basketball court.

Donovan Mitchell Offers Support for Teammate Over JB Bickerstaff

This shouldn't come as a surprise. It highlights the rumored locker room drama the Cavs were involved in. Mitchell was known not to be the biggest fan of Bickerstaff. In fact, it's likely that moving on from Bickerstaff was a prerequisite for Mitchell to stay in Cleveland long-term.

Mitchell stepping up to show support for his teammate is admirable. A head coach, even if it's unintentional, throwing his former player under the bus is not.

Every person has a different pain tolerance. Only the person going through the pain can know the extent of it. It is in very poor taste to speculate about a player's character because of an inability to play.

Bickerstaff didn't do a bad job in Cleveland but if he lost the locker room and alienated the star players like this, perhaps it was the right move to fire him. Whoever the Cavs replace him with will have to do a better job managing this situation.

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