The Max Strus Family Foundation raised money for local charities with their bowling event.
Much has been made about how close the Cleveland Cavaliers are as a team. That was evident by how they processed the news of Caris LeVert and Georges Niang being traded away at the deadline.
Their bond was seen a few days before those moves went down when The Max Strus Family Foundation held a bowling fundraiser last Monday. Every Cavalier player at the time was in attendance along with the coaching staff, the front office, and their families.
“I couldn’t be more appreciative,” Max Strus said about the turnout. “We had a game yesterday, we play tomorrow, and to have an event tonight was probably not the best scheduling. But nobody complained. Nobody had any worries about it. They’re all here. They’re all here to support and like I said, that just shows you who they are as people. We’re having a great year on the court, but it’s just an honor to be teammates with these guys and to show everybody else who they are as people because they are truly special people.”
Picture taken by Jackson Flickinger
The goal of the fundraiser was simple: To raise money for charities by having people or companies pay to bowl with the Cavs.
Although, as was showcased at the event, just because you’re a good basketball player doesn’t mean you’re a good bowler. Multiple people within the organization confessed to not being good and went as far as saying they’re “shockingly bad.”
Evan Mobley might’ve been the exception. Strus labeled him as the best bowler he saw that evening.
“He’s out there spinning it and everything, so I’ve been pretty impressed with him so far,” Strus said.
While everyone was there to bowl, the main focus of the night was to raise money for charities.
“The end goal is to positively impact the greater Cleveland area,” Strus said. “That’s really the goal. … It’s not really about the money, but it is because you want to raise as much money as you can to help the most amount of people that you can. So with everything that we’re doing at this event, it’s not about one charity. We want to touch everybody’s lives and do a lot of different things in the community just so we can keep spreading joy, keep spreading happiness, and just have our fingerprints all over this city.”
It wasn’t announced at the event what charities the money would go to, but Strus said that would be communicated once they’ve figured that out.
Strus didn’t have his usual gameday intensity at the bowling alley. He graciously greeted people as they came in and repeatedly thanked everyone for helping support his foundation in any way they could.
While the intensity wasn’t there, the passion that he plays with was. It was just channeled into a different cause that night.
“I’ve always loved giving back,” Strus said. “My mom worked at the YMCA when we were younger, so I kind of feel like it’s part of my youth to give back to the communities and just my family. It’s just important for us. Everything that we’ve been grateful for and given and earned. We’ve just want to give back and show our appreciation to everybody and be a part of the community. Be with everybody and try to spread joy.”