In a league where everyone is always protecting their brand, always saying the right thing, always playing the media game perfectly - Donovan Mitchell decided to just tell the truth.

And the truth he told was this: the way Chris Paul's NBA career ended was wrong. It was disrespectful. And somebody needed to say it.

"To see his career end the way it did, I think it's BS," Mitchell told Andscape. "I don't know. I don't see all the reports. I don't know the ins and outs of everything. That's not my job. But I know when you have a guy like that, there's a level that he has to be respected, and he wasn't given that opportunity, which I think is messed up."

Let me give you some context here, because this story has layers.

Mitchell, who is entering one of the best stretches of his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, did not have to say any of this. He wasn't asked a gotcha question. He wasn't backed into a corner. He chose to use a profile piece to pay tribute to a player who changed his life - a player who, when Mitchell was a terrified 19-year-old trying to decide whether to enter the NBA draft or return to college, pulled him aside and told him exactly what he needed to hear.

"I wouldn't be in the NBA if it wasn't for Chris Paul and Paul George," Mitchell said. "Those two told me after a workout when I was making my decision to stay in the draft or come back, they said, 'Hey you need to be in the league. You don't need to go back to school,' in a situation where I'm 19. I was trying to figure out what do I do."

Think about that. Paul had nothing to gain from encouraging a college kid to go pro. No business arrangement. No quid pro quo. He just saw a talent worth nurturing and said the thing that needed to be said. That's the definition of paying it forward.