CLEVELAND — One of the common narratives following Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell is how the seven-time All-Star has never made it past the second round of the playoffs.
It has followed him for most of his career now, like an ever-present shadow or a section of his NBA career resume he can’t yet erase. But if those whispers are continuing at the beginning of these playoffs, Mitchell isn’t hearing them.
The No. 4-seeded Cavs open their first-round playoff series against the No. 5 Toronto Raptors April 18. It’ll be Mitchell’s ninth trip to the playoffs and fourth with Cleveland. So far, though, in all eight cases, Mitchell’s side has exited the playoffs in either the first or the second round.
That can certainly lead to some narrative-heavy discussions. One might call it all noise on social media. Mitchell, though, has put some proverbial headphones on when it comes to that, saying for roughly the last six or seven weeks, he’s stopped himself from scrolling social media (especially X, formerly Twitter).
He’ll post whatever he needs to, but that’s it — no scrolling, no being pulled into the mess.
“And honestly, it’s the best that I’ve ever felt,” Mitchell said. I’m sure there’s talk going around about that question, but to me, I’m just like, hey, I’m trying to do everything we can to win this game. And that’s really where I’m at. At the end of the day, I can’t worry about that [narrative].”
Donovan Mitchell stats
A similar narrative will only grow louder for the Cavs as an entire organization if they should again fall short of the conference finals. The sense of urgency almost couldn’t be higher, especially considering that Mitchell and James Harden could potentially exit Cleveland by the end of next season.
After falling to the Indiana Pacers in the second round a year ago, Mitchell walked back out onto the court, seemingly still in disbelief as he processed the loss. He later said he felt they had “let the city down.”
In the aftermath, he also said he wanted the entire team to “feel” the loss, to let it fuel them all summer. Now, nearly 11 months later, it’s still acting as accelerant.
“I think you remember those feelings,” Mitchell said. “It allows you to go a little harder, right? Maybe do a little extra conditioning or do a few more reps in the weight room, a few more reps on the court. … So I think now’s that time.”
It’s no secret that in terms of their resumes — or legacies, to use another hot-button term – this is a massively important for the Cavaliers, but perhaps none more so than Mitchell and Harden, neither of which have won championship rings. Harden has virtually everything on his resume save for a title. Mitchell hasn’t yet broken through the second-round ceiling.
So when asked what this playoff run might mean to Mitchell, he said, “The world.”
“This is a great opportunity and with that, it’s on us in this locker room, everybody in the locker room to go out there and execute at the highest level. You prep, you do all the stuff we do, you sit in the gym for hours … you don’t get to eat out. I don’t get ot drink wine with my family and friends because I’m locked in.
“You prep your body you prep your mind, you prep everything for this exact run, right?”
Ryan Lewis covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell still fueled by last year’s loss to Pacers
Reporting by Ryan Lewis, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
