The Cleveland Cavaliers were just swept and embarrassed by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. The (4-0) sweep included an ugly 130-93 Game 4 blowout where for all intents and purposes the Cavs quit.
It marked the second consecutive season the Cavs were closed out on their home floor after they fell to the Indiana Pacers in five games in conference semifinals last year as the conference’s top seed. While the team could use injuries to key players last year, this year that wasn’t the case but that didn’t stop franchise player Donovan Mitchell from deflecting amidst the constant playoff shortcomings.
Mitchell Takes His Ball And Goes Home
In a recent interview with Andscape, Mitchell who’s affectionately known as “Spida” was asked about the Cavs and his personal quest for an NBA championship. Mitchell’s response sounded like someone who knows they’re never gonna win a title.
“We may win a ring here. We may never win a ring here. But I’ve won in life”
In actuality Mitchell has won in life, he just made $46 million this season and is set to make a total of $104 million the next two seasons. He’s engaged to the beautiful Coco Jones, a Grammy-winning R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. And while that answer is more than OK with Mitchell, it quickly drew the ire of fans.
Fans Call Out Spida Via Social Media
It didn’t take long for fans to chime in with varying opinions on Mitchell’s comments.
“LeBron’s influence… disgusting,” a fan said.
“If these are the words coming from your franchise player, trust me that franchise need to turn a new chapter in their history,” another fan said.
“Bro lost his hunger smh. He don’t care anymore lmao,” a fan replied.
“‘We may never win a ring here’ is something I never want my franchise player saying,” a fan quipped.
“He doesn’t have the right mentality to lead a team,” another fan replied.
“Good luck Cavs fan once a player says something like this… ain’t no team trading for them. That’s a player that only has interest in getting 25 and going home,” a fan mentioned.
“This is true. But this is also the thing your star player says when you know they will never win anything,” a fan said.
“When they start saying sh-t like this you know it’s cooked. Brad Beal 2.0,” another critic spewed.
Mitchell Defends Teammate While Using Jordan And LeBron
In the aftermath of the ugly way the Cavs season ended, Mitchell spoke on the backlash teammate James Harden is receiving for his consistent struggles. Mitchell opened up on Harden and oddly attempted to compare his playoff shortcomings to those of Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
“Yeah, sure, has he had some rough moments? I’m sure we all have,” Mitchell said.
“LeBron [James] is one of the greatest players ever. We don’t really speak on the [Dallas] Mavericks [NBA] Final [in 2011] when he struggled [with the Miami Heat]. We don’t speak on [Michael] Jordan taking eight years to get to the Finals. We speak on the wins.”
What Mitchell did as far as supporting Harden is admirable and something any teammate would love, but comparing Harden’s playoff misery to that of MJ or Bron just doesn’t add up. While both struggled early in their careers they eventually broke through, playing in a combined 16 NBA Finals and winning ten championships, Harden has never even sniffed the NBA Finals.
Great attempt by Mitchell, but wrong analogy, and if we’re being honest, why isn’t he catching more heat considering he’s the top player on the Cavs team, not Harden.
