Donovan Mitchell led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 15-0 run to start the season. He couldn’t help them make it to 16 tonight against the Boston Celtics, but knowing Mitchell, the 3-point loss at TD Garden is likely to light a fire in him, just like getting benched did in college.
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Spida was recently on ‘The Pivot Podcast’ where host Ryan Clark asked the Cavs shooting guard about a certain matchup on December 31st, 2016, and why that was a pivotal night in his career. Mitchell was a little taken aback, he responded, “You do your homework, man. I don’t even think people know about that one.”
“I got benched that game. That’s the first time in my college career, when I was starting. I got benched, playing terribly. I think we had games against Virginia before that, got smacked, didn’t play well,” the five-time All-Star recalled.
The game Mitchell is referring to came during the first half of his sophomore season at the University of Louisville. His team held an impressive 12-2 record, but Spida was struggling to get his shots up. He had six games where he scored in single digits, including, as he mentioned, a 7-point outing in the loss against Virginia.
In the following game, his Cardinals matched up against Indiana and Mitchell’s poor form saw him relegated to the bench. Louisville’s long-tenured head coach, Rick Pitino, shared some blunt feedback with his #45.
“Coach P was just like, ‘Man, like, you ain’t hooping,'” Donovan revealed.
Mitchell admitted that he didn’t like getting sidelined in such an important game. It also became the talk of the town because D-Mitch was the leading scorer for his team.
But things started to shift from that moment on.
“Then I get out there, have my career-high, have probably my best game of my college career, I think. At that point, I feel like that’s when things started to shift…And I go on like a 8-9 game stretch that really put me on the scene to being drafted,” Mitchell shared.
He had never crossed 20 points in college before that New Year’s day. But against Indiana, he exploded for 25 points.
How the Indiana game changed Mitchell’s draft projection
At the start of his sophomore season, Mitchell was ranked as the 96th best college player by ESPN. His 6’10 wingspan was listed as one of the redeeming qualities of his diminutive frame, but both height and streaky shooting were cited as concerns on his NBA scouting report.
However, Pitino’s benching lit a fire under the New York native. Three weeks after the Indiana game, he outdid himself and set a new career-high, putting up 29 points against Pittsburgh.
Spida also led his conference in steals and made both the first-team All-ACC and the All-Defensive team. His explosive run of games after being benched would see him selected 13th overall during the 2017 NBA Draft and he would continue to prove his mettle through his incredible rookie campaign.
Mitchell’s postseason run as a rookie elevated his status even further. He has the fourth-most points by a rookie in a series-clinching game, and the most since 1980. He scored 171 points in six games during his debut Playoff series, the third-most in NBA history behind Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
