Five-time NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell and Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson spent three years with the Louisville Cardinals at the same time — from 2015 to 2017. And despite Jackson starting as a backup QB and Mitchell being a basketball player, the latter followed the football team closely and even knew how Jackson came into the scene. He witnessed it firsthand, candidly talking about it on 7PM in Brooklyn.
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When co-host The Kid Mero asked Mitchell who was “cooking the hardest” when he and Jackson arrived at Louisville, the Cavaliers point guard recalled that Jackson started as a backup for Kyle Bolin. But either an injury or poor performance got Bolin benched, thrusting Jackson into the starting role.
Jackson was just a freshman with big shoes to fill, and he showed flashes of brilliance that year whenever he got the chance, as Mitchell recalled. But as soon as his sophomore year arrived, the 19-year-old Jackson began to excel in each outing, even jumping over defenders like it was child’s play.
“The next thing you know he takes his spot in sophomore year… And he’s doing sh*t like jumping over people.”
This was also the year when Jackson won his Heisman, so it’s quite understandable why he stood out on the field. That said, in addition to his on-field success, the star quarterback also built a rapport with Mitchell and his teammates.
Jackson had basketball players up at 6 in the morning
As the conversation progressed, Mitchell revealed that whenever the Cardinals football had an outing, Jackson would start tailgating with the students, including the basketball player.
“The game’s at 1 o’clock, he got the basketball team up at 6 a.m., tailgating with the students. Cuz we (were) like, ‘This sh*t finna be a show,'” Mitchell said.
But that’s not all Jackson did with the basketball team. The Cavaliers point guard recalled having dunk contests with the quarterback in the gym during their freshman year.
But Jackson stood out there as well, “windmilling, throwing it off the wall.” Nevertheless, things started to change when the quarterback started making waves on the field.
He and Mitchell would also spend every class together in their freshman year, but in 2016, Jackson became a no-show. The university apparently gave the QB some leeway so he could focus more on the sport while maintaining his studies online.
These circumstances eventually worked out for the best, as Jackson went on to be selected as the last pick of the first round in 2018. He has since snagged two league MVP awards, the latest being last year.
