Donovan Mitchell diary: ‘I do believe my time is now’

SARASOTA, Fla. – In Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell’s journey from being a fan to a foe, Madison Square Garden has gone from a place where he once rooted for the New York Knicks to where he now wants to respectfully break their fans’ hearts.

Based on numerous predictions, the only team standing between the Cavaliers and a trip to the 2026 NBA Finals is the Knicks. As the NBA schedule would have it, the two presumed Eastern Conference powers will open their seasons against each other in New York City on Wednesday night on ESPN.

After ending yet another NBA campaign in Cleveland in disappointing fashion last season, Mitchell is ecstatic about returning to New York for the start of the season with championship aspirations in mind once again.

“That’s a special night. Obviously, I’m from New York. Hometown team,” Mitchell, a native of nearby Greenwich, Connecticut, said to Andscape. “They beat us in the playoffs [in 2023]. They got a talented team and people slate us as the [No.] 1 and 2 seeds in the East. What better way to start the season than that way? I’m always going to be personally invested because I’m from there. But I think just from a competitor standpoint, us as a group, we understand that they’ve made it farther than us.

“At the end of the day, we’re trying to get to where they’ve gone [the Eastern Conference Finals]. We haven’t even gotten there yet. We’re trying to get to that point and we’ve got to go in there and be ready for a crazy crowd opening night on ESPN … and understand that, hey, we’ve got to go out there and handle business and set the tone on the season, and it’s going to be fun.”

During the 2025-26 NBA season, Mitchell is sharing insight into his life on and off the court with the Cavaliers in his monthly diary on Andscape. Draymond Green, Vince Carter, Trae Young, CJ McCollum, Fred VanVleet, De’Aaron Fox, Cade Cunningham, James Wiseman, Josh Jackson, Bradley Beal and, most recently, Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero, have participated in previous Andscape diaries.

Mitchell has averaged 24.7 points, 4.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds in 539 regular-season games for the Cavaliers and the Utah Jazz during eight seasons. The former University of Louisville star is also a two-time All-NBA selection and winner of the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk contest. The 2025 All-NBA first-team selection led the Cavs to an Eastern Conference-best 64-18 record, but their title hopes were dashed with a crushing loss in the second round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. With the core of the Cavaliers still intact, Mitchell has optimism that the franchise can return to the NBA Finals for the first time without former star LeBron James.

While Mitchell has had a successful NBA career with Hall of Fame trajectory, he is often overlooked among the league’s most-talked-about stars. In this diary, the 29-year-old plans to be candid and hopes the world can learn more about him in the process.

“I decided to do this because I feel like you gain your own narrative,” Mitchell said. “You can speak on things. You can talk about things. A lot of people don’t really know me. They know about me. But I think this gives you an insight on me, win, lose, draw. We kind of lose touch of people because we see them on the TV and you don’t really see them as people. I think this is a time now in my life where I’m comfortable enough to be able to have these conversations.

“You’re able to sit in your space and be still and just be like, ‘Yeah, I can talk about these things and not worry.’ [I’m] trying to be free in a sense and show people who I am. If you like it, cool. If you don’t, cool. I’m going to be me regardless.”

Below is Mitchell’s first diary entry from the Cavaliers’ team hotel during their recent training camp in Sarasota, Florida. As told to Andscape senior NBA writer Marc J. Spears, the six-time NBA All-Star opens up about the pain of the Cavs losing in the second round of the playoffs again last season, his well-publicized engagement to R&B singer Coco Jones, the racial challenges growing up as an African American in affluent Greenwich, his pursuit of a championship and greatness, how he got the nickname “Spida,” how he unwinds and much more.

First team [All-NBA] is obviously great. I really like the growth that I’ve shown each year, even though as a team I haven’t gotten to the mountain top where I want to go. As an individual, I can say each year has brought me a different challenge individually. And I feel like each year I’ve grown not only as a player but mentally to be in a space where I’m like, ‘OK, last year I was having these issues and I’ve conquered that. Now is another thing.’ To be great, to be elite in what you want to do, you have to go through those phases year by year. I can confidently say over the past eight years going on nine, I’ve consistently gotten somewhere that I can look back after you’re upset that you’ve lost and say that I’ve grown as an individual, as a man, but also as a player.

What has kept me up at night is honestly not just making the Finals. You could say the conference finals, but if we lost in the conference finals the same way we lost in the second round, 4-1 or got swept, or if we lost 3-2, I wouldn’t be sitting here smiling and happy about it. I’d still be up late at night thinking about, ‘Man, we’re one game away or one series away.’ The fact that I haven’t made it to the Finals and won a ring is really the only thing that I’m like, ‘Man, that’s that hurdle.’ And I do believe my time is now.

What people can take from my story is my determination. There’s a lot that has happened in my career that would stop people from continuing – a lot of obstacles, whether it’s a consistent loss or the criticism. There are so many things that have happened that would get a lot of people just to stop. But I haven’t and I won’t, and I think people can learn from that. And I say in my slogan in my shoe, ‘Determination Over Negativity.’ I’ve been surrounded by a lot of success, a lot of positives, but there has also been a lot of negativity thrown at me as far as who I am, the leader I am, the player I am. Am I good enough? And that alone can crush you if you allow it. People can understand that from looking at me – the fact that I’m still here, still growing, still continuing to find ways to be better, each year.

So, ‘Determination Over Negativity,’ is my slogan. It’s what I built my brand on, my shoes. In every form of life there’s going to be something that is in your way. There’s going to be some wall in the sense whether you’re a doctor, you’re an artist, you’re an architect, you’re a basketball player, whatever you do. And it’s up to you to continue to find ways to push through that. There’s always going to be somebody that’s going to tell you’re not good enough. There’s always going to be [someone] that’s like, ‘Hey, you can’t do it.’ There is going to be somebody from the other side of your competition or whatever you do that is going to say that you can’t do something.

For the past eight years, people have told me everything I can’t do – individually, and obviously as a team. I’m still continuing to get there individually. I feel like I’ve shut people up consistently for eight years. And for me, that’s why with my brand as long as you put the work in, you trust the work, at the end of the day the work always reveals the right results because you put the time in and you believe in that. That is what my brand is built off of. That’s the mantra behind my shoe, behind my logo, behind Spida: determination over negativity.

You can learn that you can get there as long as you continue to have your mind and your head strong like, ‘Hey, this is what I want do, this is how I’m going to get there.’ And you know what, I may never get there to the mountain top. But when I look back on what I’ve done [in] 10 years, however long from now, I can confidently say I believe that I [did] everything in my power to get there. And people can learn that through just watching my career.

I got the nickname Spida back when I was about 8, 9 years old. My teammate’s dad gave everybody nicknames. And he said I had long arms and I was the head of the 1-2-2 press that we had. He would say, ‘I was spinning my way up.’ That is kind of how it all came about. I love the nickname. It’s something that took off. I called myself that, but no one really called me that until I got to the league. And when I won the dunk contest, it just skyrocketed.

Cleveland is home, man. And it’s not fake. I tell people all the time, ‘When you fly somewhere and you land, what is that feeling like for you?’ I bought my first house in my NBA career in Cleveland. I want to be there. I want be where I’m at. It’s a feeling more so than just words. It’s just something that’s just in your gut. It just feels good. They’ve embraced me off the rip when they could have easily questioned me. If you look at the people at the games, they bother you in the sense that they love you when they see you on the street, but they leave you alone. They give you your privacy and they respect you, which I appreciate.

And I wouldn’t even call it a bother. It’s just like when you are who you are in that community, you’re an idol. You’re somebody that they look up to, so they love to be around you. But in the same token, they respect you to give you that space. Outside of where I’m from in New York, I never expected to feel that way. Not just here, but anywhere outside of New York. So, for that to happen in the short span of two years when [the trade] happened, that’s a testament to the people. That’s a testament to the organization. That is a testament to my teammates that have welcomed me with open arms.

There is somebody, and they know who they are, and I’m appreciative of that person who gave me the push in the moment to talk to [Jones] because I did have a crush on her and whatnot… You know who you are, and I appreciate it.

We were basically at an event and we had a conversation, and I asked for her phone number. That’s all y’all get.

We kept it private because I don’t think you need everybody to be in your stuff, to be honest. We weren’t like hiding. We were living our life, and if people happen to catch it, they caught it. But you don’t need everybody in everything. When you live a public life, there are some things that are just for you and your person. And we had talked about if they knew in the public or if there was an outside influence where we were caught by paparazzi or fans, whatever. Now that we are engaged, everybody knows. So, here we go.

When did I know [I wanted to marry her]? The first date was when I knew. Sorry. I am not going to give you everything. I don’t want to give everybody our stuff. The first date.

It was great. Shout out to Ciara and Russ [Wilson]. They were instrumental in helping with the person who helped me with everything [with the proposal]. They helped out a lot. It was great. [Jones] knew it was coming. I don’t know if she knew it was coming at that moment. I don’t think she did. But it was special. Special vacation, special trip, and everything worked out perfect. I cannot reveal a [wedding] date, but everything’s going great.

Tour life is a lot like the life we live. The only difference is it’s just her out there. Obviously, she has her dancers and her crew with everybody. But she’s the head of the snake. She’s out there. Got to get her rest. Got to do all these different things. She has her fans and everybody’s dying to see her, and it’s amazing to see the amount of work that she puts in. It’s amazing to see the time and dedication every single night. We took the bus everywhere for about a month straight. Outside of getting the best sleep in my life on that bus, I don’t know what it was about that bus, but it was a lot.

She consistently had the same energy for everybody. Every show gave everybody her all. You kind of see that in our field where it’s like you’ve got three [games] in four nights, you’ve got a back-to-back, you’ve got to play Miami, then you’ve got to fly back to Cleveland, then go to Philly, then go to Minnesota. To see it from a different perspective – to not only just have that be your person, but someone that you respect as a star in her own right, and to see her on a daily basis grind and work to be that – you respect it and it shows you like, ‘Hey, these are the steps that are necessary to be great.’ It also makes you feel like, ‘Hey, you’re not by yourself.’ You see somebody working just like you nonstop outside of just the love. I just have such a respect for that type of passion and drive, and you see why she is who she is.

I’m from New York. Went to school in Greenwich, Connecticut, and I went to private school. I was around few Black kids in private school, and it really shaped me just because I got to see both sides of America. Got to see Black America. I got to see white America. It really allowed me to understand that really. I think it’s why I give so much back to the community because a lot of it goes through bringing kids like myself into the school to give them the opportunity that I was given and say, ‘Hey, this is what’s right here, this is what’s at your access.’

To be able to use my platform to bring awareness to things such as that because that’s ultimately what’s leading. You can’t solve every problem. I wish I could, but I think you can address certain issues, you can address certain things, you can help certain families, you can help certain kids who are working their tail off and may not have the resources or funds to be able to get into these schools and get that advantage, that competitive advantage, the educational advantage while also still getting basketball in as well, which is a big part of what we do.

SPIDACARES is obviously my foundation. And we do a lot of giving back in a lot of different areas. But our main principles, our main focus, is education. Single parents, single mothers, single fathers, whoever it may be. Myself, my mom, who is the head of the foundation, and our family, we are really passionate about giving back in that sense — especially through education, because that’s the future.

We have the scholarship program where we bring Black and brown children who may not have the finances to go to private school and bring them there through basketball. We’ve also sent kids to college and paid their tuition. A lot of it is teachers, but it’s also students and giving kids the opportunity, especially minority kids. The opportunity to go out there and say, ‘Hey, you are right down the street from a whole different world.’ That’s how I grew up. I was 45 minutes, not even 30 minutes away from some of the richest people in the world, and I was not well off.

It really shaped me as a child. It really showed me that there’s a whole different side. [I wanted] to be able to show kids that at an early age and be able to bring them around that and show them that side of the world, so when they get to my age, where they get older, they’re used to these experiences. They understand both cultures. That’s what’s wrong in the world today is [that] we just don’t understand each other. If you understand, both groups understand. And if you do understand and you choose to still not like the other side or whatever culture, that’s on you. But my biggest thing is at least teach these kids and show these kids so they have a better understanding of, ‘You may not look like me, but I respect you because I know and I have an idea of what you’ve come from.’ Obviously it’s a bigger issue, but you can develop it at the root of it, the children. That’s what’s special.

“When you lose in such a — I don’t want to call it traumatic — a dramatic fashion or a situation where you’re not expected to lose … you take some time to yourself. But you don’t really progress to that next level of moving on unless you have the right group with you. And I think having that group, being at home for a good portion of the summer, having a sense of peace around you allows you to sit in your thoughts and kind of shift your focus and allow it to change and allow yourself to be able to say, ‘OK, this is what I’ve got to do to be better.’

Then you get the schedule and you’re like, ‘Oh, alright, we’re on TV a lot. OK, cool, we’ve got a Christmas game. Oh, we’re in New York to start the season.’ This is what gets you fired back up. Not to say you want it, but it just changes. And so, when you have such a stable and peaceful setting at home with my family — obviously my fiancé, my mom, my sister, my dad, my friends — it really allows you to go out there and be your best self mentally. … It’s crucial to have that group that keeps you steady throughout the summer, and then when you get ready for the season and get ready to achieve your goals.

A lot of the recharge comes through playing Xbox, to be honest. I allow myself to scream at 12-year-olds who were trying to [beat] me on Call of Duty. That’s one thing I do when we kind of go through a rough stretch. We had a rough stretch, I had a rough stretch last year in March. I get my anger out. Reporters ask you the same stupid a– questions, excuse me, and you’re just like, ‘Man, I’m tired. I got it, I get it. …’ As far as recharging, I know I talk about her a lot, but my girl’s the best. I’m able to just call her and just be chill. You know what I’m saying? Just be myself. When you have that at the house or like in a phone call … it just allows you to just be able to just separate. I’m grateful for that from her. I’m grateful for the Xbox and two ways to recharge.

The public, I don’t think they understand who I am as far as a person. They have glimpses of it. They have glimpses of me as a person and also as the athlete and the leader and the sacrifices that you make to try to get to where you want to get to. I don’t think that’s what people really know about me nor should they. I don’t really talk about it or show it, but that’s something that people really don’t see from a basketball standpoint. From a personal standpoint, people are starting to finally get to see me a little bit in more spaces, doing different things in the community and who I really am — the legacy I want to leave outside of just basketball.

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