Donovan Mitchell diary: ‘We’re at that crossroad, right?’

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers entered the season dreaming about winning the second NBA title in franchise history. A frustrated Mitchell and his underachieving, injury-plagued Cavaliers, however, would be in the NBA play-in tournament if the playoffs started today.

“Mentally, we got to find it. We’re 29 games in,” Mitchell said Sunday at the Cavaliers’ practice facility. “We’re not a playoff team right now. We’re not playing like it. We have the talent. We have the group, but we’re not playing like it. And that’s on the 15 of us. We have to find it collectively. It’s not on just one individual. There’s no other group. You just got to find it. And when I say ‘it,’ it can be some joy. It can be tactically. It can be spirit. It can be anything. But we’ve got it find it.

“But honestly, it is one of those things where it’s adversity. And you just got to ultimately go out there and say like, ‘Hey, I want to be able to push this and push through this.’ And that’s kind of where we’re at. We’re at that crossroad, right? And, you know, now it’s on us to go out there and say, ‘Hey, we want to change this. And I have no doubt we will.’ But that’s ultimately where we’re at.”

During the 2025-26 NBA season, Mitchell is exclusively 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 entered this season averaging 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 after starting last season 15-0, but their title hopes were dashed with a crushing loss in the second round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers.

The Cavaliers have already had adversity this season with All-Star starters Darius Garland and Evan Mobley currently sidelined with injuries, and other key players missed time. Mitchell also missed last Friday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls with an illness. He also entered the week averaging career highs in points (30.7), field goal percentage (49.3) and 3-pointers made per game (4.0).

The following is Mitchell’s third diary installment this season with Andscape in which he talks about several topics: playing on Christmas for just the second time of his career, which will be against his hometown New York Knicks; the Disney “Dunk the Halls” animation that will be used simultaneously for the Cavs-Knicks game; the mentality toward getting the Cavs’ season back on track; his struggles with losing; his thoughts on New Year’s resolutions; and much more.

Right now, I’m sick as a dog. And, yeah, it’s been a rough four or five days. I got hit in the mouth against Charlotte. So, I have a bunch of cuts on both cheeks, on both sides of my tongue. So, eating has been tough. Then I got sick right after that, right before [the road game at] Chicago [on Dec. 17].

Wasn’t going to play in Chicago, but I was like, ‘Man, I got to fight through this.’ I was nowhere near myself in Chicago. Then we got back [to Cleveland] and I had nothing for about two or three days. So, this is the best I felt [on Sunday]. But I’m plugging along. Gotta keep it going.

I didn’t show up at all the other day [Dec. 17] to not get guys sick and whatnot. I lay down. I try not to [complain], especially with wifey [Jones] around. I try not to be the bad sick guy. Women are pushing out babies. I will be all right. But I was down bad. She has been taking care of me. But I try to just kind of sit there. I’ve been sleeping 10 hours each night. Just trying to get through it, but I’m not that bad of a sick person.

It’s tough. The injuries are real. Yeah, we haven’t had the same lineup. We’ve had the most injuries or second-, third-most injuries in the league. Those are obviously real things, but we don’t even have our current identity right now. That’s the part where it’s like we can hang our hat on ‘X.’

We haven’t figured that out as a group on a consistent basis. And we’ve shown it. That’s the frustrating part is being able to show it in spurts. If we just never did it, then that’s one thing. But obviously having guys out all [season] — Max (Strus) hasn’t played all [season]. Sam [Merrill] has been out. JA [Jarrett Allen] has been out. I’ve been out. Zo [Lonzo Ball] has been out. TP [Taurean Prince] has been out. Ev [Evan Mobley] is out, DG [Darius Garland].

I always give a shout out to our young guys because they’ve been [expletive]. Excuse me. They’ve been unreal. Jaylon Tyson has been phenomenal. Tyrese Proctor has been great. Quan [Nae’Qwan Tomlin] has been great. [Craig] Porter has been great, right? They’ve been phenomenal. But, ultimately for us as a group, we’ve got to play better around them like that. They’re going to make mistakes, but they’re young. We have to play better as a collective, and injuries are a part of it. But it’s not the whole story.

Being around me, there’s a standard — a level of accountability. The margin for error as we have gotten to 15-14. … We had a film session during those five days and [head coach] Kenny [Atkinson] got after us. And sometimes I joined in and was like, ‘Hey, I got to [expletive] be better. I can’t not be in the help side [defensively], right?’ Or like, ‘Hey, DG [Garland], you’ve got to be there, right?’ Or Ev [Mobley]. That’s kind of my job as a leader is not only to hold myself accountable but everybody as well.

In the same token, you have to be able to manage relationships and people, right? I think when I first got to the league it was very Rick Pitino-esque. Like cursing and just letting it out. Everybody learns, listens, adjusts differently. So, you have to be able to manage that and talk to different guys in different spaces. As I’ve grown over my career, leadership and losing still pains me the same way. But I think how I express it to each individual is different.

When you’re in this position, it starts from within. Collectively, one through 15, we’ve got to find a way to do the little things really well, especially when guys are out. This can be all talk, but I think this is ultimately up for us to go out there and on a nightly basis, say, ‘Hey, you know, enough is enough,’ possession by possession. We’ve shown for us this process has been good. But now we just need it to carry over to our results.

Playing on Christmas, it means the world. It’s a reflection of what we did last [season], who we could be. Obviously, the Knicks are in a position where they’re the second or third seed, but we feel when we’re at our best we will be right there. To be able to play in the [Madison Square] Garden for me is back home, back at the crib. I get to stay in my house. I get to be around my friends and family. To then play on Christmas at the Garden is special. … But it’s definitely a privilege. It’s an honor. And I definitely won’t forget it.

I let everybody know, ‘Christmas game. Don’t hit me up for nothing.’ Right? We play [in the New York area] two more times. I have a few tickets that I obviously take care of. But as far as friends and family, like, ‘Hey, I ain’t got this one.’ And you have to do that over time. My first year I was getting everything. But now it’s a blessing and it’s Christmas game. But it’s also like, ‘Hey, we had opening night [in New York]. We’ll be in Brooklyn.’ You got to have that expectation. You got to manage it. Otherwise, you’re throwing out a couple grand. A lot of my friends and families, and I’m grateful for them, they have found a way to get there on their own. But it also helps that my dad works for the [New York] Mets. A lot of people who work at MSG work for the Mets. So, there’s a lot of hook up. So, I appreciate and they all know who they are. I appreciate them hooking up my family and friends. But obviously, if it’s not immediate [family], then they had to get it on their own.

The [Dunk the Halls] character is cool. The beard looks crazy, but the character is cool. Not the biggest fan [of my beard]. I’ve been trying to grow this one for about 29 years. It’s a work in progress, but I’m glad that I got the full beard on my character.

I’m definitely going to record [Dunk the Halls]. And I’m going to keep the game [archived] anyway, just because playing on Christmas. Those are just special moments you keep in your little archive. Jared Allen is the for sure the prime candidate for being excited to be animated. I haven’t spoken to him. I don’t know if he is, but if there was one person that would be JA, for sure.

How do I buy a Christmas gift for a woman that has everything? It’s not tough, actually. It’s more meaningful. I get something that’s just more like something that she likes. If I’m going to get a gift, I hope the gift that I got is something that will remain in her heart forever, right?

It’s not necessarily just like something that’s just like right there that you can easily get from a store. It’s something that takes time and takes stock. A lot of time went into this one. It’s something that I know in her heart that she’ll forever cherish.

As the years progress, it’s going to get harder because we’re going to be with each other longer and longer. You’ve got to find ways to still be intentional and still find ways to do things that are meaningful, especially when you know you can give whatever you would like. So, for me, it wasn’t hard. This was something that I thought about last year. And her birthday is right around the same time, so it works. And it’s going to be something that I think would be really dope.

I’m used to [Madison Square Garden] now. As a kid, for me, the craziest stuff was when Melo [Carmelo Anthony] was still in the league, because that’s who I would go watch. It’d be Melo, [Amare] Stoudemire, J.R. [Smith], Kristaps [Porzingis], [Pablo) Prigioni, [Jose] Calderon. JK [Jason Kidd] was on the team. Baron Davis was on the team. Landry Fields. Steve Novak. I was still a LeBron [James] fan and a Cleveland fan because ‘Bron was here, right. And even when ‘Bron went to Miami I would still follow them. But the games I would go to, those are the guys that were there.

I had big (size 15) feet. So, back in the day, I needed shoes. And we couldn’t afford any shoes. So, Eddy Curry, who played for the Knicks, had boxes of shoes he never used. He’d give them to his homey, who would give them to me. But ultimately, it was coming to me.

So, I was wearing Eddy Curry shoes. Now the swag and all that wasn’t there. I was wearing this with like khaki pants and like a blazer. I’m wearing [Nike] Hyperdunks. That was my connection to the Knicks, in that regard. He was helping me out ’cause I really didn’t have any shoes. So. that’s kind of where that all started. But I was at a bunch of games and around a bunch of people, and also being around the [New York] Mets, it’s all like the same.

My dad knew the guy that he was giving them to. And he was like, ‘Hey, my son needs some shoes.’ And it turned out I’ve had Christmas versions of Hyperdunks. That’s the silver one with the little Christmas joints. I’ve had Knick-colored ‘Brons. I’ve had Black History Month Kobe’s in Knick colors. I’ve had pretty much everything you could possibly think of. I don’t know where they are now. And it’s unfortunate because they’re probably some really dope shoes, and they’re probably really expensive on the resale market. But that was what I had. We couldn’t afford shoes for me.

Eddy Curry came and spoke to us — I don’t know if I was here or [when I played in] in Utah — and I told him the story, and he was shocked because he didn’t know me halfway from nothing. And to be able to see I’m in the league and this is where I’m at. … It’s also a part of why I give my stuff away, too, because I know the impact it had on me, especially if you’re coming from nothing. I’m very grateful for him, even though he probably didn’t know he was saving us from having to spend money on shoes that you can’t even find in my size.

I’m not really a New Year’s resolution guy. I feel like if I’m waiting till January 1 to change. … If I notice something that needs to change, why not start when I realize that? I don’t think it’s a clean slate.

My years kind of go by basketball seasons. So, like September to whenever we’re done that’s a whole new year for me. So, I feel like that’s my assessment of change. I don’t really look at January 1 as that day. I kind of feel like let’s not just wait till January. Like if you see something that can be cleaned up in your life, then start whenever you find that out. Don’t wait. Don’t give yourself three extra, four extra weeks of a bad habit when you can just start that day.

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