Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell Sounds Off On Stephen A. Smith, Critics

Many people cannot handle criticism, whether it’s constructive or unwarranted. But Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell eats it up.

During a recent appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, Mitchell revealed why he actually likes criticism.

“And when people started talking (expletive) about, ‘Oh, he not that good,’ and I overcame that little hump, that’s when I was like, ‘Alright, bet. I belong,” Mitchell said. “Because they only doin’ that — they not gonna talk (expletive), like you said, about the last guy on the bench.”

Mitchell went on to single out ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith as one of the critics that motivated him.

“The greats go through the highs and the lows throughout, then that’s when I really stopped listening to the media for real, but that was when I realized, like, oh, you got the Stephen A. Smiths talking about, ‘Oh, he can be this. He can be that.’ And then you start struggling then it’s like, ‘Oh, he’s not this. He’s not that.’ That’s when I was like, ‘Alright, bet.’ You overcome that,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell has a point. Not many NBA analysts are going to focus their critiques on bench players, but when it comes to stars, it’s open season.

Many say that you know you’ve made it when you people start hating, and that’s the angle Mitchell seems to be taking.

And Mitchell has definitely made it.

The 27-year-old has made five straight All-Star appearances and is coming off of a 2023-24 campaign in which he averaged 26.6 points, 6.1 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals over 35.3 minutes per game on 46.2/36.8/86.5 shooting splits.

Mitchell also just signed a lucrative three-year contract extension with the Cavaliers.

That being said, there is still one major accolade missing from Mitchell’s resume: playoff success.

We’ll see if Mitchell can lead Cleveland on a deep postseason run next spring.