From Call of Duty® to NBA All-Star Starter: Donovan Mitchell's Breakout Season
In his first season with the Cavaliers, Mitchell broke the team scoring mark; previous record holder Kyrie Irving knew he was “locked in” after a game of Call of Duty®.
On a regular game day, Donovan Mitchell would take a nap following the morning shootaround. Prior to the Cavaliers game versus the Chicago Bulls in early January, however, he decided to change it up and jumped on a game of Call of Duty®.
He reached out to his former teammate with the Utah Jazz and current Brooklyn Nets guard Royce O’Neale, who happened to already be playing with his current teammate and former Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving.
“I've been playing Call of Duty with Royce O'Neale since we were in Utah together and obviously now, he's in Brooklyn,” Mitchell told reporters on the NBA Today show. “I text him like 'yo you on the game?'. He said, 'yeah me and Ky [Kyrie Irving] are on.' We went ahead and got on the game... I didn't think I ended the game well. It was not a great game of Call of Duty."
It may not have been a “great game of Call of Duty,” but on the court that night it was a very different story...Mitchell recorded a franchise record 71 points in an overtime win versus the Chicago Bulls, breaking the previous mark of 57 points set by - who else? - Kyrie Irving in 2015 (LeBron James tied it in 2017). Mitchell also dished out 11 assists becoming the only player in NBA history to record a game with at least 70 points and 10 assists.
Upon hearing that his franchise record had been broken by Mitchell, Irving told reporters “Records are meant to be broken. I’m happy he did it. I was on Call of Duty a little bit before the game with Don (Donovan Mitchell) and we were playing quads…I could tell he was locked in.”
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Normally this would be considered a highlight for any player’s season, especially for one participating in his first season with a new team. But Mitchell is not your ordinary player, and he is not having your ordinary season.
In his sixth NBA season, Mitchell was just selected to take part in his fourth career All-Star Game, and his first as a starter. He is having a career year offensively with personal highs in scoring (27.6 PPG), field goals (47.9%), three-point field goals (39.1%) and free throws (86.6%).
LeBron James, who along with Kyrie Irving previously owned the Cavaliers scoring mark, will have the opportunity to select “the person who broke his franchise scoring record” to either represent his Team LeBron or face him on Team Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. (The leading vote getters for each conference, LeBron and Giannis, become All-Star Game team captains, who then pick their teams in a live, televised pregame segment shortly before the game.)
Whatever team Mitchell ends up with, the captain will be looking for that Call of Duty “locked in” mentality. With a performance of that magnitude, he could become just the third Cavaliers player to win All-Star Game MVP. Who were the previous two? Yep, James (2006, 2008, 2018) and Irving (2014).
Wouldn’t that be a “cavalier” thing for Mitchell to do?
Take Action:
🏈 Read how Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and teammates turned around their season after a session of Call of Duty®: Warzone™.
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