
On paper, Cleveland should be able to handle Cade Cunningham and company, and it will be fun for Cavs fans to see Garland and Mitchell mesh even more in the contest. The Cavs and Mitchell will look to keep rolling on Friday when they take on the Detroit Pistons. With Garland finally back in the lineup, Mitchell could be even better in the coming games with defenses having to focus on guarding both players. Cleveland has already defeated last season’s Eastern Conference champions, the Celtics, twice this season. Shaq has awkward exchange with Donovan Mitchell.

The Eastern Conference is loaded with good teams in the 2022-23 season, but there’s no reason the Cavs can’t break into the top tier in the conference. While O’Neal does have some merit to his argument since Mitchell has never brought a team to the conference finals in his career, one could argue that this Cavs roster is one of the best he’s been a part of. The backcourt of Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell propelled them to their 6th-straight victory in another OT thriller against the Celtics! #LetEmKnow 25 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 29 PTS, 5 REB, 12 AST, 3 STL, 5 3PM /OoosJEIvur Mitchell and Garland showed that they can be a dynamic duo in the backcourt in the team’s overtime win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night. The three-time All-Star is averaging 31.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from beyond the arc. The Cavs gave up a lot to acquire Mitchell from the Utah Jazz this past offseason, but he has shown that they made a smart investment. O’Neal may not have confidence in Mitchell to carry Cleveland come playoff time, but he’s done a fantastic job to start the 2022-23 season. … Listen, anybody can shoot the ball every time and score a lot of points, but you gonna win? You gonna lead your team to the promised land?”

Whether or not there is any real bad blood brewing between these two remains unknown, but Mitchell seemed to take it in stride and explain to Shaq the comments were nothing new to him.Īs for Shaq, we’ll see which young NBA star decides to give him the one-word treatment next.“This is regular season, boo boo,” O’Neal said. Perhaps Shaq was hoping for a less standoffish conversation. Shaq seemed surprised that was all Mitchell had to say. “I’ve been hearing that since my rookie year.” We also get into Hardens fit in Brooklyn, the Donovan Mitchell drama with Shaq, and Roberts remembrance of Kobe Bryant as we reflect on the one-year. After the Jazz victory, Shaq admitted to Mitchell he was merely trying to motivate him. Mitchell was on the receiving end of some of that tough love when O’Neal classified Mitchell as a scorer who will get his points but may be lacking in a few key areas to elevate his game to the next level. For all we know, he’s probably using these.

He’ll be extra motivated coming into the new season. Shaq has been known to have some tough criticism of players in the NBA today. Donovan Mitchell is fresh off leading the Jazz to the best NBA regular-season record in 2021. Take Thursday night’s postgame interview with Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz, after Mitchell led the Jazz to a victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. But even he can have an awkward moment with a player in a postgame interview. LSU basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal is a well-respected icon of the sport of basketball, one whom many players currently playing today grew up watching.
