One of the weirder stories to come out of NBA All-Star weekend was about who was in the crowd for the “The Decision” when LeBron James announced he would be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat.
Donovan Mitchell sat down with Chris Mannix of Yahoo! Sports at the All-Star game to talk about how he was lucky enough to see the event live.
“I went to the school where he had his decision. I begged my mom he was my favorite player and told her I wanted to go. I was probably the only kid who cheered for him to go to Miami out of that whole crowd. There were a lot of New York Knicks fans, a lot of upset Cavaliers fans, I almost got hit with a Snapple bottle. I didn’t realize the impact it would have on basketball that night…but man it was a great night.
Mitchell has gone from the guy watching his idol leave the Cavaliers, to having young kids across the United States look up to him.
After being selected with the 13th pick in last years NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets he was traded to the Jazz, and most people knew he had potential, but not many saw him growing up in the league this fast.
So far this season Mitchell is averaging 19.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game as he is doing his best to get the Jazz into the playoffs in the competitive Western Conference.
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He is one of the contenders for Rookie of the Year with many thinking he will be the winner, and after his impressive showing at the All-Star Weekend, he can add Slam Dunk champion to his list of accomplishments.
He finished off the night with a throwback to Vince Carter. He unveiled a Carter jersey under his Jazz jersey and replicated the dunk that Carter used in 2000 to win the dunk contest.