Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell had no plans to join 50 Cent in the club — of embarrassing first pitches.

The Cavs star had only one goal in mind when he took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch before Thursday’s Game 3 of the 2026 American League Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays, and that’s to look good with his pitch and not go viral for the wrong reason like 50 Cent years ago.

“No, I’m good. I’m locked in,” Mitchell told Lauren Shehadi of TNT Sports when asked if he was feeling nervous.

Mitchell then took a hilarious shot at 50 Cent.

“I can’t look like 50 Cent. That’s all. That’s my goal,” the former Louisville Cardinals star said.

It has been over a decade since 50 Cent threw one of the worst first pitches, at least in the social media era. In 2014, the “In da Club” rapper was way off “just a lil bit” with his pitch before a game between the New York Mets and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

 

As for his first pitch, Mitchell clearly passed the test.

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Making the day better for Mitchell is the fact that the Guardians grabbed the series lead over the Rays with a 3-2 victory. The high-flying Cavs guard has been supportive of the Guardisn despite being a Mets fan.

Outfielder Petey Halpin, who hit just four home runs in the regular season, connected on a Griffin Jax sinker for a go-ahead two-run blast to put the Guardians in front, 3-2. Cleveland held on to that lead the rest of the way, and is now just a couple of wins away from reaching the World Series.