On Monday afternoon, the Cleveland Cavs hit the floor at home as part of the NBA’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day showcase for a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Cavs did not put together their best performance in this one, getting blown out in embarrassing fashion, and ending their brief winning streak that had given some fans a bit of hope.
Many were surprised when Cavs star Donovan Mitchell was not named one of the starters for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star game, and recently, Mitchell weighed in on the situation.
“To be honest, I kind of expected that. The guys that were named their record is better than ours. I wanted to be a starter for sure. At the end of the day, we win games, everybody gets rewarded,” said Mitchell, per HoodiGarland on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, the NBA tends to reward team success even when it comes to individual awards, such as the 2014-15 Atlanta Hawks, who sent four players to the NBA All-Star game that year amid their 60-win season.
Meanwhile, the Cavs currently sit at 24-20 on the campaign, well below where most pundits expected them to be at this point in the year after their run to the first seed in the East last season.
Making the cut ahead of Mitchell as starters for the Eastern Conference were Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown.
Mitchell will almost assuredly still appear in the All-Star game as a reserve, but it was still likely a tough pill to swallow for a player averaging nearly 30 points per game.
In any case, the Cavs will next take the court on Wednesday evening for a road game against the Charlotte Hornets.