Cleveland Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell recently opened up about his relationship with teammate Darius Garland. After Mitchell shared his offseason conversation with coach Kenny Atkinson, he talked about his basketball connection with his backcourt mate in Garland.
Mitchell believes that sharing that bond is vital for a team’s long-term success, per The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
“We always knew what we had as a friendship off the floor,” Mitchell said of Garland. “I think that’s when — excuse my language — s*** gets f****** sticky. When you don’t have that relationship, there’s no trust.
“I let him take that time, because like I tell him, ‘We are fine.’ …I was like, ‘No, we’re good. Take the time you need.’ He had a lot of stuff going on last year, had a rough year (including a broken jaw that cost him six weeks midway through the season). I said, ‘Come back and be ready to roll.’ That’s it. At the end of the day, that’s going to shut all the sh– up. So for us, that’s really what it was, because you can’t control what the outside narrative is. It is what it is, and now he’s here hooping and that’s all that really matters at the end of the day,” Mitchell concluded.
Cavs’ Donovan Mitchell on Darius Garland, Evan Mobley
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
As Mitchell and the Cavs transitioned from J.B. Bickerstaff to Kenny Atkinson as head coach, Donovan was openly transparent with Atkinson, sharing his vision with his new head coach ahead of an unprecedented start to the 2024-25 campaign.
“[Mitchell] is the one who told me, ‘Hey, our next step is empowering Evan,’ ” Atkinson said. “It wasn’t, ‘I need the ball more, or we need to run this for me.’ It was about, ‘How can this team make the next jump?’ And then he put Darius (in the conversation). He said, ‘Me and Darius can be great together. There’s no reason we can’t be great together.’
“So a lot of it came from him. He just had a good grip on where this team needs to go. That helped me steer the ship because I kind of got the blueprint.”
Averaging 17.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks per game, Mobley is having the best regular-season start of his career. One could argue the same sentiment about Garland, averaging 20.3 points on 48.8% shooting, including 43.9% from behind the three-point arc, 6.9 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.
The Cavs will look to go 18-1 in their matchup against the Hawks on Wednesday.
