Donovan Mitchell’s mom empathizes with LeBron James’ inability to do ‘regular people’ things like go to Starbucks

By David Akerman
Updated: February 6, 2023

NBA stars like LeBron James and Donovan Mitchell don’t really get to do many things in public due to their level of fame.

James opened up about that recently, and Mitchell’s mom commented on his words, empathizing with the 19-time All-Star.

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It surely must be tough on stars like James and Mitchell to not be able to go out and do regular everyday things like non-famous people. However, they undoubtedly understood that stuff like that went out the window when they entered the NBA as top draft picks in their respective drafts.

James was the first overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers back in the 2003 NBA Draft and was actually a well-known figure well before he entered the league. He gained notoriety for his accomplishments in high school and even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a teenager.

There was tons of pressure on him coming into the league, and he has seemingly surpassed expectations by winning four NBA titles and four MVP awards. He’s also just 36 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record.

As for Mitchell, he’s not as widely known as James is, but he still has a pretty big following and millions of followers on his social media accounts.

He might be able to get away with doing some things in public, but he’d likely be recognized pretty quickly. The 26-year-old entered the league as the No. 13 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft. The University of Louisville product immediately made an impact for the Utah Jazz and averaged 20.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game during his rookie season.

Mitchell spent four more seasons with the Jazz before getting dealt to the Cavs this past offseason. So far this season, he’s putting up 26.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from beyond the arc.

He’s helped lift the Cavs to fifth place in the Eastern Conference, and they look like a surefire playoff team. However, they’ll have to shore some things up down the stretch if they really want to make some noise.