Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell is a former Slam Dunk Contest champion, but he only has two dunks in the 2024-25 season.
The Cavs star threw down a vicious dunk in the Cavs win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night, and he shocked two of his teammates in the process.
#LETEMKNOW, DONNY. pic.twitter.com/Pdmjh8LLBe
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) December 17, 2024
“For me, it’s more of a choice,” Mitchell said about his lack of dunking this season. “Why exert that energy if I don’t have to? Tonight, it was really a statement. My friends in my group chat, you all know who you are, they were clowning me and talking about my attempts this year. I figured, why not tonight? Why not at home?”
So far this season, Mitchell only has two dunks on four attempts. Cavs big man Jarrett Allen shared that it was nice to see his teammate rise up and dunk again on Monday.
“It was good to see him getting back into the dunk game,” teammate Allen sarcastically told cleveland.com. “It was a good dunk. A throwback. Vintage Donovan Mitchell. He still has that in him.”
Allen wasn’t the only Cavs player that was glad to see that the five-time All-Star can still get up with the best of them in the NBA.
“I haven’t seen him dunk in a long, long time,” Cavs guard Darius Garland added while laughing in the locker room. “Even the warmups, when he throws it off the glass, it’s nice but it’s not the same force or intensity he used to have. I think him getting close to 30 is definitely a thing.”
While Mitchell may not be attempting as many highlight-reel finishes as he once used to, he’s still off to a great start in the 2024-25 season for the Cavs.
The star guard is averaging 23.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 44.8 percent from the field and 40.4 percent from beyond the arc. If his 3-point percentage holds through the season, it would be the first time in Mitchell’s career where he’s shot over 40 percent from deep.
In addition to Mitchell’s individual success, the Cavs are thriving to start the 2024-25 season as a team. They currently hold the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 23-4 record after Monday’s win over Brooklyn.
Mitchell finished Monday’s game with 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field (3-for-10 from 3), three rebounds, five assists and four steals. The Cavs ended up dominating the Nets, winning by 29 points.
The next chance for Mitchell and the Cavs to build on their impressive record will be on Friday, Dec. 20 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
While Cavs fans – and Mitchell’s teammates – may not get to see the All-Star guard dunk the ball every game, he certainly still has some impressive finishes in him that he could break out at any time, like he did on Monday.
