Donovan Mitchell says he used to hate facing Darius Garland and realized, ‘Man, this kid is definitely special’

Cleveland Cavaliers floor general Darius Garland has long been one of the tougher covers at the point guard position in the NBA. He’s adept at putting the ball through the bottom of the net from both inside and outside the 3-point arc, and he can oftentimes get to where he wants to on the floor thanks to his speed and shiftiness.

However, defensive players have more to worry about than just Garland scoring the ball. He’s an adept playmaker as well and is leading the Cavaliers in assists per game in the 2024-25 season.

Garland’s current backcourt mate, Donovan Mitchell, claimed that he used to hate facing off against Garland in a recent interview with Ashley Holder of Cleveland 19 News.

“Because he was quick — is quick,” Mitchell said on what made it tough going up against Garland. “He can move. He doesn’t stop moving. He doesn’t know where he’s always gonna go, so as a defender, how are you gonna know where he’s gonna go, you know what I’m saying? That’s what makes him so special. Kinda like Kyrie [Irving] in a sense. Kinda just always can get to his spots, and it’s not always gonna look the exact same.

“I’d always bring up the game where we played here in Cleveland, when Evan [Mobley] blocked my layup at the end of the game. That was the year before I got traded here. And it was me versus D.G. We were battling. That was his first All-Star year, too. That was, to me, was like, ‘Man, this kid is definitely special.'”

Mitchell played against Garland when the former was a member of the Utah Jazz earlier on in his pro career. Garland began his NBA career after Mitchell did, as the point guard was selected in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft while the shooting guard was selected in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft.

Mitchell mentioned that Garland had a memorable performance against him in Garland’s first All-Star season, which means the game in question transpired during the 2021-22 campaign. That also marked Mitchell’s final campaign playing for the Jazz.

Garland averaged a career-high 21.7 points per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from 3-point range that season. The Cavaliers won 44 games during the 2021-22 regular season and reached the play-in tournament before being eliminated.

Now, Garland and Mitchell are long removed from playing on separate teams, as they’re amid their third season as teammates and have formed one of the league’s most effective scoring duos. They’re both averaging 20-plus points per game this season for a Cavaliers team that has already locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the 2025 NBA Playoffs.

Mitchell can breathe a major sigh of relief at the fact that he no longer has to worry about playing against Garland as an opponent, and hopefully, the duo can help Cleveland to its second title in franchise history this year.