Donovan Mitchell on The Cavs #1 Seed, Career “MJ Moment,” Attending LeBron’s "Decision" & More | EP 135

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Do you wear contacts out there?

No.

So you're just out there with blurry-ass vision shooting?

You're dropping 71 with blurry visions.

I got to get my guy some LASIK, man.

This dude's shooting threes while he's buffering.

I can't believe

Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, a wondry show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by DraftKings.

That's right.

Shout out to DraftKings.

We're your hosts.

I'm Travis Kelsey.

This is my brother, Jason Kelsey, out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, representing the land, baby, the 216 or 440, depending on where you are in the city.

Subscribe on YouTube, Wondry Plus, wherever you get your podcast and follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with 1S for fun clips throughout the week.

Jason, let the people know what we got coming up.

What do you got there?

A little canteen and we got a special episode, Trav.

Of course we do.

Obviously, from Cleveland.

And we got a pretty Cleveland episode coming up.

That's what I'm talking about.

Coming to you on a Friday.

Hey,

I got this from an artist on Etsy.

Oh, nice.

You're a big Etsy guy.

Well, I'm a big artist guy.

I like so much.

Tell the people what that is that don't know.

So this is Rick Baugh from the movie Major League.

That is not Charlie Sheen.

Well, listen, they did their best, and it's close enough to me.

I think it's pretty cool.

a wild thing right there, though.

But yeah, we're coming to you on a Friday with another guest episode.

This time, we're getting ready for the NBA Playoffs with Cleveland's own Donovan Mitchell.

That's right, baby.

That's right.

We're going to get into NBA Playoffs.

It's time at Louisville with Lamar Jackson, ranked some throwback jerseys, and so much more.

You're going to love this episode.

Hope everybody's getting geared up for the NBA playoffs outside of Philadelphia because Philadelphia Sixers are not very good this year, year, unfortunately, but Cavs are.

Oh, baby.

Cavs are good.

We had best ones on recently.

The Knicks.

The East is exciting, baby.

I'm hoping Cavs Knicks find a way to meet each other in the playoffs because I've been wanting to go to a Madison Square guarding game during the playoffs since I was a kid.

Are you going to remember to wear Cleveland stuff this time, Travis?

What?

Oh,

talking about the Yankees game?

Yeah, yeah.

No,

I'll be Cleveland threaded from here on out.

Yeah, I'll be rocking Cavs gear.

And right now, I'm rocking guards gear as well as the MLB season

gets started as well.

It's been a Cleveland day, baby.

You guys are going to enjoy this one, though, man.

Donovan's the fucking superstar on the court, a superstar human being off the court.

Let's get to it.

Our guest today is a first-round pick from the University of Louisville.

Slam dunk contest champion, six-time NBA All-Star, and the starting shooting guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, the number one seed,

Mr.

Donovan Richel, baby.

Sir, I appreciate y'all, man.

I appreciate y'all.

No, thank you for coming on, big guy.

How you liking Cleveland, man?

You just resigned out there, man.

Is the city treating you well?

Man, I love it, man.

I tell people all the time, this big, big part of why I came back.

Obviously, basketball is, you know, what it is, but you know, we live here too.

Y'all know when you live, you live there.

So I love it, man.

The people are great.

City's great.

i love the cold too so i'm not really tripping on that there we go there we go that lake effect comes in not everybody's ready for that lake effect

that's different it's different but it's different but i'm not i'm from new york so it's not that bad yeah there we go well i as a as a fellow clevelander and a cavs fan since i was a little kid man i appreciate you embracing the city man it's hard to keep you know the big superstars of the league and in markets like cleveland and and in the midwest and stuff like that so i just appreciate you embracing everything and honestly taking us to new heights and taking us to the next level, man.

Because this year, you guys have been absolutely on fire, man.

And you coming back was a huge, huge part of that, brother.

Yes, sir.

I appreciate you guys.

I'm excited.

I'm excited for the playoffs, too.

Yes,

hell yeah.

All righty, let's start it off with some new news.

Don, I don't know if you know, but we start all of our shows off of new news.

We do like to get a new news from our guests.

So typically, I'll say, like, new news, then I'll come in, like, new news.

So, can you give us your best new news with us?

New news.

That sounded like a steamboat.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Hey, that's

right there.

That's a he knows how to fit within.

There we go.

You guys know your role.

I know you're rolling.

All right.

The NBA playoffs are starting today.

Yes, sir.

The Cavs are the one seed in the East.

This is the first time the Cavs have earned the top seed since their championship run in 2015, 2016.

Shout out to that season.

Trav and I were at one of those games, which was awesome.

How do you feel about after 82 games?

Man, I feel like, you know, we accomplished so much.

You know what I mean?

You, you, you, we had the first two years and things.

You know, we continue to take a step each year.

And now, you know, you just look at the evolution of really everybody on the team.

You know, you got DG back to form.

Avin Mobley's been all-NBA phenomenal.

Unbelievable.

Defensive player of the year.

Ty Jerome,

sixth man of the year.

We added Dre,

who's also six man of the year candidate.

Sam Merrell's been great.

Isaac's taking the step.

Dean, Jared Allen played all 82 games.

Unbelievable, man.

You get a big dude like that to play all 82.

That shit is insane, man.

Especially in today's event.

You got to love it.

Exactly, exactly.

But like for him, for us, man, it's just like Max Strews after he started the season off injured, coming back and being great for us to start in the lineup.

So it's great, man.

Like you said, this is, it's really two seasons.

You got the regular season, you got the postseason.

So for what we did in the regular season, man, you know, A, A-plus, you know, we did a lot of positive things, learned a lot about ourselves, and now we get to translate all that, you know, to when it really gets going.

Yeah, baby.

When it all matters, man.

We're all fucking pumped for it, dog.

And I tell everybody all the time, man, NBA basketball is cool, but watching you guys play basketball together, you guys are on a completely different wavelength.

You guys move the ball so fucking well.

You guys get up and down the floor.

You have so many different styles of basketball depending on if you guys got your starting five or those two six man of the year candidates that you guys got.

So it's like it's just so fun to watch you guys go to work.

And then on top of that, when you guys have home games, I wish I'm on the floor every because you guys get the stadium fucking rocking, man.

You guys make sure that the Kaz fans are in it, man.

And I just love it, man.

I can't wait to get back for a game in this playoffs, man.

Yes, sir.

And we appreciate that, man.

The crowd, man, is fucking unreal, bro.

Like, you know, like the game, I didn't play that game when y'all came.

Um, I know, we got to get back this year just so we can see my man get out there.

It's just different.

The city is different.

The fans are different.

I was here during one of the finals games in 2017, maybe my first year I got drafted.

And it really don't, nothing beats it.

You got the whiteout jersey or the blackout.

You know, it's just, it's just different.

What's the announcer?

Cleveland Heights.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

He'd been there

before I got to the league.

I was like, man, like, when I got traded here, I was like, man, like, I'm excited for that.

He gets it rocking.

He gets it rocking.

He's every year, every game, he's always good.

He's good with it for sure.

Trump's been doing it for a while, man.

I actually played basketball with his little brother up at Heights, man, in high school, man.

Yeah.

It's funny how it was all tied in.

But we're recording this a little early, so we don't know exactly who the Cavs are playing yet.

Do you like the play-in format?

You know what I mean?

Because I feel like it's almost like half of the league gets a chance to make the playoffs now instead of like just the top eight teams at both conferences I think it's good from a

viewing standpoint from like an intensity standpoint from a you know every game like you look at the last game the Warriors Clippers like all eyes were on that game like you know what I'm saying like so I think from that standpoint it's phenomenal um as a one and two seed Not so much because then we got to wait till Friday to kind of figure out what we're doing.

Because last year we were four, so we knew all week who we were playing.

We knew we were playing Orlando.

The year before that, we knew we were playing playing New York.

But from a one to two seed, I wish we knew

all week.

We know who we were playing.

But I think from a fan standpoint, it's definitely like that was a high-intensity game, man.

That Warriors, Clippers game.

They can't

do what he does.

Kawhi, James, the guys, you know, competing at a high level.

So from a viewer standpoint, it's awesome.

So I think that's the cool part.

But, you know, selfishly speaking, I wish we knew

all week for sure.

How much does it change up based on the opponent that you're going to end up seeing?

Like, for us, it's similar.

You know, let's say somebody has the one seed locked up and you're waiting to see who's going to win that first playoff game.

You end up preparing a lot of times for both teams and seeing kind of the different structures of both of them because

you're trying to get ahead of that, but

it changes up a lot in football.

How much does it change up as somebody who I don't know nothing about strategy for basketball, to be honest with you?

How much does it change up based on the opponent you're playing, what you guys are going to do?

Yeah, I think

I don't think you plan right now.

I think you kind of let the first game happen.

I think you kind of narrow it down to two teams.

I think you don't let it go to four.

This is my second time doing this.

The first time was in Utah when we were the one seed, and we prepared for just two.

I think we're doing something similar right now.

I think you kind of let tonight's game happen

and then you are cool.

It's going to be either.

Orlando or Atlanta.

You narrow that down and wait till Wednesday.

That game happens.

Then it's like, I bet, you know, you prepare for

those two teams.

You can kind of just leave it at that.

But it's kind of similar to what you're doing, but I don't think you prepare for all four because that's, that's shaky.

Yeah, that's a lot.

The majority of our fan base is really football and all that.

I know you were a multi-sport guy playing, I believe, baseball, right?

You were a baseball, basketball guy.

Heck yeah, man.

And you went to Louisville, the mecca for baseball, really, the Louisville sluggard and everything.

Did you ever like think about playing baseball at Louisville?

Yeah, I mean, not at Louisville.

Coach Petino was enough.

Man,

I had Petino making a run in my bracket this year.

I do too, I'm not going to lie.

I had them winning the whole thing, to be honest.

That kind of hurt me.

I had them going all the way.

I did, you know, but like I said, those Patino practices, dog, like...

You didn't want to do shit else after that.

I don't think I had much time to do that.

Our team, you know, that year I was there, we had two guys, I I think made the league, or three or three, you know, Corey Ray played for the Rays.

Yep.

Will Smith, who just won the World Series for the Dodgers.

He's a catcher.

Wow.

Brandon McKay,

he was there as well, starting pitcher.

I forgot where he's at now, maybe Detroit.

Josh Rogers is on the Yankees.

We had a lot of guys who were really talented when I was there.

I'm definitely missing a bunch.

So I wasn't that level.

I wasn't that good at that point.

You know, I took two years off, but I definitely didn't want to play basketball.

That was

man, not my joke, my route.

When did it really set in that that was what you wanted to do?

My 10th grade year, I broke my wrist.

And junior year, I was like, you know what?

I just missed playing basketball.

Like, just as a kid, you're just like, you know, you just want to hoop.

Like, you know what I mean?

And that's when I really started taking it seriously was my junior year of high school.

And from that point on, you know,

there's only one thing to do.

You know, you got to win three NBA championships in a row, and then you just go start playing base.

Baseball.

That's how you do it right there.

What position did you play again?

Pitcher and shortstop.

I was nice.

I'm a humble person, but I was.

No, we know the deal.

Yeah, I don't want to take away anything from the guys who play baseball because it's the hardest shit to make the league anyway.

But I felt like my chances, you know, were

you were looking left and right.

You were seeing the guys that you were playing with.

You see them in the league, and you're just like, yeah, I probably couldn't.

Yeah, if I would have dedicated myself,

I think I would have had a shot for sure.

Anybody with a nickname Spider is going to be a damn good shortstop.

I know that.

All right.

Come on.

There you go.

That's a hell of a way to play it.

Yeah, the one thing I couldn't do, though, is I couldn't play football.

No, no, come on, man.

I've seen you're one of the most athletic guys I've ever seen on

the floor.

Everybody tell me I got the body forward.

I got all that.

But, like, I can't take a hit from shit.

We'll keep it moving here.

I was telling you a lot of people listening to this that are football

lovers.

But in terms of the basketball storylines going into the NBA right now, we got the Lakers trade for Luca.

They got

all these crazy Job Morant celebrations.

The Nuggets actually fired their coach right before the postseason started.

And even the Houston Rockets absolutely do a 180 from last year to this year and are the two seed in the West.

And, you know, Kwai Leonard is healthy for a playoff run.

What are the craziest, like, what does it feel like being in this crazy melting pot of like the NBA storylines and you guys being the number one seed in the East?

Yeah, I mean, it means our league is in a good place.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, you know, at the end of the day, this is a sport.

We, you know, like, we play the sport for the sport, but it's also business, too.

Like, it's good for business.

Like, you know what I mean?

There's a lot going on.

There's a lot of positive things going on in this league.

A lot of talent in this league.

You know what I mean?

So I think that's something that, you know.

We truly appreciate.

We enjoy.

You know, waking up to seeing Lucas traded is crazy.

That was wild.

I mean, that's got to be on the on the team group chat right there.

Did you see Mark Cuban's facial expression when Luca drops?

His like

of the season?

I know.

I know Mark.

Sure, man.

I know he is.

But it's just like, nobody's safe.

Like, you know what I mean?

Nobody's safe.

Y'all know it.

And y'all support like nobody's safe.

And, you know, it's.

I'm speechless still to this day.

You know, we've been watching him go back.

Like, you know, y'all are.

Their GM can't even do interviews with microphones or cameras right now.

He just feels like he's in such a hot seat that he has to do it a specific way.

But who knows how that's going to end up shaking out in the West?

I know we got the best team in the East.

I will say this, though.

We mentioned the Luka trading, going back, and him dropping 45

in Dallas.

How was it for you playing back in Utah?

Because you started there.

You had such an awesome start to your career there.

When you came to Cleveland and went back there for the first time,

how did that feel?

Because me and Jason, we've only played on one team in the NFL.

So I'm just curious, how did that feel going back into a place that you had called home?

I was excited for that game, to be honest.

I think just because, you know,

the only other return, like, you know, the

goat of return games, I guess you want to call it, is Bron coming back here, right?

So, like, for me, it was like, man, like, this is going to be fun.

At that time, I didn't know if I was going to get booed.

I didn't know if I was going to get cheered.

Like, it wasn't dead.

Like, Lucas was like, we knew they were going to come cheer.

Like,

I didn't really know what was going to happen.

So I told my teammates, like, look, I'm an unselfish guy.

I know I like to pass the ball and whatnot, but there's one game I promise you, I'm going to shoot every time I touch

back in Utah.

No, it was fun.

The reception was great, you know, and you just feel like you're playing at home for real because you're used to the rims, used to all that, you know, the background, you're seeing familiar faces, and the people are great around the organization and whatnot.

So, it was definitely

one of those moments where it was great to go back and see everybody.

I didn't know what to expect, but

had a lot of fun for sure.

Yeah.

Hell yeah.

That's awesome.

What's up with the John Morant celebration?

Is that the finger guns thing again?

Oh, he took it up a little.

He took it up a notch.

I got to see it.

What was up a notch?

It wasn't just like a pew-pew.

It wasn't like a little.

He done got the grenades now.

I say this.

The celebration is hard, though.

I'm not going to lie.

The celebration is hard.

The whole, you know what I mean?

The whole, all that.

I saw Dirk doing it in the suite.

He was over here.

He's feeling it.

Like, to me, I'm like, all right, that's dope.

He got kids doing it now.

But, you know, I mean, I don't know.

It's a lot.

Like, you know, it's been a whole

thing, man.

You know, my message is leave guns alone, kids.

Everybody, leave guns alone.

You know, for the celebration.

Do what you do.

I don't think in the con in the con, like the, the, sorry, not to go up, but in the, in the idea of like a basketball game, like shooting is more like I'm killing.

Like, I'm shooting the basketball.

Like, Pistol Pete is one of the most iconic NBA players of all.

Name is a gun, right?

This context.

Like, you know what I mean?

It's Christ's basketball.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like, nobody's saying, let's go play with guns outside.

That's not what we're advocating for.

I feel you.

All right.

Now, that does it for new news.

We did our homework, though.

Outside of the playoffs, we do want to ask you about an insane career milestone.

You dropped 71 fucking points against the Bulls, man.

So crazy.

What is that the most, like in terms of high school, college?

That's got to be the most you've ever scored, right?

For sure.

Yeah, the most by far.

And you did it at the highest level.

That is insane, man.

What does it feel like?

I tell people, like,

it didn't feel crazy until overtime.

Like, because we were down 20.

People don't understand.

We were down 20 at halftime.

I had

16 points at halftime.

I had 16 points at halftime.

Time out.

You had 71 and 16 and a half.

It's crazy.

Wow.

This is the craziest.

I was in a shooting slope about like a week and a half, two weeks before that.

I mean, like, couldn't make a shot.

And it was one of those times where, like, you know, like, when you're supposed to catch a ball and it's like, damn, you drop it.

It's like, you're just going through one of the moments where it's just like, damn, it's not rolling.

Like, it's just not going well right now.

So, like, that was the week and a half stretch it was for me.

I'm getting good looks, not falling.

Uh, and I never forget, and I don't, I don't know if I even told Brad Doherty this, who's right right over here somewhere.

Here we go.

You know, I told him, like, he told me, he sat down, he was like, keep going, you know, and then he brought up MJ.

I'm not saying that's what got me going, but like, it was very, he brought up MJ in the sense of like just the way he competed or just comparing it to me in some, in some way, shape, or form.

And then after the game, I was like, holy shit, like, you know what I mean?

Like, I had my little, like, oh, yeah, my MJ moment.

Like, you know what I mean?

Hell yeah.

You were in the zone.

Throughout that process, throughout the game, it didn't feel crazy until I looked up and I saw like 68 or 69.

I was like,

this is fucking

shit.

That's what I'm doing right now.

Yeah.

I'm at the free throw line where I'm like smiling and I'm looking up like, you know, my teammates, like, well, missed the free throw.

Like, that was really when it really, really hit me what I was doing for real.

You're breaking the internet, man.

You had social media going nuts.

The closest thing I've ever felt to that was beer pong.

You just walked in and I'm just draining him.

It's like, yeah, next on the table.

Bye.

You like slap the water off of it, the beer off of it, and you're freaking rolling.

Somebody's walking in the door, you're bouncing it on them.

It's just everything's going in.

God, I'm the fucking man.

That's got to be insane on MBA Court.

What's the good feeling on Verpong tape?

I've been there.

Oh, man.

What would be the equivalent in the NFL to 71 points?

I'm asking both of you guys that.

What do you think it would be?

I mean, the Randy lost stuff.

It's got to be the touchdown record, no?

I would say either touchdown or rushing yards in a game or touchdown.

I think

if you get over like 230 on the ground in a game, I feel like

that's a milestone.

I think Randy had like three catches for over like 150 or like 200 yards or something like that.

Didn't he have that?

It was like three touchdowns, three catches for like 180 yards.

It was something stupid like that.

What about the touchdown record for quarterback?

Like, what if the seven touchdowns for the first time?

He Foles.

Nick Foles.

I knew that.

Jason was sapping him in the ball the whole game.

He had six in a game.

We installed a brand new set of passing plays with Chip Kelly's offense, and the Raiders had no fucking idea what we were doing.

Deshaun Jackson's running all over the place.

It was unbelievable.

It was so fun.

Yeah, I feel like that's definitely

rushing yards for sure.

What's the single game rushing record?

I don't even know.

I think I saw Jamal Lewis break it as a Cleveland Brown.

Really?

I think

Jamal Lewis, I think it went for like three hits.

It might have got broken since then, but Travis is right.

When Jamal was in Cleveland, I think he did set it um

our uh this is why we pay these guys adrian peterson 296.

no way that is not it in one game that's amazing we mentioned you went to louisville um

at the same time as lamar jackson you guys were like the football and basketball like

icons at that point in uh in college uh sports.

How was it?

Did you guys, did you always go to the football games when you could?

I mean, seeing that man live in college was probably fucking unreal.

Bro, it was crazy because like,

you watched the progression.

You know, like, he came in, he backed somebody up freshman year.

Yeah.

No, excuse me.

He was third string.

I think.

Shout out to Reggie.

He's at Louisville now.

Reggie Bonifant.

He was there.

He got hurt.

Then the backup to him got hurt.

And then he played.

Threw an interception.

Didn't look like running around.

Didn't really look like he had it all together trying to figure it out.

You know, freshman year, like, you know, trying to figure it out.

And then that next season, man, it was just like,

I don't know what clicked, but you see it now in the field.

Like, he's, he's, he's a pro, he goes about it.

Like, you know, he's proving his throwing.

He's making his reads, you know, different things.

He's when to run, when to pass.

And I don't know if it was that year you went to hybrid or the year after.

You're just watching, like, what do you call it?

Showtime legacy.

You just watching Showtime.

You watch it.

We

know when Florida State out by 40.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

Jumping over people against Syracuse.

But yeah,

it was his school.

Like, it wasn't like Louisville was a basketball town.

Oh, yeah.

But those years, it was like, it was him.

Like, even though Pacino was there, we was doing it, it was him.

Like, it was, it was one of the craziest things I've ever seen.

Everybody was hype.

Every game, every game was lit.

Like, it was, um, to see what he's doing now, I'm not shocked.

Like, you know what I mean?

You just saw it.

Um, and then we used to hoop, too.

That's why people don't know.

We used to hoop.

He could hoop a little?

He's nice.

Like, he got bounce and he could really, he could really hoop.

So, okay.

So he would have stunk contests actually, man.

It was crazy.

We would have dunk contests and different things.

And

he was definitely one of the most athletic athletic guys i've ever seen what's he doing dunk contests he going in between the legs 360 what's a few windmills um

okay we had some guys on that team too who who made the league i don't know if you know john grenard who's on the texans oh yeah absolutely yeah he was on that team um

i'm missing names but there's a bunch of guys we had a talented team we had a talented group but yeah he was obviously you know the lead uh for sure he's another level man i still even i tell this story a lot you know we're in a tag off period in the practice.

And he gives a juke move to a linebacker, makes this dude fall down, not even trying to tackle him, just trying to touch him.

Like they're playing tag, basically, and my man falling all over the place and both sidelines.

Like, that's how you know when you're good.

You're in a joint practice, and both sidelines are like that.

Oh,

he's got it.

What the fuck was he?

Oh, shit.

Yeah, he's different.

I've always wanted, I saw him play when he played out here.

Cleveland fans did not like that I wore his jersey.

Didn't realize that that was a

personal connection.

They got a respect.

Didn't realize that that was a big thing, but they got it.

But

he's watching him play live, and obviously y'all play against him.

I was pissed when y'all beat him, Trevor.

I ain't going to lie to you.

That dude is a stud, man.

It takes all 11 on the field to tackle that man or try and stop that guy.

Every time we play him, it's always an instant classic.

Literally,

he's doing something crazy every single game we played him.

And we've gone back and forth, man.

That was the ACC at that point, right?

You guys were in the ACC?

Yeah.

We're still

doing it.

When me and Jason were in college, Louisville was still in the Big East.

So

I wasn't sure if you

back in the day, man, back when the Big East, Madison Square Garcia, especially for basketball, man.

It was never a football conference, but that basketball conference was so awesome.

That basketball was like the Syracuse,

Y'all, Louisville,

Georgetown.

Did you ever go to the Big East Tourney up in New York?

I've went to,

I want to say one time, maybe, maybe one time, but that was, that was really it.

Who was your team growing up?

I was going to say,

yeah.

Once you knew basketball was your Carolina?

When I was getting, even before that, like Michael Jordan, Carolina.

I was, until I committed to Louisville,

I was waiting until I got an offer.

I was putting schools to the side.

I was like, no, if I get an offer from Carolina, I'm going.

I don't care if I sit.

I don't care if I play.

I don't care if I walk on.

I'm going to Carolina.

This is what I'm doing.

And then I visited Louisville and I was like, well, fuck all that.

But no, that was Carolina was the school.

It's funny.

We had the same dream, man, except for I only got an offer from the Mac in basketball.

Shout out to the Mac.

I'm maxing all day.

Hold the spire, though.

That's not, that's too smart athlete.

There you go.

You know what I'm saying?

Well, he could have played at Cincinnati if you wouldn't have got hurt.

That was kind of in the way.

I think there was a lot of stuff that was,

I don't know, needed to get ironed out for me to play on the basketball team.

One was me going to class.

I had to actually go to class if I wanted to play on the basketball team.

Didn't West Virginia come in late, too, with Bob Huggins?

Listen, the Hugs, Hugs came in.

There was a chance for me to be on the team and then earn a scholarship, I think.

But that whole situation was weird because Hugs had just got there.

Oh, that is whatever.

But that's cool, though, man.

So do you never, you never got the call from Carolina?

Never got the call.

The only day they're kicking themselves.

Coolest thing, the coolest thing that I, in college, we played at Carolina.

We lost.

I had

one of my career highs at the moment at that time.

And Roy Williams said, man, I made a mistake in the handshake line.

That's respect.

I was like, you know what?

That was probably at that time, that was the coolest thing to me.

I didn't really care.

I was like, all right, like, I may not be there, but like, I got the respect.

That's awesome.

You got the respect.

And he told me that, and I was like, all right, like, hell yeah, you know, especially for like, you know, you want to go somewhere, you hear that.

That's that's the ultimate, that's the ultimate respect.

We were talking a little bit about Cleveland being upset with you for wearing the Lamar jersey.

Uh, we got to talk a little bit about you attending the decision in person.

How about that?

The most controversial

thing in Cleveland history, to be honest with you.

No, I don't remember when this happened anymore because it's all been forgiven.

It's all been forgiven.

But at the time, it was insane.

Yeah.

So I lived in New York.

I went to school in Greenwich, Connecticut.

And

everybody was just like, yo, like, Brian's doing the decision at the Boys and Girls Club.

I'm like, here?

Like,

why is he like, you know what I mean?

They didn't believe it.

And then this time, I'm a Nick fan.

I love Brom, but I'm a Nick fan.

Like, if I had to choose a team, I'm a Nick fan.

New York was in the running for it.

Right.

So at that time, yeah, they were in the running.

I'm like, mom, it was like one of those things, you know, you could drop up at the mall to hang out with friends.

You could draw like, my, you got to drop me off here.

I'm going.

So we go.

There is, I don't, maybe

dramatic when I say, there's probably like a 2,000 people outside at this place.

That's crazy.

And we have no idea where he's coming in from.

And I never forget we see a car come down the hill.

It's like a regular car, like a right Nissan.

Like he tried to blend in.

So it just drove

smart in the back.

I wasn't inside.

People think I was inside.

People try to point out that I was one of the kids.

I wasn't me.

I wasn't inside.

I was outside.

And when he said I was probably the only person that wanted him to go to Miami to join in the crowd, in the crowd.

I was like, probably the only person.

Everybody else is Knicks fans.

Okay, gotcha.

Okay.

So I'm like, all right.

Like, I would Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosch.

I'm hyped.

So once he decides it, it was like a riot.

Like, I tell you, the level of like it was not safe for any children to be outside.

throwing bottles.

You're gonna

do this in the New York Boys and Girls Club and say you're going down south, right?

Like, that was,

I, I, I was in danger.

Like, I was like, all right, I need to figure out how to get out of here because people are purely pissed off.

Like, people are like trying to get to the, get to where he entry entered from and all that.

But I'm hype.

I'm screaming, like, Miami, like, yeah, you know, all those different things.

But it was cool, man.

It was, it was a cool experience.

Full circle moment.

I'm here now.

Like, you know what I mean?

Like, it's, it's one of those life life moments that it's just like, you can't script these things.

You know what I'm saying?

And

I hope Cleveland fans are okay with me saying I want him to go to Miami.

I did.

But, you know, it was, it's, it's one of those things, man.

It's just really cool to really be here now and, you know, kind of do our own legacy in that regard as well.

I think it's pretty dope.

And you're doing it, man.

Cleveland, at the time, it was crazy.

I mean, it was another level of like people mad and like hatred.

Yeah.

But it, like Travis said, said, it's all been, you know, water under the bridge at this point.

He ended up coming back.

It ended up being awesome for LeBron's career.

Like what ended up transpiring ended up being great for everybody involved.

Cleveland still got their championship.

Except for the Knicks.

The Knicks didn't get the...

That's right.

The Knicks definitely lost out big time.

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Let's talk a little bit of Cleveland, baby.

What was your first impression of the land, man?

Did you know anything about Cleveland uh before coming to it not a damn thing man to be honest but i never left the hotel but that's me in general i don't leave the hotel um so all i saw from that ritz was what's the area where they're building a new practice facility now um

oh the water yeah right there on the

not the water it's um where all the what is it

tower city right yeah yeah oh you're just talking about yeah tower city and everything i'll tell you what tower city can can it could be a fucking scene exactly so i'm like that's all i saw so i'm thinking, okay, that's what they got.

And then they got the Guardians and the Browns.

And, you know, that's it.

Yeah.

Yeah, man, when I got here, I moved to the west side.

And just being around

like the energy that is in this place for real, like the people, they're cool.

They rock with you.

They leave you alone.

Like, they'll let you be.

There's so much more here than I thought, to be honest, like from the food standpoint.

Playhouse Square is dope.

I don't want to give away all the locations I'll be going to, but like like the beach with the mall is probably fire.

I'll be there a bunch.

You go to beachwood, sure.

You're on the east side right there.

You're coming over to the east side.

Oh, yeah, man.

All right, yeah.

I took the long drive.

I took the long drive over there.

Please don't come follow me over there on random Tuesday.

My hoodie up.

Then I go to a lot of, I actually go to a lot of like high school games, like try to, you know, show love and community in that regard.

I think is cool.

But, you know, I don't really, you know, I don't be outside.

I don't really do too much.

I'm really just a homebody.

And, you know, for me, this place is perfect for me.

You said Playhouse Square.

You going up there seeing some ballets or some plays?

Yeah, so nah, it was,

I went to see Alicia Keys' show

in New York.

So then I ended up, you know, we ended up doing something together again here in Cleveland.

And then we have team events there and whatnot.

And just seeing it all lit up at night is

pretty fun.

Oh, it's magical, man.

The food scene is really good.

I really enjoy eating downtown.

I've got a few spots I got to shout out to.

My favorite spot.

I can't eat there much because I got to stay in shape.

It's Zanzibar.

Zanzibar.

I got to check this out.

Right by the arena.

Yeah, by the way.

Right by?

So it's over, like, what, what, six?

See, now you get, I don't know the streets.

Like, Jason doesn't know either.

I don't know.

Don't let me fuck with you.

I was at Cleveland Heights all growing up.

I barely ever went down there.

Yeah, exactly.

Why do you think Cleveland gets a bad rat?

I think because people only go downtown and they see

what I saw, which was not Tower City.

I'm thinking of all the construction area.

I don't know the mining.

I don't know what it's called.

I know what you're talking about, like the outside of it.

Yeah.

Right there.

So they see that and they think that that just represents the entire city of Cleveland, which is not the case.

And it also is cold.

And some people just don't like the cold.

I like the cold.

There we go.

I prefer it to be cold than it.

You know what I mean?

And I'm right there with you, man.

I think you hit the nail on the head.

It's like Cleveland isn't like a big downtown city.

It's just not.

Like a lot of the, a lot of what happens happens on like the outskirts.

And unless you know where you're going, it's hard to kind of like, it doesn't have like that thriving area like a lot of other places do uh that like tourists like but once you know people and like you know spots like it's great people it's very community driven there's like a personal connection that the city has that i think is charming it's just hard for tourists to feel that you pretty much are saying that exact same thing they make you feel you feel the love too that's my thing like you feel the genuine love like it's especially from a and then you feel it in the arena but that's natural anywhere you play you feel the energy in the arena but when you leave you feel like like you're one of them.

Like, you know, you feel like, you know, you feel that.

And I think that's something that is really underrated, especially in our profession, because, you know, we're professionals.

Like, this is just business.

Like, you're not college.

This isn't high school.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

But, like, the love you feel

from the community is.

Top tier.

You know what I mean?

I think it's something that really drove me to stay.

I keep telling people that.

And people didn't believe me until I resigned, man.

I kept trying to tell you

because you just don't see that out of

all the superstars, man.

And as a Cleveland kid myself, man, thank you for coming back again, bro.

The tourist destinations.

Have you been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

You know what's crazy?

I've never been.

I've drive by a lot of people.

I've never been.

You have more fun.

I'll tell you, it's fun to go to, man.

It is shocking.

All the memorabilia they have in there, all the experiences.

It's pretty dope.

That one's good.

The Science Museum's good.

Oh,

that was what I was doing.

I'm a nerd, so I'd love that type of shit.

It's right next door.

It's right next door.

Yeah, it's right next door.

It's in between the football stadium and the rock and roll.

Oh, so that's that gray building that's like they got the little, okay, I know what you're talking about.

Okay, I didn't know that.

Yeah, that's it's right there.

I used to go there.

Used to sign up every year for that field trip, baby.

Have you been Cedar Point or I guess now it's six lags, right?

I gotta go.

That's the one thing.

I really want to do that.

I really want to do it.

Cedar Point's the best in the world, man.

I'm telling you, you got to do it.

I got it.

That's the one I really, I really got to do.

But also.

Do you like roller coasters?

No.

But I got to do it.

I'm afraid.

I'm afraid.

I'm afraid.

But I'll do it because I really want to go.

And everybody keeps talking about it.

But, like,

I'm afraid.

I'm afraid of Flaunt, let alone roller coasters.

We got to get you on Millennium Forest.

I know we're going to Millennium Forest.

He said, I'm afraid.

I can't wait to sit next to you on Millennium Forest.

We're going.

I can't do it.

I'm telling you.

I'll go.

I'll observe and I'll just go, you know, be supportive to my friends where I want to go.

I'll be chilling chilling on the bench with the Dipper Dots.

Exactly.

It's exactly what I've been doing.

Exactly.

So when we were growing up, there were the Cleveland Rockets.

There was a WNBA team in Cleveland.

You said you would love to see the WNBA team return to Cleveland.

Have you heard any updates about this?

Any murmur throughout the facilities or anything like that?

Can you give us a little insight if we could actually get a WNBA team back in Cleveland?

I won't give too much.

I've heard different things, but I won't say what I've heard.

You know what I mean?

Obviously, no more than probably what you guys have heard, to be honest.

But I think it'd be dope.

I mean, I love just going to watch the W in general.

First of all, they're in a phenomenal place, and they're only going to continue to get bigger and bigger and better.

I think Cleveland is the perfect place for it.

Just like I said, everything I just said to you about the community, the vibe, the support, the love.

Oh, yeah.

You know, I think this is, you know, a perfect place for it.

And on top of that, the season's in the summer.

I mean, this is

in the summer, man, is

like we need more teams in the league for sure.

I mean, Cleveland's a perfect place.

I'm with you on that.

All right.

You want to get to some blind rankings?

Blind rankings.

Let's do it.

Let's do it.

Let's do it, man.

Something we like to do on this show is something called blind rankings.

We show you 10 things and we rank them 1 to 10 without knowing what's coming next.

I'm sure you've played before.

Do we want to do dunk contests or do we want to do NBA throwback jerseys?

I'll let you pick.

We do throwback jerseys.

Throwback jerseys.

All right, let's do some throwback jerseys.

We're doing blind ranking one to ten.

Hit us with the first one, Brandon.

Oh,

Orlando Magic from the Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal era.

These jerseys are awesome.

Classics.

I'm going to go.

I'm going to go.

Classics.

10.

I'm going to go 10, though.

I'm not going to lie.

You're going to go 10?

The pinstripe?

I do think there's going to be a lot above this.

I do agree.

That's why I'm going to go 10 because I don't want to put...

Yeah, I feel like this is 10.

I'll ask you this.

What do you think is better?

The all-black ones are like the Tracy McGrady blue.

The ones with the little blue, little blue is hard.

The shorts on these go crazier than the top.

I will say that.

The stars on the side.

Yeah.

The shorts go crazier than the top.

All right, starting off with 10.

Sorry, Shaq.

Ooh, the Miami Heat Retros.

That's clean.

It's just a clean jersey.

See, here's the thing.

The problem with some of the not one of my favorites.

I'm not going to lie.

The bottoms are better than the top.

That's that.

No, we're doing the whole.

It's a whole outfit.

We're ranking it.

We'll definitely rank the whole outfit.

I'm going to go nine.

I'm going to go nine.

Man, we are.

We're hoping right now that we get through the jersey.

Please.

We're going more throwback than I thought maybe here.

Okay, let's go.

What do we got next, Brendan?

Now we're talking.

To me, that's top three.

Easy.

Man, I'm trying to think what.

Oh, man, with the mountains in the background.

Again, the shorts are.

Of course, the shorts are elite.

The shorts are elite.

Utah jazz from the 90s.

And the thing is, if it's a 90s jersey, I'm probably going to be biased towards that jersey for whatever reason, man.

Well, 90s had some good color schemes.

And the only thing I don't like about this is that jazz has nothing to do with mountains.

When I think of jazz, I don't think of mountains.

I think of New Orleans or something like that.

I don't think about 30.

I don't know, Jason.

Have you ever listened to some jazz up in the Rockies?

I have not.

I have not.

There you go.

But these are dope.

I love this color scheme.

Do you want to throw it at three?

It's still two.

I'm with it.

I'm with it.

That's a solid two right there.

These ones, hey, these raptors.

Oh, my gosh, they're good.

Fuck, man.

That's a a good one, dog.

Does it get better than that?

This one might be one of my all-time favorite hats.

I'm hoping the Grizzly jersey I'm thinking of is the one.

Hopefully, it's a good one.

All right, so we want to go three with this one because these Raptor jerseys were fucking.

I go three.

Unbelievable, man.

Three should be two.

I hear it.

Do we want to switch them?

I guess we can't now.

We already lost it.

Stay point of the game, Jason.

Damn it.

All right, Philly.

Sixers, Philadelphia Sixers, Iverson Era.

I don't think it's even their best jersey, but.

I don't think small either.

I'm going to go seven.

I'll i'll go seven

i'll go just because it was ai yeah honestly it's really because he's wearing the jersey to be honest

it's just that number three with his name everybody else in that jersey is like oh that's what we're weak in jersey

just the same kid

oh a throwback nets jersey right there so is this

which nets is this that's a great question so now it's obviously brooklyn but is this

ABA ABA okay these are really cool that's new jersey still is that still jersey that's a good question.

I wouldn't even

go.

All right.

I'm going to go.

We got 10, 9, 8.

I'm going to go 5.

I really like these.

I like the red, white, and blue.

So I'm going to go five.

There's something nice about it being clean.

The colors worked well.

The design is unique.

I like it.

Standing on top of that, it's Dr.

J, baby.

Like I said, it's about the person who's wearing it.

You know what I mean?

That afro gives it at least two bumps up.

You know what I mean?

The thing was aerodynamic, man.

This shit was crazy.

All right, here we go.

Hell, my dog, Ron Harper, and the Billy the Cavaliers.

Okay.

I'm going to go.

The socks are crazy.

Are those the Reebok pumps?

Bro, those are.

No, no, no.

Those are nice.

Those are nice.

They look like the Jazzer sizing socks.

Don't do my guy Harper like that, man.

The socks are crazy.

I'm going to go.

I'm going to.

I don't know any other jersey besides the, I'm going to go four.

I'm going to go four here.

Let's keep it up there.

Yeah, four.

I actually think I have the Brad Daugherty version of this jersey.

You do, for sure.

I don't even think these are the best ones, to be honest.

Oh, no.

My favorite ones are like the Sean Kemp and Bobby Sura era.

The black and blue is the best Calves jersey in my opinion.

The paint splash.

I used to love

the little

with the little

paint like swipe, like the paintbrush deal.

Yeah, the splash jersey is what they call it, I believe.

No,

the main color is yellow or whatever, yellow or um maroon.

Oh, I know what you're talking about, yeah,

like that.

So,

we're talking about a completely different jersey, those are fire two.

I'll tell you, I think those are the Austin car joints, yeah.

The ACs, yeah, the AC.

Shout out to AC.

They got it on right here,

up top,

yeah, they got it on.

They got on up top.

They got it on top.

Those are the classics.

We got the Cleveland wall back there.

Oh, yeah, yeah, baby.

Get some history right there, man.

All right, so we got calves at four.

What are we going with next?

Oh, the Detroit Pistons.

these ones are actually freaking sneaky

yeah i actually have this jersey myself i i love this jersey man this thing is fire old school pistons that should have been i'm sorry i'm sorry that should have been four i'm sorry

i think everybody in cleveland will tell you that regardless we'll go six yeah we got to go six if it's a bad memphis this is throwback on me so it's so

it's not even memphis isn't even going to be in here man

oh dude you can't not put that jersey in here i don't think it's up to us.

I don't think it's up to us.

Oh,

I forgot about these.

Ah, the wolves.

What numbers do we have left?

Eight and one.

It's not good.

It's not good.

It's going to be way lower than it should be.

These Timberwolves jerseys were sick.

So we go eight.

We got to go eight in the hopes.

Come on, man.

Don't disappoint us.

Bro, it's going to be like a Bulls jersey or something.

Don't disappoint us.

Yeah.

Cheating this system.

Again, with the shorts, though, the 90s shorts.

That's what I'm saying.

A lot of these, Jerry, these are hard, but the shorts be like the shorts I still wear to this day.

Like, you know what I mean?

I'd go on Mitchell and S and get the old school shorts.

What is it about these jerseys that just like go like it makes it so awesome?

Like everybody loves this jersey.

Is it the color?

Is it the way the grizzlies is written out?

Is it the bear?

The outline, the pad on the outline.

It's just the outline of the jersey, the way Grizzlies is typed, the Vancouver small.

You got the Grizzly, the big-ass Grizzly on the side.

It's coming out of of the 3D.

Shout out to Mike Bibby.

Shout out to Mike Bibby.

There we go.

We did it.

That was a solid winner.

I'm not that mad about it.

Not bad.

You know, we'll move around a few of them, but over and over,

we got it done.

All right.

Let's get to our last segment here.

It's called We Gotta Ask.

That is, we always end our segments with We Gotta Ask, but you don't have to answer.

So you can either answer or tell us the fuck off.

Donovan, we'll just roll through a few of these.

Does it what?

Does a basketball have a oh, Jason is so fucking yeah, this is so silly.

Hey, do we all we've been back and forth on this?

Does a basketball hoop have one hole or two holes?

One, yeah, that's the correct answer, right?

Yeah, one.

What about the net at the bottom?

It goes in the top hole and out the bottom hole.

I see what people are doing.

I see what people are doing.

What about a straw?

What about a straw?

Does a straw have

you fucked me up with that one?

because now I'm sitting here like no because it's one is one continuous hole.

So does the straw have one hole or two holes?

See, this is this is a debate

again.

You can tell us the fuck off, too.

I'm a two guy.

There you go.

I'm a two guy, too.

There we go.

I think it's two.

I don't think it's one.

I got the hole that my mouth goes on and the hole that goes in the liquid.

Exactly.

I'm the two guy for sure.

Slam dunk contest.

What are your thoughts on it now?

I think it's tough

because

a lot of the dunks

that

we see we have social media so like you see it all and then on top of that the best dunkers in the world aren't nba players that's the reality of it they're not so they make their own videos their own content that we see and we're like oh that's crazy but then you know it's hard for us to replicate that because they're professional dunkers like you know what i'm saying like they're what they do Exactly.

And I know a bunch of the guys who are professional dunkers and they try to teach guys, but people understand that guys don't have time to work on these things, like for real.

Like,

when I won, I only had two weeks, you know what I mean?

Like, you know what I mean?

And then the last dunk that I did to win, I hadn't made that dunk since high school.

So I was just saying the guys that went in.

Like, you know what I'm saying?

So I think it's tough.

I think it gets a bad rap because people are like expecting something crazy.

But it's like we live in an era now where you can see the craziest dunk by whoever.

I applaud guys like Jathan Brown for trying to continue to go out there and do their thing.

I won't personally be out there again, to be honest with you.

You did it.

Undefeated.

There you go.

There you go.

I guess that's right.

Like if you would have saw Jordan jump from the free throw line on social media before he did it, like it wouldn't have been as exciting.

Exactly.

And you're also seeing like people you don't know.

So to people, they're like, oh,

if so-and-so random person can do it.

John Moran should definitely be able to do it.

Like Zion Williamson.

You know what I mean?

It's just not

a fair.

Um, that's why I don't think guys do it because it's not necessarily a fair, uh, a fair shake, to be honest.

There's guys that all they do is work on dunking and different ways to make that, and that's just not what everybody in the NBA has time for.

So, what's a way that they could, the NBA can, I guess, make the all-star game and all this stuff?

Because that's really the dunk contest was what everybody got ready for.

Growing up, you already know, and that's all anybody cared about.

The all-star game was fun, but people really wanted to watch the dunk contest.

So, what can the NBA do to make it exciting again to get the fans engaged it's a tough question i think that's tough i feel like on me i'm a fan of dunking i've been a fan my whole high school career so like maybe you get professional dunkers to come in and do some things that people haven't seen i don't know like we have you can elevate those individuals you elevate those like we had a guy come in during halftime one of our games and do it right like we we he was between the legs dunking it like this way like behind like stuff that is just crazy but like you know what i mean but people haven't seen i think, I don't know, I don't know, especially for the dunk contest, I don't know.

What do you think about

what do you think about slam ball?

You get some trampolines in there.

Oh, dude, somebody's gonna get hurt.

You can't bear people do that.

I don't even think the owner is the GM is nobody, nobody can go for that one.

What do you think about though, what the NHL did where they had like the Four Nations tournament this year instead of the LSR team?

And I like that.

There's like, uh, because

I don't know, everybody gets hyped up for USA basketball, right?

So, all of a sudden, you got USA basketball, maybe even just versus the world.

Maybe it's like all the foreign players combined on one team, USA on another team, and then there's like an actual competitive reason because you're playing for your countries.

That might be exciting right there.

I think so.

I think that NHL had a really, I watched it.

That was

really dope.

That what they did.

I think that's something that could definitely, you know,

elevate it for sure.

We did that in the Rising Stars game my first two years.

It was

USA versus World.

You know, like I said,

it's tough, man.

There's so much that goes on

throughout the Sunday that to get to the game, it's just like, oh, we made it.

Like, we made it there.

Like, there's like, you know, you know how it goes.

Like, there's always, there's always different things.

You standing around.

So, like, man, guys don't want to get hurt.

And then guys, some guys do.

Some guys get a workout because they're able to, some guys don't have appearances as long as others.

So it's so much.

But I think if you do the USA versus World, it'll definitely bring up the intensity.

You could even do it where you could still do the slam dunk contest, but now it's not like, you know, donovan mitchell competing for himself in the slam dunk contest he's trying to get points for team usa's overall total oh you're saying the whole week you could do the whole thing

he's on his own wavelength right now i'll just say he's on his own wavelength right now i think that'd be fun like i don't slam dunk it but i want to watch usa beat the rest of the world in the slam dunk contest

I'll ask you this, though.

Who is the one guy in the NBA that you would love to see in the dunk contest?

Zach Levine.

Oh, all over again.

Yeah, you already know.

Right away.

Watching him.

I mean, he's the previous champion.

I got like five.

Zach Levine.

Zion, Josh.

Zion would be crazy.

Man, Derek John.

See, that's the thing.

I mean, I don't want to say back in the day it used to be different, but I mean, those, like the superstars of the league definitely were in the dunk contest.

Not to say that you're not, because you still got Jalen Brown and you still got guys, you know, with very familiar and contributing a lot, but it's like, I'm with you.

I'm with you.

See any guys like that, Anthony Edwards, guys like that just go in there and do something crazy or just do a regular windmill, but jump out the gym doing it.

Have they ever done horse at the LSR game?

That's what I want to see.

They did it during COVID.

During COVID, they did that.

You know what I think?

This will never happen, ever happen.

But I think

we should get guys to line up and try to dunk, and guys will try to block the shot.

Slam bowl, one-on-ones.

Let's go.

I'm talking about just straight up.

Straight up.

It'll never happen.

It'll never happen.

I am so into this.

We got to get it to go.

How do we get this?

I'm taking Jay Allen all day.

I told Jay I would dunk the fuck out of him.

I was hoping to see my leg was.

I told Jay, we had a discussion about this in the locker room, actually.

Yeah.

It was me, F, DG, Karis.

We were all talking.

It was before I dunked on Porzingus, the day before.

They were like, you don't know no more.

And I'm like, look, y'all, I promise you, if I saw y'all down there, I would dunk.

And they were like, We're going to see.

And then we saw against

I dunked on poor Zingus.

And that's why you saw me look at the bench and go, I told you.

He's like,

I'm talking to both of them.

Like, yo, I dared you.

I really told Ev.

I make the jokes with Ev all the time.

I get defensive player of the year, rah, rah, all that.

I would, I would dunk.

I would dunk.

So, how hard is it to dunk on somebody, though, when they know it's coming and they got like that much space?

You're talking to a guy that's never dunked in his life, so you got to.

I've dunked a female basketball before.

Oh, I've got that.

Because I can pull with female basketball.

I can't pawn the.

I didn't know you can get up that high.

I forget the palm.

Oh, no, no.

Travis knows I get up high enough.

I just don't have the form down.

I cannot.

I'm going to dunk.

I'm going to do this.

The way to do it when you know a guy, like for me,

like I always go at the guy's body because I'm strong.

So if I can eliminate like you going like this, take body away, I'm fine once I get like up here.

So like with JA and Ev, I would just try to go at them.

I mean, it sounds really easy.

Like I said, it sounds, I'm making this sound very

tried to dunk both of them.

A lot of guys have failed.

I feel like I'd be one of the few successful

people.

We'll never see it.

You know what I mean?

Because I'm not going to try to practice.

But like, you know, I promise at some point, maybe during training camp, I'll try it.

It's out there.

It sounds electric.

It sounds so electric.

I want to see this.

Well, we kind of got into this earlier, but let's go ahead and hit it.

Easier for an NFL player going to the NBA or NBA player going to the NFL.

It's obviously been a huge debate on, well, not obviously, but on this show for sure.

On the show, for sure, yeah.

And I guess around the sports world,

guys crossing over.

What do you think about the

NFL to NBA, NBA to NFL debate?

I may get hated for this.

I think it'd be easier to come over into y'all world at certain positions.

Yeah, there's no question.

At certain positions, for sure.

I'm with you.

I'm with you.

I don't think I could be a running back.

What position are you coming over?

Anything on defense, I think, not the line.

I think for sure I could, not a corner.

Take that back.

Corner's hard.

Corner's real hard.

I got big feet, and my feet don't move like that.

So

I'm not reacting to shit.

I'll tell you that.

You got safety?

Safety.

Safety, I think I got

with time.

I don't mean I could just walk on the floor to screen.

I mean, I could just You know what I mean?

With time.

Jay Tatum came through and he mentioned that as well.

He said, if you would have gave him time, because he was a high school football player, if you would have gave him time through high school and he dedicated to that lifestyle, he thinks he could have done it.

And it makes sense.

So who's got the better chance?

Who had the better chance?

You of playing in the NFL or Lamar Jackson of playing in the NBA?

Having seen Lamar play basketball.

Could he have played in the NBA if he would have dedicated all his talent to NBA?

Are we playing each other positions?

Like like in my quarterback like no just any just making

let's say we're back in high school and a young donovan mitchell says i'm gonna focus on football and a young lamar jackson says i'm gonna focus on basketball who has a better chance of making it into the nba or nfl

i would say probably me making it to the nblar shots fired i hope he sees that too

i saw

this we gotta get lamar's take on

i saw him dunk.

I didn't really get to see him hoop much.

Okay,

so I don't know.

But I definitely feel like, you know, maybe a tight end, you know, maybe.

You know what I mean?

Come out, you know, grab it, fall.

Who's the guy that falls on Seattle every time he catches it?

What's his name?

Every time he catches the ball, he'd

talk about it.

You're talking about Tyler Lockett?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tyler,

he's avoiding some hits, yeah.

Some unnecessary hits, I'll say, because he's a tough guy, but he's like, yeah, if I'm not going to

take this hit, I'm not going to.

Or you throw me an out route.

I feel like I could, you know, nothing down the middle.

Nothing over the middle.

Maybe you're going down the middle, Trav.

Nothing.

Come on, man.

You catch yourself.

That's when you turn it.

It says guaranteed interception.

Guaranteed interception.

No, not the guarantee.

As soon as I hit you with the right here and get back that way, middle,

I'm not going for it.

But tell Paul, I'm sorry.

And I'm only outbreaking routes.

Only outbreaking routes.

I respect the take.

What's the hardest arena to play in?

Because I can't see well,

Dallas.

Time out.

You can't see.

Oh, like the depth perception is crazy in Dallas?

I'm not, I'm not, Dallas' depth perception is not the best for me.

So

there's not a lot like behind the basketball hoop, or it's just a weird.

It's just the way the light is set up in there.

That's the only arena where I'm in there and it's like,

it may go in today, it may not go in today.

That's a crazy scenario.

This is like one of those things where it's just, your eyes just play tricks on you.

You ever thought about wearing the Rex specs?

Never.

Yo, grab horse's the year.

I tried to wear context, because you know I don't wear glasses.

I was about to say, do you work for contacts out there?

No, so you just out there with blurry ass vision shooting.

You're dropping 71 with blurry vision.

This guy is crazy, man.

We got to get my guy some LASIC, man.

Fuck.

This dude shooting threes while he's buffering.

I can't believe that.

That's incredible, man.

Nah, for real.

That's the one arena where I'm like, my eye, every time it's like, it's like, it plays tricks on me in that arena.

I don't know what it is.

I don't know if it's a certain light.

In terms of atmosphere, though.

It's tough because the tougher arenas, I love to play in.

So it's like, I don't really know if you want to consider it tough.

You know what I mean?

Well, let's rephrase it.

What's the most electric atmosphere arena outside of what?

Outside of here?

Yeah.

Both gardens.

Both gardens.

I was about to say the garden.

Oh, yeah.

Nice.

No, both of them.

Boston.

Yeah, I get it.

But I was thinking Boston just because you guys have had so much, so many big games against against Boston, it feels like.

I love that crowd.

That crowd is fun.

I mean,

I'm from the East Coast.

So Boston and New York, the Knicks arena, both of them feel like my people are there watching anyway.

But those are probably my two favorites.

And I said here, too, I said before I got here.

I love, even when,

what was it, 30 wins, 20 win seasons, like was jumping.

Like, you know what I mean?

And you're on the road, you're on the East Coast trip, you're like, ain't nobody finna be here.

This is sold out.

Yes, they are.

Definitely, definitely wrong.

So I definitely, you know, got a lot of respect for fan bases that show out through the down years as much as they do during the

tried to put Utah in there.

For sure.

I'm excited for Utah's hockey team, man, because Utah, they seem like

a fan base that would go nuts for hockey.

I just know that.

We just got to figure that name out.

Yeah, you got to get out of there.

I ain't trying to hear this.

The hockey club.

You know, they want to do Yetis, but apparently the Yeti.

bought all the trademarks for them.

The Yeti

coolers got the trademark.

They won't let them use it.

They might, but I think that there's like, they probably want to own it outright, I bet.

I don't know.

Somebody, that was the rumor going out there why they weren't picking Yeti.

And I'm like, bro, you got to go with Yeti.

Partner with them.

Yeti's fucking

coolers for sale through the whole arena.

Facts, tell Ryan Smith.

Ryan Smith,

he was with me when I was in Utah.

Let him know, hey, the Yetis.

You got to get them going.

Those arena's electric for sure.

What city

should have an NBA team that doesn't?

Louisville, Kentucky.

Man, what?

College?

Louisville?

College?

No way.

You think they're packing?

Everybody's going to say Vegas and they're going to say Seattle.

No, Louisville, Kentucky.

Vegas and Seattle are going to take their team.

I've never heard of Louisville.

They got the arena for it, too.

And there's no professional sport team there.

So it's just the perfect, perfect place.

I'm bringing a lot of sense right now.

Speaking a lot of facts.

You're going to get some support in Louisville.

They work for OKC, that's for damn sure.

LeBron LeBron James has said Giannis would score over 200 points in the 1970s.

That's fucking hilarious.

200 points is crazy.

How many points are you scoring in the 70s?

We get a little hot tub time machine actually back in time.

It is hard to compare errors, bus.

It is.

It is extremely hard.

It is hard.

But I'm always going to give myself the benefit of the doubt.

I'm going to say 30.

You're going to say 30, 40, 50.

I was just doing the scoring.

I think scoring.

Yeah.

Like you're scoring in a game.

Like, you put up 70.

You put up 71 in this era.

What's your 71 in the 70s?

Did they have the three-point line in the 70s?

I'm genuinely asking this.

That's a great question that I do not know.

I want to say they did.

I don't think they did.

They're saying they did it.

1988, 1970.

1979, they're saying.

This is when it started.

So this is no three-point line.

So no three-point line, all twos.

Oh, that's nasty.

All twos.

That's nasty.

I don't like that.

I'll give myself, you know, 40, 50.

You got to think, in the 70s as well, there's not, I mean, the rim protectors around, you know,

it's like 6'8, 6'9, maybe.

Yeah.

I mean, maybe in the 80s, they started hitting you, but like you keep going in there time after time.

They knocking you out the air.

You know what I mean?

So that's it.

A little bit more physical.

A little bit more physical.

The sloaders come in.

The jumpers come in.

You're not just attacking the rim the entire game.

You know what I mean?

Trying to preserve your body.

So I'd go about 50, 50 for sure, I think.

All right, that's a very realistic answer.

We got one more for you.

Pick your all-time starting five.

Am I on the team or no?

Yeah, you can put yourself on there.

I will say, typically when we do, these people do not pick themselves

unless your name is Travis Kelsey.

Travis Kelsey picks himself as one of the top tight ends of all time.

I'm just trying to manifest it, Jason.

He has the stats to prove.

For sure.

I mean, it's definitely legit.

I'm still working my way.

You know what I mean?

I still trying to get one ring, let alone three.

You know what I'm saying?

Oh, yeah.

We're going to get it this year, though, baby.

Let's go.

Exactly.

I won't put myself in here.

Steph at the one.

Kobe the two.

MJ at the three.

Ron at the four.

I'm seeing no misses so far.

At all.

My five-man.

I'm playing in 2025 basketball, so I'm not really going to tradition.

I'm going small ball.

Katie at the five.

I mean, that's a hell of a starting five.

I think that five takes anybody's starting five.

They're running.

They're running.

No matter if you're playing.

Hey, running.

Running the floor.

Pays in space.

Running the floor.

That's it.

I respect it.

Well, Spider-Man, we appreciate you jumping on, man.

We won't take any more of your time.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Donovan Mitchell.

Good luck in the playoffs, big dog.

Thanks for always representing Cleveland, man.

And let's go get us one, man.

Go cash.

Yes, sir.

Appreciate y'all, boys.

Thank you.

Appreciate y'all.

All right, that wraps up another episode of New Heights.

Thank you, Donovan Mitchell for joining us.

Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube to the New Heights channel and follow New Heights on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts.

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Once again, New Heights, a wonderful show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by DraftKings.

Follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with OneS for fun clips throughout the week, guys.

And thanks to our production and crew.

Thank you to the 92 percenters.

And thank you, Donovan, for coming through.

Spider, bring us home another championship, baby.

Go caps.

Hell yeah.