Donovan Mitchell Gets Honest On Cavaliers Being No. 1 Seed In East: ‘It’s Just Really Meaningless Until We Get To The NBA Finals’

Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference NBA playoffs after going 64-18 in the regular season. It’s a big accomplishment. 

However, while Mitchell is proud of what he and his teammates did in the regular season, it’s put up or shut up time now. 

“It’s definitely big time,” Mitchell told NBA reporter Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “But it doesn’t matter unless you play your best basketball at the right time. This is cool. This is nice. This is great, but it’s just really meaningless until we get to the NBA Finals. I don’t want to keep harping on that. I’m not trying to be negative. But this [No. 1 seed] don’t mean nothing. At the end of the day, keep playing your basketball, win games, and be ready when the time comes.”

The Cavaliers play the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. Mitchell and Co. went 2-1 against the Heat in the regular season. 

A six-time All-Star, Mitchell is looking to win his first championship this year. 

“It’s right there. The biggest thing that holds me back is winning,” Mitchell said. “Talent-wise, I don’t think it’s even a discussion. It’s more like, ‘Can I win at the highest level?’ That’s been the question for most of my career. So, for me, that’s why you can’t squander these opportunities because that’s what puts you there. I said it [last] summer on the Melo [Carmelo Anthony] podcast, ‘I can use it as fuel, but I can’t get mad.’

“I’ve been to the conference finals. I can use it as fuel, but then you got to go out there and produce a win. To shut them [critics] up, you got to go out there and win. So that’s the main goal, and I will do it by any means necessary. It doesn’t mean I have to go out and score 40 points every night. I’ve got to make the guys around me better.”

Mitchell is seventh in NBA history in postseason points per game. He has career playoff averages of 28.1 points.