Kendrick Perkins calls Donovan Mitchell ‘soft’ over request to cancel Cavs-Mavericks game

Kendrick Perkins had little sympathy for Donovan Mitchell’s concerns about the Cavs’ travel schedule.

Responding to a post about Mitchell wanting Saturday’s game against the Mavericks canceled, Perkins delivered a blunt assessment.

“Soft as hell!!! Doing all that crying… leave some room for the babies,” Perkins wrote on X.

Mitchell’s comments followed Friday’s loss to the Heat, when the Cavs learned they would have to stay overnight in Miami. A nationwide ground stop disrupted their plans, and the team couldn’t secure a pilot until Saturday morning.

That left the Cavs with a morning flight and an arrival around noon ahead of a 7:30 p.m. home game.

“This is unprecedented,” Mitchell said, as previously covered by Hoops Wire. “Back-to-back. Three-hour flight. It was already going to be a tough one. But if they say we have to play then we have to play.”

Asked whether he would prefer the game be canceled, Mitchell answered, “Me, personally, yeah for sure.”

The game went ahead. Mitchell, James Harden, Jarrett Allen and Peyton Watson were ruled out after initially being listed as questionable with various injuries or injury-management designations. Evan Mobley was already sidelined with a sprained left great toe, leaving the Cavs without their usual starting five.

Mitchell had acknowledged the team would have to adjust if the schedule stood. Coach Kenny Atkinson expressed a similar approach.

“There’s no feeling sorry for ourselves,” Atkinson said after Friday’s game. “It’s part of it. You just adapt.”

Perkins clearly felt Mitchell shouldn’t have raised the cancellation question at all. The Cavs, meanwhile, had a game to get through with most of their rotation watching.