Kenny Atkinson, Cavaliers Players Offer Strong Praise For Donovan Mitchell Before Playoffs: ‘He’s Taking A Very Unselfish Route’

April 17, 2025

The Cleveland Cavaliers are the No. 1 seed in the 2025 NBA Eastern Conference playoffs. First-year head coach Kenny Atkinson got immediate buy-in from star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell and that trickled down to everyone else on the roster.

Mitchell averaged 24.0 points this season, his lowest scoring average since getting traded to the Cavaliers. However, Atkinson and Cleveland players have raved about Mitchell’s approach this season.

“Unselfish MVP, that’s what I call it,” Darius Garland said, via The Athletic.

“The thing that always comes through is that Donovan, he empowers others — subtly, not outwardly,” Atkinson said.

“He’s taking a very unselfish route this whole entire season,” Evan Mobley said. “Helping me and (Garland) as well. That — I feel like it just helps us and helps him and makes his job easier.”

The Cavaliers were first in the NBA in points per game and offensive rating this season.

Mitchell doesn’t care that his counting stats were lower than usual this season because he had so much fun winning.

“The one thing everybody talks about — and I’ve heard it for so many years — everybody talks about sacrifice,” Mitchell said. “Everybody says you gotta sacrifice until it’s your turn, you know what I mean? And are you willing to do that for the greater good of the group? Statistically, this is a down year if you want to call it that. It helps we’re winning, so clearly I’m doing something right. This has been the best season as a group for me. And that’s really what matters — is winning.”

The Cavaliers will face the Atlanta Hawks or Miami Heat in the first round of the 2025 playoffs.

Mitchell, who has never reached the NBA Finals, is ready to go on a deep postseason run this year.

“For years, I always thought I needed to score, that’s all I knew,” Mitchell said. “But now… for the first time in my career, yeah, I’m in the conversation for MVP. But it’s a different approach, it’s a different view on certain things.”