Donovan Mitchell reveals the nonsense that caused the 46-point eruption

As much as Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star running back Donovan Mitchell appreciated the throwback navy jerseys and logo from the 2000s, the team’s Classic Edition debut night wasn’t the inspiring factor behind its an incredible 46-point performance against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Instead, the NBA 2K26 online “kid or man” angered Mitchell to the point that he wanted to spite this random person.

“He just called me washed up. He called me a bunch of things,” Mitchell said after the Cavs’ 132-121 win over the Sixers. “But I like him, you know what I mean? He said he hadn’t seen anything from me in a minute. And I just told him, ‘Okay, we’ll see.’ He said, ‘Tell me to sleep.’ He was entering. So this game was for that. I appreciate you.”

Tonight’s 46 point performance was inspired by some random “kid/adult” trash talking Donovan Mitchell on NBA 2k 😂 pic.twitter.com/Fp7VjKSMDF3

— 𝙶𝚊𝚛𝚎 (@Spencito_) November 6, 2025

Mitchell didn’t want to give this mystery man the pleasure of sharing his player tag later.

“I don’t give him that much attention, but he knows who he is,” Mitchell said. “It was a long, long game, a long discussion. We went back and forth. He probably cut it too, so it might be on the Internet or somewhere. But I made sure to give him his props for it.”

Returning to the topic of the evening, he vouched for the permanent retention of the retro pitch at Rocket Arena – and perhaps even a top-to-bottom presentation.

“This was really cool to me,” Mitchell said. “I mean, this was the opening song, ‘Me Time’ with Fab (Fabolous), and I think it was Jeremih. Like, I was listening to that overplay when I was a kid. To see us walking around town and all that, you have moments where it’s just like… obviously, you’re playing this game and you’re trying to win, but like tonight was cool. It’s definitely special too.”

Mitchell started, inside and out, going 15-of-21 from the field balance of drives, perimeter shots and passes. He also dished out eight assists, grabbed four rebounds and recorded a steal.

“The Speed ​​we know, the MVP we know, the first-team All-NBA we know he should be every year,” said Darius Garland, who made his season debut Wednesday after recovering from toe surgery. “So it was good to see him, and we really need that going forward, and he’s starting to get that. But he also wants us to do our thing. So it’s kind of a give and take thing with Don, but we really need Don to be Don.”

“I just think he’s underrated,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson added. “And I know, everybody says, ‘Yeah, you’re his coach.’ But I don’t know… what guards in the East are better than him? And I respect the hell out of this league.”