Donovan Mitchell speaks about pressure to win in Cleveland

Donovan Mitchell is the star of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’s had great games for Cleveland, like when he scored 71 points against the Chicago Bulls on January 2, 2023.

Despite his great play, Mitchell hasn’t led the Cavaliers to an NBA championship. This has led to Mitchell receiving comparisons to LeBron James.

After leading Cleveland to a 64-18 record, the Cavs were supposed to win the East. This didn’t happen as the Indiana Pacers shocked the Cavs, defeating them in five games.

In an interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Mitchell explained how he isn’t LeBron and what his own expectations are in Cleveland.

“No, because I’m not [LeBron James],” Mitchell said. “I’m not going to do it the same way that he did it. What did he do? Six times in a row? Maybe we do that for the next six years, maybe we don’t. We’re not the LeBron James-Kyrie Irving Cavaliers; we do it differently.

“We do it with Evan [Mobley]. With myself, with Darius [Garland]. We do it with Max [Strus], we do it with Jarrett [Allen], all the guys on the roster. It’s just different. We want to do it our own way while still having respect for what was done for the city.

“We succeed? Fantastic,” Mitchell continued. “If we fail, we’re gonna keep going… We are going to try to accomplish what obviously they did and be the second team to win in franchise history, but being okay with like, ‘Hey, it’s not 2016.’

“It was special, that was a special year. We’re looking to do something special ourselves for the city because they deserve it. The fans deserve it and that’s the goal.”