Donovan Mitchell's Sad Admission on What He Did After Cavaliers Playoff Exit

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated May 14, 2025 3:18 PM ET

Donovan Mitchell and the Cleveland Cavaliers were the No. 1 seed in the East this season. They won 64 games in the regular season under first-year head coach Kenny Atkinson, who won the Coach of the Year Award.

For the first time in the second post-LeBron James era, the Cavaliers looked like title contenders. Mitchell and Co. swept the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs, setting up a clash with the Indiana Pacers in the second round.

Led by their All-Star, Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers beat the Cavaliers in five games. Mitchell, considered one of the top shooting guards in the NBA, still hasn't reached the conference finals in his career.

Cleveland players conducted their exit interviews with local reporters on Wednesday and Mitchell revealed that he hasn't slept since Game 5. The former Utah Jazz star also said he watched Game 5 twice.

Mitchell dealt with a left ankle injury in the Pacers series. He missed the second half of Game 4 in Indiana.

Despite not being 100%, Mitchell still averaged 34.2 points in the Cavaliers-Pacers series.

“Just couldn’t believe it,” Mitchell said. "Didn’t want to believe it, don’t want to believe it, still don’t want to believe it. It’s tough. It’s tough to win in this league. Give them credit — we didn’t do the things necessary."

“I told you all during the year, we’re going to be judged by this. There will be a lot of talk. That’s what comes with it. Didn’t capitalize. So now we gotta use this as motivation. Everybody’s gonna write us off, everybody in here. It’s not personal, (but) what are we going to do about it next year?”

Mitchell just finished his third season with the Cavaliers. Cleveland lost to the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2023 postseason, lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2024 postseason and lost to the Pacers in the second round of this year's postseason.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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