Ex-NBA Star Kendrick Perkins Sends Brutal Message to Donovan Mitchell on Playoff Struggles

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Paul White | Last updated Jun 1, 2025 11:37 AM ET

The Cleveland Cavaliers hitched their wagon to Donovan Mitchell last season when they fired head coach J.B. Bickerstaff for him.

They hired Kenny Atkinson to replace him in hopes of convincing the former Utah Jazz star to sign an extension.

He eventually re-upped with Cleveland and they clearly believed he was the guy who could lead them to the promised land.

Less than a year later, the Cavs suffered another disappointing playoff exit and with such an expensive roster there aren’t many additions that can be made.

This means that unless the roster magically ascends to true championship contention, the only way forward is to retool or blow the team up and start over.

Mitchell is statistically one of the best playoff performers to ever play basketball, so it’s hard to blame him for his teams’ shortcomings in the postseason.

However, he has put himself into unwanted company by becoming one of the longest tenured stars in NBA history to never reach the conference finals.

Retired NBA star Kendrick Perkins ripped into Mitchell recently, saying, “A Donovan Mitchell-led team has never been to the conference finals.”

Kendrick Perkins calls out Donovan Mitchell

“A Donovan Mitchell-led team has never been to the Conference Finals. Donovan Mitchell, you got a coach fired. You got JB Bickerstaff fired. This is a fact. You had no communication with that man while he was there. You didn’t like… pic.twitter.com/cVcYkbQw4z
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 19, 2025

The six-time All-Star has reached the playoffs in every year of his playing career, but the second round is the furthest he’s gotten.

The past few seasons have seen the pressure ratchet up on Philadelphia 76ers’ superstar Joel Embiid for not making the conference in his nine-year playing career and now Mitchell is beginning to catch the same heat.

The only superstar with a longer streak is Chris Paul who finally reached the conference finals with the Houston Rockets in 2018, 13 years into his career.

Some of the criticism is unfair, but when you are as great as Mitchell is and consistently have highly seeded teams, the expectation is to win on a grand scale.

Until the Cavs finally break through, Mitchell will continue to be scrutinized.

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

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