Donovan Mitchell Shines in 2023 NBA All-Star Game
SALT LAKE CITY - As the first former Louisville men’s basketball player to be named as a starter for the NBA All-Star Game, Donovan Mitchell certainly didn’t waste the opportunity to have a tremendous outing.
Starting for Team Giannis in the 2023 iteration of the exhibition, the Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard played a huge role in capturing a 184-170 win over Team LeBron. He finished with 40 points on 15-of-25 shooting and 8-of-17 on three-point attempts, 10 assists and four rebounds in 30 minutes on the floor.
Mitchell’s scoring mark was the second-most for the night on either side, finishing behind Team Giannis teammate and All-Star Game MVP Jayson Tatum’s 55 points. He also broke his own All-Star Game scoring record by a former Louisville player in the process.
This marked the the fourth consecutive All-Star Game appearance for the Greenwich, Conn. native, coming off the bench in all three of his past three appearance. He put up seven points, four assists, five rebounds and two steals in 2020; notched 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal in 2021; and missed the 2022 game entirely due to a non-COVID related illness.
Currently in his first season with the Cavaliers after being traded by the Utah Jazz over the offseason, Mitchell is averaging a career-high 27.3 points per game. His 48.0 field goal percentage and 38.7 three-point percentage are both on pace to be the best in his six-year career, and he’s also averaging 4.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. He has helped lead Cleveland to a 38-23 overall record so far this season, which is the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference.
Earlier this season, the 6-foot-1, 215-pound shooting guard made history when he dropped 71 points in a 145-134 overtime victory over the Bulls. Not only was it the eighth-most points by an NBA player in a single game, but it was the most since Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game against the Raptors on Jan. 22, 2006.
In 345 career games during his first five years in the NBA with the Jazz, Mitchell averaged 23.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, getting named an NBA All-Star in 2020, 2021 and 2022. He is currently in year three of a five-year, $195 million designated rookie max extension that was signed after the 2020 NBA Playoffs.
Mitchell was drafted with the No. 13 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Nuggets, only to be traded to the Jazz on draft night. As a sophomore at Louisville, Mitchell averaged 15.6 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists en route to being named a 2016-17 First Team All-ACC selection.
(Photo of Donovan Mitchell: Kyle Terada - USA TODAY Sports)
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