Donovan Mitchell on The Cavs #1 Seed, Career “MJ Moment,” Attending LeBron’s "Decision" & More | EP 135
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One with blurry? I got to give my guy some LASIK, man. This dude's shooting threes while he's buffering. Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. A Wondery Show produced by Waves Sports and Entertainment and brought to you by DraftKings. That's right. Shout out to DraftKings. We're your hosts. I'm Travis Kelsey. This is my brother, Jason Kelsey, out of Cleveland, Florida.

Heights, Ohio, representing the land, baby, the 216 or 440, depending on where you are in the city. Subscribe on YouTube, One Tree Plus, wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with 1S for fun clips throughout the week. Jason, let the people know what we got coming up. What do you got there? A little canteen and a nice little... We got a special episode, Trav.

Of course we do. We're obviously from Cleveland, and we got a pretty Cleveland episode coming up. That's what I'm talking about. Coming to you on a Friday. Hey-o. Got this from an artist on Etsy. Oh, nice. You're a big Etsy guy. Well, I'm a big artist guy. Tell the people what that is. They don't know. So this is Rick Vaught from the movie Major League. That is not Charlie Sheen.

Well, listen, they did their best. And it's close enough to me. I think it's pretty cool. That's a wild thing right there, though. But yeah, we're coming to you on a Friday with another guest episode. This time, we're getting ready for the NBA playoffs. We're going to be talking about the NBA playoffs.

Cleveland's own Donovan Mitchell. That's right, baby. That's right. We're going to get an NBA playoffs. It's time at Louisville with Lamar Jackson, ranked some throwback jerseys and so much more. You're going to love this episode. Hope everybody's getting geared up for the NBA playoffs outside of Philadelphia because Philadelphia Sixers are not very good this year, unfortunately, but Cavs are. Oh,

Oh, baby. Cavs are good. We had Ben Stiller on recently. The Knicks. The East is exciting, baby. I'm hoping Cavs-Knicks find a way to meet each other in the playoffs because I've been wanting to go to a Madison Square Garden game during the playoffs since I was a kid. Are you going to remember to wear Cleveland stuff this time, Travis? What? Oh, you're talking about the Yankees game? Yeah.

Yeah, no, I'll be Cleveland threaded from here on out. Yeah, I'll be rocking Cavs gear. And right now I'm rocking guards gear as well as the MLB season gets started as well. It's been a Cleveland day, baby. You guys are going to enjoy this one, though, man. Donovan's the fucking superstar on the court, a superstar human being off the court. Let's get to it.

Our guest today is a first round pick from the University of Louisville. Slam dunk contest champion, six time NBA All-Star and the starting shooting guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers. The number one seed. Yes, sir. Donovan Mitchell, baby.

Sir, I appreciate y'all, man. I appreciate y'all. Thank you for coming on, big guy. How are you liking Cleveland, man? You just re-signed out there, man. Is the city treating you well? Man, I love it, man. I tell people all the time, this big part of why I came back, obviously basketball is

you know, what it is. But, you know, we live here too. Y'all know when you live, you live there. So I love it, man. The people are great. City's great. Um, I love the cold too. So I'm not really tripping on that. Here we go. There we go. That lake effect comes in. Not everybody's ready for that lake effect. Yeah.

It's different, but I'm from New York, so it's not that bad. There we go. Well, as a fellow Clevelander and a Cavs fan since I was a little kid, man, I appreciate you embracing the city, man. It's hard to keep, you know, the big superstars of the league in markets like Cleveland and in the Midwest and stuff like that. So I just appreciate you embracing everything and honestly taking us to new heights and taking us to the next level.

level, man, because this year you guys have been absolutely on fire, man. And you coming back was a huge, huge part of that, brother. Sir, I appreciate you guys. I'm excited. I'm excited for the playoffs, too. Yes, sir. Oh, yeah. Hell yeah. All right. Let's start it off with some new news. Don, I don't know if you know, but we start all of our shows off with new news. We do like to get a new news from our guests. So typically I'll say like, then I'll come in like new news. So can you give us your best new news with us?

Noo-noo. That sounded like a steamboat. Exactly. Exactly. That's a TV right there. He knows how to fit within. There we go. You guys know your role. You guys know your role.

All right, the NBA playoffs are starting today. Yes, sir. Cavs are the one seed in the East. This is the first time the Cavs have earned the top seed since their championship run in 2015-2016. Shout out to that season. Trav and I were at one of those games, which was awesome. How do you feel about after 82 games? Man, I feel like, you know, we accomplished so much. You know what I mean? We had the first two years and things. You know, we continue to take a step each year and now.

You know, you look at the evolution of really everybody on the team. Yeah. We got DG back to form. Evan Mobley's been all NBA phenomenal. Defensive player of the year. Ty Jerome, sixth man of the year. We added Dre, who's also sixth man of the year. Sam Merrill's been great. Isaac's taken a step. Dean, Jared Allen played all 82 games. Unbelievable, man. You get a big dude like that to play all 82? That shit is insane, man.

Especially in today's NBA. You've got to love it. Exactly. But for him, for us, man, it's just like Max Drew, after he started the season off injured, coming back and being great for us in the starting lineup. So it's great, man. Like you said, it's really two seasons. You've got the regular season and you've got the postseason. So for what we did in the regular season, man, A-plus, we did a lot of positive things, learned a lot about ourselves, and now we get to translate all that.

you know, to when it really gets going. Yeah, baby. When it all matters, man, we're all fucking pumped for it, dog. And I tell everybody all the time, man, NBA basketball is cool, but watching you guys play basketball together, you guys are on a completely different wavelength. You guys move the ball so fucking well. You guys get up and down the floor. You have so many different styles of basketball, depending on if you guys got your starting five or those two six man of the year candidates that you guys got. So it's like,

It's just so fun to watch you guys go to work. And then on top of that, when you guys have home games, I wish I'm on the floor every – because you guys get the stadium fucking rocking, man. You guys make sure that the Cavs fans are in it, man, and I just love it, man. I can't wait to get back for a game in this playoffs, man. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And we appreciate that, man. The crowd, man, is fucking –

Unreal, bro. Like, you know, like the game, I didn't play that game when y'all came. I know. We got to get back this year just so we can see my man get out there. It's just different. The city is different. The fans are different. I was here during one of the finals games.

in 2017 maybe my first year I got drafted and they really don't nothing beats it you got the white out jersey or the blackout shirts like you know it's just different what's the announcer Cleveland Heights yeah yeah he been there before I got to the league I was like man like when I got traded here I was like man like I'm excited for that like you know

He gets it rocking. He gets it rocking. Every year, every game, he's always good. He's good with it for sure. Crump's been doing it for a while, man. I actually played basketball with his little brother up at Heights, man, in high school, man. Yeah. It's funny I was all tied in. But we're recording this a little early, so we don't know exactly who the Cavs are playing yet. Do you like the play-in format? You know what I mean? Because I feel like it's almost like –

half of the league gets a chance to make the playoffs now instead of like just the top eight teams in both conferences. I think it's good from a,

standpoint, from like an intensity standpoint, from a, you know, every game, like you look at the last game, the Warriors Clippers, like all eyes were on that game. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, so I think from that standpoint, it's phenomenal. Um, as a one and two seed, not so much. Cause then we got to wait till Friday to kind of figure out what we're doing. Cause last year we were four. So we knew all week who we're playing. We knew we were playing Orlando. The year before that, we knew we were playing New York. Uh,

Um, but from a one to two seat, I wish we knew, um, all week, you know, who we're playing. But I think from a fan standpoint, it's definitely like, that was a high intensity game, man. That was Clippers game. Doing what he does. Um,

Kawhi, James, the guys competing at a high level. So from a viewer standpoint, it's awesome. So I think that's the cool part. But selfishly speaking, I wish we knew all week for sure. How much does it change up based on the opponent that you're going to end up seeing? For us, it's similar –

You know, let's say somebody has the one seed locked up and you're waiting to see who's going to win that first playoff game. You end up preparing a lot of times for both teams and seeing kind of the different structures of both of them because you're trying to get ahead of that. But it changes up a lot in football. How much does it change up as somebody who I don't know nothing about strategy for basketball, to be honest with you? How much does it change up based on the opponent you're playing, what you guys are going to do? Yeah, I think...

I don't think you plan right now. I think you kind of let the first game happen. I think you kind of narrow it down to two teams. I think you don't let it go to four. This is my second time doing this. The first time was...

in Utah when we were the one seed and we prepared for just two. I think we're doing something similar right now. I think you kind of let tonight's game happen and then you are cool. It's going to be either Orlando or Atlanta. You narrow that down and wait till Wednesday that game happens. Then it's like, I bet, you know, you prepare for those two, those two teams and kind of just leave it at that. But it's kind of similar to what you're doing, but I don't think you prepare for all four because that's shaky. Yeah, that's a lot. I think that can be crazy. Yeah.

The majority of our fan base is really football and all that. I know you were a multi-sport guy playing, I believe, baseball, right? You were a baseball, basketball guy? Big time. Heck yeah, man. And you went to Louisville, the mecca for baseball, really, the Louisville Sluggard and everything. Did you ever, like, think about playing baseball at Louisville? Yeah. I mean, not at Louisville. Coach Patino was enough. I mean –

Man, I had Patino making a run in my bracket this year. I do too. I'm not going to lie. I had them winning the whole thing, to be honest. That kind of hurt me. I had them going all the way. I did. But like I said, those Patino practices, dog, like,

You didn't want to do shit else after that. I don't think I had much time to do that. Our team, you know, that year I was there, we had two guys, I think, made the league, or three. You know, Corey Ray played for the Rays. Will Smith, who just won the World Series for the Dodgers. He's a catcher. Brandon McKay, he was there as well, starting pitcher. I forgot where he's at now. Maybe Detroit.

Josh Rogers was on the Yankees. We had a lot of guys who were really talented when I was there. I'm definitely missing a bunch. So I wasn't that level. I wasn't that good at that point. I took two years off, but I definitely didn't want to play basketball. That was not my joke, my route. When did it really set in that that was what you wanted to do? My 10th grade year, I broke my wrist. And junior year, I was like, you know what?

I just miss playing basketball. Like, just as a kid, you're just like, you know, you just want to hoop. Like, you know what I mean? And that's when I really started taking it seriously with my junior year of high school. And from that point on, you know, here we are. Well, there's only one thing to do, you know. You got to win three NBA championships in a row, and then you just go start playing baseball. That's how you do it right there. What position did you play again? Pitcher and shortstop. I was nice. Like, I'm a humble person, but I was –

No, we know. We know the deal. Yeah, I don't want to take away anything from the guys who, you know, play baseball because it's the hardest shit to make the league anyway. But I felt like my chances, you know, were... You were looking left and right and you were seeing the guys that you were playing with and you see them in the league and you're just like, yeah, I probably could have... Yeah, if I would have dedicated myself...

I think I would have had a shot for sure. Anybody with the nickname Spider is going to be a damn good shortstop. I know that. There you go. That's a hell of a way to put it. The one thing I couldn't do is I couldn't play football. No? Come on, man. I've seen you. You're one of the most athletic guys I've ever seen on the floor. Every time I got the body forward, I got all that. But, like, I can't take a hit from shit. We'll keep it moving here. I was telling you a lot of people listen to this that are football, you

you know, lovers. But in terms of the basketball storylines going into the NBA right now, we got the Lakers trade for Luca. They got, you know, all these crazy John Morant celebrations. The Nuggets actually fired Derek

coach right before the postseason started. And even the Houston Rockets absolutely do a 180 from last year to this year and are the two seed in the West. And, you know, quiet Leonard just he's healthy for a playoff run. What are the what are the craziest like what does it feel like being in this crazy melty part of like the NBA storylines and

and you guys being the number one seed in the East. Yeah, I mean, it means our league is in a good place. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, at the end of the day, this is a sport. We, you know, like we play the sport for the sport, but it's also business too. Like, this is good for business. Like, you know what I mean? There's a lot going on. There's a lot of positive things going on in this league, a lot of talent in this league. You know what I mean? So I think that's something that, you know, we truly appreciate. We enjoy, you know, waking up to seeing Lucas traded is crazy. That was...

That was wild. I mean, that's got to be on the team group chat right there. Did you see Mark Cuban's facial expression when Luka drops? His, like, high, like, of the season? I know. I know Mark Cuban. Sure, man. I know he is. But it's just, like, nobody's safe. Like, you know what I mean? Nobody's safe. Y'all know it in y'all sport. Like, nobody's safe. And, you know, it's...

I'm speechless still to this day. You know, we've been watching him go back. I think we all are. Their GM can't even do interviews with microphones or cameras right now. He just feels like he's on such a hot seat that he has to do it a specific way. But who knows how that's going to end up shaking out in the West. I know we got the best team in the East. I will say this, though. You mentioned – we mentioned the Luka trading going back and him dropping 45 in Dallas last

How was it for you playing back in Utah? Because you started there. You had such an awesome start to your career there. When you came to Cleveland and went back there for the first time, how did that feel? Because me and Jason, we've only played on one team in the NFL. So I'm just curious, how did that feel going back into a place that you had called home? I was excited for that game, to be honest. I think just because, you know,

The only other return, like, you know, the goat of return games, I guess you want to call it, is Bron coming back here, right? So, like, for me, it was like, man, like, this is going to be fun. At that time, I didn't know if I was going to get booed. I didn't know if I was going to get cheered. Like, it wasn't dead. Like, Luka was like, we knew they were going to come cheer. Like, I didn't really know what was going to happen. So, I told my teammates, like, look, I'm an unselfish guy. I know I like to pass the ball and whatnot, but there's one game I promise you I'm going to shoot every time I touch the ball.

Back in Utah. It was fun. The reception was great, you know, and you just feel like you're playing at home for real because you're used to the rims, you're used to all that, you know, the background, you're seeing familiar faces and the people are great around the organization and whatnot. So it was definitely one of those moments where it was great to go back and see everybody. I didn't know what to expect, but, you know, had a lot of fun for sure. Yeah. Hell yeah. That's awesome. What's up with the John Morant celebration? Is that the finger guns thing again? Yeah.

Oh, he took it up a notch. I got to see it. What's up a notch? It wasn't just like a pew-pew? It wasn't like a little... He done got the grenades now. I'll say this. The celebration is hard, though. I'm not going to lie. The celebration is hard. You know what I mean? I saw Dirk doing it in the suite. He was over here. He's feeling it.

Like to me, I'm like, that's dope. You got kids doing it now. But, you know, I mean, I don't know. It's a lot. Like, you know, it's been a whole thing, man. You know.

My message is leave guns alone, kids. Everybody leave guns alone. Yeah, yeah. For the celebration, do what you do. You know what I mean? Do what you want. Sorry, not to cut off, but in the idea of like a basketball game, like shooting is more like I'm killing. Like I'm shooting the basketball. Like Pistol Pete is one of the most iconic NBA players of all time. His name is a gun. Right? It's context. Like, you know what I mean? It's Pistol's basketball. Like, you know what I mean? Nobody's saying let's go play with guns outside. That's not what we're advocating for.

I feel you. All right, now that does it for new news. We did our homework, though. Outside of the playoffs, we do want to ask you about an insane career milestone. You dropped 71 fucking points against the Bulls, man. So crazy. Is that the most, like in terms of high school, college, that's got to be the most you've ever scored, right? For sure, yeah, the most by far. And you did it at the highest level. That is insane, man. What does it feel like? I tell people, like,

It didn't feel crazy until overtime. Like, because we were down 20. People don't understand. We were down 20 at halftime. I had, what, 16 points at halftime? I had 16 points at halftime. Time out. You had 71 and 16 at halftime. This is crazy. Whoa. This is the craziest. I was in a shooting slope about, like, a week and a half, two weeks before that. I mean, like, couldn't make a shot. And it was one of those times where, like,

You know, like, were you supposed to catch a ball? And it's like, damn, you drop it. It's like you're just going through one of the moments where it's just like, damn, it's not rolling. Like, it's just not going well right now. So, like, that was the week and a half stretch it was for me. I'm getting good looks, not falling. And I never forget, and I don't know if I even told Brad Doherty this, who's right over here somewhere. There we go. You know, I told him, like, he told me, he came in, I sat down, he was like, keep going, you know, and then he brought up MJ. I'm not saying...

that's what got me going. But like, it was very, he brought up MJ in a sense of like just the way he competed or just comparing it to me in some, in some way, shape or form. And then after the game, I was like, like, holy shit. Like, you know what I mean? Like I had my little, like, Oh yeah, my MJ moment. Like, you know what I mean? You were in the zone throughout that process, throughout the game. It didn't feel crazy until I looked up and I saw like 68 or 69. I was like,

This is fucking. Oh, shit. That's what I'm doing right now? Yeah. And with the free throw line, I'm like smiling and I'm looking up like, you know, my teammates are like, oh, Mr. Free throw. Like, that was really when it really, really hit me what I was doing for real. That's great.

You're breaking the internet, man. You had social media going nuts. The closest thing I've ever felt to that was beer pong. You just locked in. I'm just draining them. It's like, yeah, next on the table. You slap the water off of it, the beer off of it, and you're freaking rolling. Somebody's walking in the door. You're bouncing it on them. Yeah. It's just everything's going in. God, I'm the fucking man. That's got to be insane on NBA court. Next. What's a good feeling on beer pong today?

You're killing him. I've been there. Oh, man. What would be the equivalent in the NFL to 71 points? I'm asking both of you guys that. What do you think it would be? I mean, the Randy Moss stat. It's got to be the touchdown record, no? I would say either touchdown, rushing yards in a game, or touchdown. I think if you get over, like, 230 on the ground in a game, I feel like that's a milestone. I think Randy had, like –

catches for over like 150 or like 200 yards or something like that? Didn't he have that? It was like three touchdowns, three catches for like 180 yards. It was something stupid like that. What about the touchdown record for quarterback? Like what if the coach, like seven touchdowns? I know, Nick Foles. Nick Foles. I knew that. He said, what's happening to the ball?

the whole game. He had six in a game. We installed a brand new set of passing plays with Chip Kelly's offense and the Raiders had no fucking idea what we were doing. Deshaun Jackson's running all over the place. It was unbelievable. It was so fun. Yeah, I feel like that's definitely rushing yards for sure. What's the single game rushing record? I don't even know.

I think I saw Jamal Lewis break it as a Cleveland Brown. Really? I think you're right. Jamal Lewis, I think it went for like three something. It might have got broken since then, but Travis is right. When Jamal was in Cleveland, I think he did set it. This is why we pay these guys. Adrian Peterson. $296. No way. That is not it. In one game, that's amazing. We mentioned you went to Louisville. At the same time as Lamar Jackson, you guys were like the football and basketball like –

icons at that point in college sports. How was it? Did you always go to the football games when you could? I mean, seeing that man live in college was probably fucking unreal. Right. It was crazy because, like, you watched the progression. You know, like, he came in, he backed somebody up freshman year. Yeah. No, excuse me. He was third string. I think, shout out to Reggie. He's at Louisville now. Reggie Bonifant. He was there. He got hurt. Then the backup to him got hurt. And then he played.

Got it. Threw an interception. Didn't look like running around. Didn't really look, you know, like he had it all together trying to figure it out. You know, freshman year, like, you know, trying to figure it out. Yeah. And then that next season, man, it was just like,

I don't know what clicked, but you see it now in the field. Like he's a pro. He goes about it. Like, you know, he's proving his throwing. He's making his reads, you know, different things. He's when to run, when to pass. And I don't know if it was that year he won the Heisman or the year after. You're just watching like, what do you call it? Showtime legacy. You're just watching Showtime. You're watching. Right. Florida stayed out by 40. It's crazy. Like, you know what I'm saying? Jumping over people against Syracuse. Yeah.

But yeah, it was his school. Like, it wasn't, like, Louisville was a basketball town. Oh, yeah. But those years, it was like, it was him. Like, even though Pacino was there, we was doing, it was him. Like, it was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. Everybody was hyped. Every game, every game was lit. Like, it was, to see what he's doing now, I'm not shocked. Like, you know what I mean? You just saw it. And then we used to hoop, too. That's why people don't know. We used to hoop. He could hoop a little? Yeah.

He's nice. Like he got bounce and he could really, he could really hoop. So it was crazy. We would have dunk contests and different things. And he was definitely one of the most athletic guys I've ever seen. What's he doing? Dunk contest. He going in between the legs. A few windmills. We had some guys on that team too, who, who made the league. I don't know if you know, John Grenard, who was on the Texans. He was on that team.

I'm missing names, but there's a bunch of guys. We had a talented team, we had a talented group, but yeah, he was obviously, you know, the lead for sure. He's another level, man. I still, even I tell this story a lot, you know, we're in a tag-off period in a practice and he gives a juke move to a linebacker, makes his dude fall down, not even trying to tackle him, just trying to touch him. Like they're playing tag basically and my man falling all over the place. Both sidelines. Like that's how you know when you're good.

You're at a joint practice and both sidelines are like that? Oh! He's got both teams going like, oh, shit. Yeah, he's different. I saw him play when he played out here. Cleveland fans did not like that I wore his jersey. Didn't realize that that was a personal connection. They got to respect it. Didn't realize that that was a big thing, but they got it. But watching him play live, and obviously y'all play against him, but you know.

I was pissed when y'all beat him, Trevor. I ain't gonna lie to you. That dude is a stud, man. It takes, it takes all 11 on the field to tackle that man or try and stop that guy. Um, he's there. Then every time we play him, it's always an instant classic. It's always literally he's done. He's doing something crazy. Uh,

Every single game we played them, and we've gone back and forth, man. That was the ACC at that point, right? You guys were in the ACC? Yeah. We're still in there. When me and Jason were in college, Louisville was still in the Big East. So I wasn't sure if you – Yeah. Back in the day, man. Back when the Big East, man.

Madison Square Garden, man. Especially for basketball, man. It was never a football conference, but that basketball conference was so awesome. That basketball, like the Syracuse, Louisville, Georgetown. Did you ever go to the Big East tourney up in New York? I went to...

I want to say one time maybe. One time that was really it. Who was your team growing up? I was going to say. Yeah. Once you knew basketball was your Carolina? When I was getting – even before that, like Michael Jordan, Carolina. Oh, Carolina. I was – until I committed to Louisville. Yeah. Yeah.

I was waiting until I got an offer. I was putting schools to the side. I was like, no, if I get an offer from Carolina, I'm going. I don't care if I sit. I don't care if I play. I don't care if I walk on. I'm going to Carolina. This is what I'm doing.

And then I visited Louisville and I was like, well, fuck all that. But no, that was Carolina was the school. It's funny. We had the same dream, man, except for I only got an offer from the Mac in basketball. Shout out to the Mac. That's not that two sport athlete. There you go. Well, he could have played at Cincinnati if you wouldn't have got hurt. That

I think there was a lot of stuff that was, I don't know, needed to get ironed out for me to play on the basketball team. One was me going to class. I had to actually go to class if I wanted to play on the basketball team. Didn't West Virginia come in late too with Bob Huggins? Oh, Huggins.

Listen, the Hugs came in. There was a chance for me to be on the team and then earn a scholarship, I think. But that whole situation was weird because Hugs had just got there. All that is whatever. But that's cool, though, man. So you never got the call from Carolina? Never got the call. I know they're kicking themselves. The coolest thing that I – in college, we played at Carolina. We lost. I had one of my career highs at the moment at that time.

And Roy Williams said, man, I made a mistake in the handshake line. That's respect. I bought it, man. I was like, you know what? That was fun. At that time, that was the coolest thing to me. I didn't really care. I was like, all right. I may not be there. I got the respect. That's awesome, man. You got the respect. And he told me that. And I was like, all right. Especially for like, you know, you want to go somewhere, you hear that. That's the ultimate. That's the ultimate respect. We were talking a little bit about Cleveland being upset with you for wearing the Lamar jersey. Yeah.

we got to talk a little bit about you attending the decision in person. How about that? The most controversial thing in Cleveland history, to be honest with you. I remember when this happened. It's all been forgiven. It's all been forgiven. But at the time it was insane. Yeah. So I went to, I lived in New York. I went to school in Greenwich, Connecticut and everybody was just like, yo, like,

Brown's doing the decision at the Boys and Girls Club. I'm like, here? Like, why is he like, you know what I mean? Didn't believe it. And then this time I'm a Nick fan. Like, I love Brown, but I'm a Nick fan. Like, if I had to choose a team, I'm a Nick fan. New York was in the running for it. Right. So at that time, yeah, they were in the running. I'm like, Mom, it was like one of those things, you know, you could drop up at the mall to hang out with friends. You could be like, Ma, you got to drop me off here. I'm done.

So we go, um, there is, I don't, maybe drag, maybe dramatic when I say they've had like a 2000 people outside at this place. That's crazy. No idea where he's coming in from. Um,

And I never forget, we see a car come down the hill. It's like a regular car, like a white Nissan. Like he tried to blend in. Smart. In the back. I wasn't inside. People think I was inside. People try to point out that I was one of the kids. I wasn't me. I wasn't inside. I was outside. Um,

And when he said, I was probably the only person that wanted him to go to Miami to join in the crowd. I was probably the only person. Everybody else is Knicks fans. Okay, gotcha. So I'm like, all right. Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, I'm hyped. So once he decides it, it was like a riot. I tell you the level. It was not safe for any children to be outside. Yeah.

and bottles. You're going to do this in the New York Boys and Girls Club and say you're going down south? Right. Like, that was... I was in danger. Like, I was like, all right, I need to figure out how to get out of here because people were really pissed off. Like, people were, like, trying to get to where he entered from and all that, but...

I'm hyped. I'm screaming like Miami, like, yeah, you know, all those different things. But it was cool, man. It was a cool experience. Full circle moment. I'm here now. Like, you know what I mean? Like, it's one of those life moments that it's just like,

You can't script these things. You know what I'm saying? And I hope Cleveland fans are okay with me saying I want him to go to Miami. I did. I'm sorry. But, you know, it's one of those things, man. It's just really cool to really be here now and, you know, kind of do our own legacy in that regard as well. I think it's pretty dope. And you're doing it, man. You know, Cleveland, at the time, it was crazy. I mean, it was another level of, like,

people mad and like hatred yeah but it like travis said it's all been you know water under the bridge at this point he ended up coming back it ended up being awesome for lebron's career like what ended up transpiring ended up being great for everybody involved cleveland still got their championship except for the next the next didn't get there that's right the next definitely lost out big time

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Let's talk a little bit of Cleveland, baby. What was your what was your first impression of the land, man? Did you know anything about Cleveland before coming to it? Not a damn thing, to be honest. I never left the hotel, but that's me in general. I don't leave the hotel. So all I saw from that Ritz was what's the area where they're building a new practice facility now? Yeah.

Oh, the water. Yeah, right there on the... Not the water. It's where all the... What is it? Tower City? Tower City? Yeah. Oh, you're just talking about the... Yeah, Tower City and everything. I'll tell you what. Tower City, it could be a fucking scene. Exactly. So I'm like, that's all I saw. So I'm thinking, okay, that's what they got. And then they got the Guardians and the Browns, and that's it. Yeah. Man, when I got here, I moved to the West Side. And just being around...

like the energy that is in this place for real, like the people, they're cool. They leave there. They rock with you. They leave you alone. Like let you be. Um, there's so much more, uh, here than I thought, to be honest, like from the food standpoint, um, playhouse squares. Dope. Um, I'm,

I don't want to give away all the locations I'll be going to, but like the Beachwood Mall is probably far. I'll be there a bunch. You're going to Beachwood? Yeah, don't know. You're on the east side right there. You're coming over to the east side. Oh, yeah, man. All right, yeah. I take the long drive. I take the long drive over there. Please don't come follow me over there on a random Tuesday. Put my hoodie up. Then I go to a lot of, I actually, I go to a lot of like high school games, like try to, you know, show love and community in that regard. I think it's cool, but.

You know, I don't really, you know, I don't be outside. I don't really do too much. I'm really just a homebody. And, you know, for me, this place is perfect for me. You said Playhouse Square. You going up there seeing some ballets or some plays? Yeah. So now it was I went to see Alicia Keys' show in New York. So then I ended up, you know, we ended up doing something to get together again here in Cleveland.

and then we have team events there and whatnot, and just seeing it all lit up at night is pretty fire. It's magical, man. The food scene is really good. I really enjoy eating downtown. I've got a few spots. I've got to shout out to my favorite spot. I can't eat there much because I've got to stay in shape. It's Zanzibar. Oh, yeah. Zanzibar. I've got to check this out. Right by the arena. Right by? So it's over what, six or –

See, now you get it. I don't know the streets. Jason doesn't know either. Don't let him fucking fool you. Don't let me fuck with you. I was in Cleveland Heights all growing up. I barely ever went downtown. Yeah, exactly. Why do you think Cleveland gets a bad rap? I think because people only go downtown and they see what I saw, which was not Tower City. I'm thinking of all the construction area. I don't know the mining. I don't know what it's called.

I know what you're talking about, like the outside of it. Right there. So they see that and they think that that just represents the entire city of Cleveland, which is not the case. And then also it's cold. And some people just don't like the cold. I like the cold. There we go. I prefer it to be cold. You know what I mean? I'm right there with you, man. I think you hit the nail on the head. It's like Cleveland isn't like a big downtown city. It's just not.

Like a lot of the, a lot of what happens happens on like the outskirts. And unless you know where you're going, it's hard to kind of like, it doesn't have like that thriving area. Like a lot of other places do that, like tourists, like, but once you know people and like, you know, spots, like it's great people. It's very community driven. There's,

there's like a personal connection that the city has that I think is charming. It's just hard for tourists to feel that you pretty much are saying that exact same thing. They make you feel, you feel the love too. That's my thing. Like you feel the genuine love, like it's especially from a, and then you feel it in the arena, but that's natural. Anywhere you play, you feel the energy in the arena, but when you leave, you feel like, like you're one of them. Like, you know, you feel like, you know, you feel that. And I think that's something that is really underrated, especially in our, in our profession, because you know,

We're professionals. Like, this is business. Like, you're not college. This isn't high school. Like, you know what I'm saying? But like the love you feel from the community is top tier. You know what I mean? I think it's something that really drove me to stay. I keep telling people that. And people didn't believe me until I re-signed, man. I kept trying to tell everybody. Because you just don't see that out of all the superstars, man. And as a Cleveland kid myself, man, thank you for coming back again, bro.

The tourist destinations. Have you been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? You know what's crazy? I've never been. I've never been. You have more fun? I'll tell you, it's fun to go to, man. It is shocking. All the memorabilia they have in there, all the experiences, it's pretty dope. That one's good. The Science Museum's good. I'm a nerd, so I love that type of shit. It's right next door.

Is it right next door? Yeah, it's right next door. It's in between the football stadium and the Rock and Roll. Oh, so that's that gray building that's like they got the little – okay, I know what you're talking about. Okay, I didn't know that. Yeah, it's right there. I used to go there. I used to sign up every year for that field trip, baby. Have you been Cedar Point or I guess now it's Six Flags, right? No, I got to go. That's the one thing I really –

I really want to do that. I really want to do it. Cedar Point's the best in the world, man. I'm telling you, you got to do it. I got it. That's the one I really got to do. You like roller coasters? No. What? But I got to do it. I'm afraid. I'm afraid. I'm afraid. But I'll do it because I really want to go. Everybody keeps talking about it. But I'm afraid. I'm afraid of fall, let alone.

We got to get you a Millennium Force. Do not go on Millennium Force. He said, I'm afraid. I can't wait to sit next to you on Millennium Force. We're going. I can't do it. I'll go. I'll observe and I'll just go, you know, be supportive to my friends wherever I want to go. I'll be chilling on the bench with the Dippin' Dots. Exactly. That's exactly what I've been doing. Exactly.

So when we were growing up, there were the Cleveland Rockets. There was a WNBA team in Cleveland. You said you would love to see the WNBA team return to Cleveland.

Um, have you heard any updates about this? Any murmurs throughout the, uh, the facilities or anything like that? Can you give us a little insight if we could actually get a WNBA team back in Cleveland? Uh, I won't give too much. Um, I've heard, you know, different things, but I won't say what I've heard. You know what I mean? No more than probably what you guys have heard, to be honest. Yeah. Um,

But, you know, I think it'd be dope. I mean, I love to watch the W in general. First of all, they're in a phenomenal place and they're only going to continue to get bigger and bigger and better. I think Cleveland is the perfect place for it. Just like I said, everything I just said to you about the community, the vibe, the support, the love. Oh, yeah. You know, I think this is, you know, a perfect place for it. And on top of that, the season's in the summer.

I mean, this is this in the summer, man, is like we need more teams in the league for sure. I mean, you know, Cleveland's the perfect place. I'm with you on that. All right. You want to get to some blind rankings? Blind rankings. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's do it, man. Something we like to do on this show is something called blind rankings. We show you 10 things and we rank them one to 10 without knowing what's coming next. I'm sure you've played before. Do we want to do dunk contests or do we want to do NBA throwback jerseys? I'll let you pick.

We do a throwback jersey. Throwback jerseys. All right, let's do some throwback jerseys. We're doing blind ranking, one to ten. Hit us with the first one, Brandon. Oh! Ooh!

Orlando Magic from the Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal era. These jerseys are awesome. Classics. I'm going to go 10. I'm going to go 10. I'm not going to lie. You're going to go 10? The pinstripe? I do think there's going to be a lot above this. I do agree. That's why I'm going to go 10 because I don't want to put – yeah, I feel like this is 10. I'll ask you this. What do you think is better? The all-black ones or like the Tracy McGrady blue?

The ones with the little blue. Little blue is hard. The shorts still needs to go crazier than the top. I will say that. The stars on the side. Yeah. The shorts go crazy in the top. All right. Starting off with 10. Sorry, Shaq. Ooh, the Miami Heat retro. That's clean. It's just a clean jersey. See, here's the thing. The problem with some of these- Still not one of my favorites.

I'm not going to lie. The bottoms are better than the top. That's – you know what I mean? No, we're doing the whole – it's a whole outfit. We're ranking – we'll definitely rank the whole outfit. I'm going to go nine. I'm going to go nine. Man, we are – We're hoping right now that we get some good jerseys. Please. We're going more throwback than I thought maybe here. Okay, let's go. What do we got next, Brandon? Ooh.

Now we're talking. To me, that's top three. Easy. Man, I'm trying to think what... Oh, man. With the mountains in the background. Again, the shorts are... The shorts are elite. The shorts are elite. Utah Jazz from the 90s. And the thing is, if it's a 90s jersey...

I'm probably going to be biased towards that Jersey for whatever reason, man. I just had some good color schemes. And the only thing I don't like about this is that jazz has nothing to do with mountains. When I think of jazz, I don't think of mountains. I think of new Orleans or something like that. I don't think about, I don't know. Have you ever listened to the, to some jazz up in the Rockies?

I have not. I have not. There you go. But these are dope. I love this color scheme. Do you want to throw it at three? I'm going to. All right, well, let's go two. I'm with it. I'm with it. That's a solid two right there. Ooh! These ones, hey, these Raptors. Oh, my gosh, they're good. Fuck, man, that's a good one, dog. Does it get better than that? This one might be one of my all-time favorite hats. I'm hoping the Grizzlies jersey I'm thinking of is the one.

I'm hoping that's the one. All right, so we want to go three with this one because these Raptor jerseys were fucking unbelievable, man. Three should be two. I hear you. Do we want to switch them? I guess we can't now. It's the point of the game, Jason. Damn it. All right, silly. Sixers. Sixers, Iverson era. Nice.

I don't think it's even their best jersey. I don't think so either. I'm going to go seven. It's just the era. I'll go seven. It's just because it was AI. Honestly, it's really because he's wearing the jersey, to be honest. It's just that number three with his name on the back. Anybody else in that jersey is like, oh, that's one of the weaker jerseys I've seen. It's the same kid. Oh, a throwback.

Nets jersey right there. So is this – Dr. J. Which Nets is this? That's a great question. So now it's obviously Brooklyn. ABA. ABA. ABA. Okay.

Okay, these are really cool. That's New Jersey still? Is that still Jersey? That's a good question. I wouldn't even know. That is Jersey. That is Jersey. Okay, all right. I'm going to go, we got 10, 9, 8, 7, I'm going to go 5. I really like these. I like the red, white, and blue, so I'm going to go 5. There's something nice about it being clean. The colors worked well. The design is unique.

I like it too. And on top of that, it's Dr. J, baby. As I said, it's not the person who's wearing it. You know what I mean? That afro gives it at least two bumps up. You know what I mean? The thing was aerodynamic, man. It sure was crazy. All right, here we go. Ooh!

And my dog Ron Harper in the building. Let's go, man. I'm going to go. The socks are crazy. The socks into the, are those the Reebok pumps? No, no, no. Those are nice. Those are nice. They look like the Jazzercising socks. Don't do my guy Harper like that, man. The socks are crazy. I'm going to go. I'm going to.

I don't know any other jersey besides the... I'm going to go four. I'm going to go four here. Let's keep it up there. Yeah. It's a good hometown. I actually think I have the Brad Daugherty version of this jersey. You do, for sure. I don't even think these are the best ones, to be honest. Oh, no. My favorite ones are like the Sean Kemp and Bobby Surra era. The black and blue is the best Cavs jersey, in my opinion. The paint splash. I used to look a little along with

With the little, the change. The paint, like, swipe, like the paintbrush, like, deal. Yeah, the splash jersey is what they call it, I believe. No, the main color is yellow or whatever, yellow or maroon. Oh, I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Like that on the side. Yeah, we're talking about a completely different jersey. Those are fire, too. I think those are the Austin Carr joints. Yeah, the ACs. Yeah, the ACs. Shout out to ACs. You got it on right here? Up top.

Yeah, they got on top. They got on top. Those are classics. If you haven't noticed, we got the Cleveland wall back here. Oh, yeah. Yeah, baby. Get some history right there, man. All right, so we got Cavs at four. What are we going with next? Ooh, the Detroit Pistons. These ones are actually freaking sneaky. I forgot about the Grand Hill, man. Grand Hill, baby. I actually have this jersey myself. I love this jersey, man. This thing is fire. Old school Pistons. That should have been –

Sorry. All right. That should have been four. I'm sorry. I agree. I think everybody in Cleveland will tell you that regardless. We'll go six. Yeah, we got to go six. If it's a bad Memphis, we're just going to back up. I'm so upset. Memphis isn't even going to be in here, man. Fuck! Oh, dude. You can't not put that jersey in here. I don't think it's up to us. I don't think it's up to us. Oh, I forgot about these.

Ah, the Wolves. What numbers do we have left? Eight and one. It's not good. It's not good. It's going to be way lower than it should be. These Timberwolves jerseys were sick. So we go eight? We got to go eight in hopes that... Come on, man. Don't disappoint us. Bro, it's going to be like a Bulls jersey or something. Don't disappoint us. We are so screwed.

You guys cheating the system. Again, with the shorts, though, the 90s shorts. That's what I was saying. A lot of these jerseys are hard, but the shorts be, like the shorts I still wear to this day. Like, you know what I mean? I'd go on Mitchell & Ness and get the old school shorts. What is it about these jerseys that just like go, like it makes it so awesome?

Everybody loves this jersey. Is it the color? Is it the way the Grizzlies is written out? Is it the bear? Is it the outline, the pattern on the outline? Is it the outline of the jersey, the way Grizzlies is typed, the Vancouver, Samoa, you got the Grizzly, the big-ass Grizzly on the side of the shirt. Looks like it's coming out. Yeah, 3D. Shout-out to Mike Bibby. Shout-out to Mike Bibby. There we go. All righty. We did it. That was a solid win. I'm not that mad about it. Not bad. You know, we'll move around a few of them, but overall, we –

We got it done. All right. Let's get to our last segment here. It's called We Gotta Ask. That is, we always end our segments with We Gotta Ask, but you don't have to answer, so you can either answer or tell us to fuck off. Donovan, we'll just roll through a few of these. What? Oh, Jason. It's a strong question. Yeah, this is so silly. We've been back and forth on this. Does a basketball hoop have one hole or two holes?

One. Yeah, that's the correct answer. Right? Yeah, one. What about the net at the bottom? It goes in the top hole and out the bottom hole. I see what people are doing. I see what people are doing. What about a straw? What about a straw? Does a straw have... You fucked me up with that one. Now I'm sitting here like... No, because there's one. There's one continuous hole. So does a straw have one hole or two holes?

See, this is a debate. Again, you can tell us to fuck off, too. I'm a two guy. There you go. I'm a two guy, too. There we go. I think it's two. I don't think it's one. I got the hole that my mouth goes on and the hole that goes in the liquid. Exactly. I'm a two guy for sure. Slam dunk contest. What are your thoughts on it now? I think it's tough because a lot of the dunks that you...

We have social media. It's like, you see it all. And then on top of that, the best dunkers in the world aren't NBA players. So they make their own videos, their own content that we see. And we're like, oh shit, that's crazy.

But then, you know, it's hard for us to replicate that because they're professional dunkers. Like, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, it's what they do. Exactly. And I know a bunch of the guys who are professional dunkers and they try to teach guys. But people don't understand that guys don't have time to work on these things. Like, for real. Like, when I won...

I only had two weeks. You know what I mean? Like, you know what I mean? And then the last dunk that I did to win, I did, I hadn't made that dunk since high school. So I was just like, you know what I'm saying? So I think it's tough. I think it gets a bad rap because people are like expecting something crazy, but it's like, we, we live in an era now where you can see the craziest dunk by whoever. I applaud guys like Jalen Brown for trying to continue to go out there and do their thing. Um,

I won't personally be out there again, to be honest. You won it. You did it. Undefeated. There you go. There you go. I guess that's right. Like, if you would have saw Jordan jump from the free throw line on social media before he did it, like, it wouldn't have been as exciting. Exactly. And you're also seeing –

like people you don't know. So to people, they're like, oh, if so-and-so random person can do it, John Moran should definitely be able to do it. Or Zion Williamson. It's just not a fair – that's why I don't think guys do it because it's not necessarily a fair shake, to be honest. There's guys that all they do is work on Duncan and different ways to make that, and that's just not what everybody in the NBA has time for. So what's a way that they could – the NBA can –

I guess make the all-star game and all this stuff because that's really the dunk contest was what everybody got ready for growing up you already know that's all anybody cared about the all-star game was was fun but people really wanted to watch the dunk contest so what can the NBA do to make it exciting again to

to get the fans engaged? It's a tough question. I think that's tough. I feel like, I mean, I'm a fan of dunking. I've been a fan my whole high school career. So, like, maybe you get professional dunkers to come in and do some things that people haven't seen. I don't know. You can elevate those individuals. You elevate those. Like, we had a guy come in during halftime in one of our games and do it, right? Like, he was between the legs dunking it like this way, like stuff that is just crazy. But, like, you know what I mean? But people haven't seen, I think.

I don't know. Especially for the dunk contest, I don't know the solution. What do you think about slam ball? You get some trampolines in there. Oh, dude. Somebody's going to get hurt. You can't be on people doing that. I don't even think the owner is the GM. There's nobody to go to that with. What do you think about, though, what the NHL did where they had like the Four Nations tournament this year instead of the All-Star game? I like that. I like that. There's like – because –

I don't know. Everybody gets hyped up for USA basketball, right? So all of a sudden you got USA basketball, maybe even just versus the world. Maybe it's like all the foreign players combined on one team, USA on another team.

And then there's like an actual competitive reason because you're playing for your countries. That might be exciting right there. I think so. I think that the NHL, I watched it. That was really dope, what they did. I think that's something that could definitely elevate it for sure. We did that in the Rising Stars game my first two years. It was USA vs. World. Like I said, it's tough, man. There's so much that goes on.

Throughout the Sunday, to get to the game, it's just like, oh, we made it. We made it there. You know how it goes. There's always different things. You're standing around. So, man, guys don't want to get hurt. Some guys do. Some guys get to work at it because they're able to. Some guys don't have appearances as long as others. So, it's so much. But I think if you do the USA vs. World, it'll definitely bring up the intensity for sure. You could even do it where you could still do the slam dunk contest, but now it's not like –

Donovan Mitchell competing for himself in the slam dunk contest. He's trying to get points for Team USA's overall total. Oh, you're saying the whole weekend. You could do the whole thing. He's on his own wavelength right now. I'm just saying. He's on his own wavelength right now. I think that'd be fun. Like, I don't slam dunk, but I want to watch USA beat the rest of the world in the slam dunk contest.

I'll ask you this, though. Who is the one guy in the NBA that you would love to see in the dunk contest? Zach Levine. Oh, all over again. You already know. Right away. Watching him. I mean, he's the previous champion. I got like five. Zach Levine. Zach Levine.

Zion, Ja. Zion would be crazy. Man. Derek Johnson. See, that's the thing. I mean, I don't want to say back in the day it used to be different, but I mean, those, like the superstars of the league definitely were in the dunk contest. Not to say that you're not, because you still got Jalen Brown and you still got guys, you know, with very familiar and contributing a lot, but it's like, I'm with you. I'm with you. Seeing guys like that, Anthony Edwards, guys like that, just go in there and do something crazy or just,

do a regular windmill but jump out the gym doing it. Have they ever done horse at the All-Star game? That's what I want to see. They did it during COVID. There we go. During COVID, they did that. You know what? I think this will never happen. Ever happen. But I think we should get guys to line up and try to dunk and guys to try to block the shot.

Slam ball, one-on-ones. Let's go. Oh, sorry. I'm talking about straight up. Straight up. It'll never happen. It'll never happen. I am so into this. We got to get it to go. How do we get this going? I'm taking Jay Allen all day. I told Jay I would dunk the fuck out of him. I'm sorry. I see my language. Who bleeped that out for you? I told Jay, we had a discussion about this in the locker room, actually. Yeah. It was me, FDG, Karis. We were all talking.

It was before I dunked on Porzingis, the day before. They were like, you don't dunk anymore. And I'm like, look, y'all, I promise you, if I saw y'all down there, I would dunk. And they were like, we're going to see. And then we saw against – I dunked on Porzingis, and that's why you saw me look at the bench and go, I told you. He's like, you're next. I'm talking to both of them. Like, yo, I told you. I really – I make the jokes with Ev all the time. I get defensive player of the year, rah-rah, all that. I would dunk. I would dunk.

So how hard is it to dunk on somebody, though, when they know it's coming and they got like that much space? You're talking to a guy that's never dunked in his life. So you got to dunk the female basketball before. No way. Oh,

No way. Because I can pull the female basketball. I can't pull the – I didn't know you can get up that high. I forget the pullman. I didn't know you can get up – Oh, no, no. Travis knows. I get up high enough. I just don't have the form down. I cannot – I'm going to dunk. I'm going to do this. The way to do it when you know a guy – like for me –

I always go at the guy's body because I'm strong. If I can eliminate you going like this and take the body away, I'm fine once I get up here. With J.A. and Ev, I would just try to go at them. It sounds really easy. Like I said, I'm making this sound very simple. I'm sure it's easy for you. A lot of guys have tried to dunk both of them. A lot of guys have failed. I feel like I'd be one of the few successful

We'll never see it. You know what I mean? Cause I'm not going to try to practice, but like, you know,

I promise at some point, maybe during training camp, I'll try it. It's out there. It sounds electric. It sounds so electric. I want to see this. Well, we, uh, we've kind of got into this earlier, but let's, uh, let's go ahead and hit it. Um, easier for an NFL player going to the NBA or NBA player going to the NFL. It's obviously been a huge debate on, well, not obviously, but on this show for sure. On the show for sure. And I guess, uh, around the, uh, the sports world, uh,

guys crossing over. What do you think about the NFL to NBA, NBA to NFL debate? I may get hated for this. I think it'd be easier to come over into y'all world at certain positions. Yeah, there's no question. At certain positions for sure. Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with you. I don't think I could be a running back. What position are you coming over?

Anything on defense, I think, not the line. I think for sure I could, not a corner. Take that back. Corner's hard. Corner's real hard. I got big feet and my feet don't move like that. So I'm not, I'm not reacting to shit. I'll tell you that. You got safety? Safety. Safety, I think I got. Okay. Um,

With time. I don't mean I could just walk on a field. Of course. Yeah, nobody can just go out there. You know what I mean? With time. Jay Tatum came through and he mentioned that as well. He said if you would have gave him time, because he was a high school football player, if you would have gave him time through high school and he dedicated that to that lifestyle, he thinks he could have done it. And it makes sense. So who's got the better chance? Who had the better chance? You of playing in the NFL or Lamar Jackson of playing in the NBA? Having seen Lamar play basketball,

Could he have played in the NBA if you had dedicated all his talent to NBA basketball? Are we playing each other positions? Like am I a quarterback? No, just make it. Let's say we're back in high school and a young Donovan Mitchell says, I'm going to focus on football and a young Lamar Jackson says, I'm going to focus on basketball. Who has a better chance of making it into the NBA or NFL? I would say probably me making it to the NBA.

Did you hear that, Lamar? Shots fired. I hope he sees that too. We got to give Lamar a shake on this. We got to give Lamar a shake on this. We definitely got to. We definitely got to. I saw him dunk. I didn't really get to see him hoop much. Okay, okay. I don't know. But I definitely feel like, you know, maybe a tight end, you know, maybe. You know what I mean? Come out, you know, grab it, fall. Who's the guy that falls on Seattle every time he catches it? What's his name? Every time he catches the ball, he falls to it. You talking about Tyler Lockett?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's avoiding some hits, yeah. Some unnecessary hits, I'll say, because he's a tough guy. But he's like, yeah, if I'm not going to need to take this hit, I'm not going to. Exactly. Or you throw me an out route, I feel like I could, you know, nothing down the middle. Nothing over the middle? You going down the middle, Trav? Nothing. Come on, man. That's weird. That's when you turn into a dog. It's a guaranteed intersection. Guaranteed intersection. No, not the guaranteed. As soon as I hit you with the right here and get back that way middle...

I'm not going for it. I'm sorry. Only out breaking routes. I respect the take. What's the hardest arena to play in? Because I can't see well.

Timeout. You can't see well. Oh, like the depth perception is crazy in Dallas? I'm not. Dallas's depth perception is not the best for me. So there's not a lot like behind the basketball hoop or it's just a weird. It's just the way the light is set up in there. It's the only arena where I'm in there and it's like.

It may go in today. It may not go in today. That's a crazy scenario. This is like one of those things where it's just your eyes just play tricks on you. You ever thought about wearing the Rex packs? Never. The old gray horses? The year I tried to wear contacts because you know I don't wear glasses. Do you wear contacts out there? No. So you're just out there with blurry ass vision shoes? You're driving 71 with blurry vision. This guy is crazy, man.

We got to give my guy some LASIK, man. Fuck. This dude's shooting threes while he's buffering. I can't. I can't.

That's incredible, man. Nah, for real. That's the one arena where I'm like, every time it's like it plays tricks on me in that arena. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's a certain light. In terms of atmosphere, though. It's tough because the tougher arenas, I love to play in. So it's like I don't really know if you want to sit at the top. You know what I mean? Let's rephrase it. What's the most electric atmosphere arena outside of what? Outside of here? Yeah. Both gardens.

Both gardens. I was about to say the garden. Oh, yeah. Nice. No, both of them. Boston and Madison. I was thinking Boston just because you guys have had so many big games against Boston, it feels like. I love that crowd. That crowd is fun. I mean, I'm from the East Coast. So Boston and New York, the Knicks arena, both of them feel like my people are there watching anyway. That's awesome. You know what I mean? They care. But those are probably my two favorites. And I said here, too. I said before I got here, I love even when –

Was it 30 wins, 20 win seasons? Like, it was jumping. Like, you know what I mean? And you're on the road, you're on the East Coast trip, you're like, ain't nobody finna be here. This is sold out. Oh, yes, they are. Definitely, definitely wrong. So I definitely, you know, got a lot of respect for fan bases that show out.

through the down years as much as they do during the, uh, Oh, in Utah. Sorry. Try to put Utah in there. I'm excited for Utah's hockey team, man. Cause Utah there, they'd seem like a fan base that would go nuts for hockey. Yeah. I just know that name out. Yeah. I ain't trying to hear this hockey club. You know, they want to do Yetis, but apparently the Yeti, uh, somebody bought all the, uh, trademarks, uh, uh,

coolers got the trademark they won't let them use it they might but I think that there's like they probably want to own it outright I bet I don't know somebody that was the rumor going out there why they weren't picking Yeti and I'm like you got to go with Yeti partner with them Yeti's fuck Yeti coolers for sale through the whole arena facts tell Ryan Smith Ryan Smith he was he was with me when I was in Utah let him know hey the Yeti's yes you got to get them going those arenas electric for for sure what's

city should have an NBA team that doesn't? Louisville, Kentucky. Man, what? It's college. Louisville? No way. You think they're packing up? Everybody's going to say Vegas and they're going to say Seattle. No. Louisville, Kentucky. Vegas and Seattle are going to get their team. I've never heard of Louisville. They got the arena for it too. There's no professional sport team there. It's just the perfect place. I'm making a lot of sense right now. It's

You're going to get some support in Louisville. Hey, work for OKC. That's for damn sure. LeBron James has said Giannis would score over 200 points in the 1970s. That's fucking hilarious. 200 points is great. How many points are you scoring in the 70s?

We get a little hot tub time machine action. You're back in time. It is hard to compare eras, but it is extremely hard. It is hard, but I'm always going to give myself the benefit of the doubt. I'm going to say 30. I'm going to say 30, 40, 50. You're going to – Averaging or scoring? I think scoring. Yeah. Scoring in a game? You put up 70.

You put up 71 in this era. What's your 71 in the 70s? Did they have the three-point line in the 70s? I'm genuinely asking this. That's a great question that I do not know. I want to say they did. I don't think they did. They're saying they did it. 1979, they're saying. Is when it started? So this is no three-point line. So no three-point line, all twos? Oh, that's nasty. Yeah.

I don't like that. I'll give myself, you know, 40, 50. You got to think in the 70s as well. There's not, I mean, the rim protectors around, you know, it's like six, eight, six, nine, maybe. Yeah. I mean, maybe the 80s, they started hitting you, but like you keep going in there time after time.

They knocking you out the air. You know what I mean? So that's a little more physical, a little bit more floaters come in. The jumpers come on. You're not just attacking the rim the entire game. You're going to try to preserve your body. So I go about 50, 50 for sure. I think that's a very realistic answer. We got one more for you.

Pick your all-time starting five. Am I on the team or no? Yeah, you can put yourself on there. Go ahead. I will say, typically when we do these, people do not pick themselves. What? Unless your name is Travis Kelsey. What do you mean? Travis always picks himself as one of the top tight ends of all time.

I'm just trying to manifest it, Jason. He has the stats to prove it. For sure. I mean, it's definitely legitimate. I'm still working my way. You know what I mean? I'm still trying to get one ring, let alone three. You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. We're going to get it this year, though, baby. Let's go. Exactly. I won't put myself in here. Steph at the one. Kobe at the two. MJ at the three. Ron at the four. I'm seeing no misses so far. Yeah.

at all. My five, man, I'm playing in 2025 basketball, so I'm not really going to tradition. I'm going small ball. Katie at the five. I mean, that's a hell of a starting five. I think that five takes anybody's starting five. They're running. They're running the floor. No matter if you're playing. Hey, hey, running yard. We're running the floor. Pays in space. Running floor, that's it. I respect it. Well, Spider-Man, we appreciate you jumping on, man. We won't take any more of your time. Thank you very much, everybody. Donovan Mitchell!

Good luck in the playoffs, big dog. Thanks for always representing Cleveland, man. And let's go get us one, man. Go Cavs. Yes, sir. Appreciate y'all, boys. Thank you. Appreciate y'all. All right. And that wraps up another episode of New Heights. Thank you to Donovan Mitchell for joining us.

Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube to the new heights channel. Follow new heights on the one to reappear wherever you get your podcast. You can listen to new episodes of new heights early and ad free right now by joining one plus in the one react or on Apple podcasts. Once again, new heights, a one to show produced by wave sports and entertainment and

brought to you by DraftKings. Follow the show on all social media at New Heights Show with 1S for fun clips throughout the week, guys. And thanks to our production and crew. Thank you to the 92 Percenters. And thank you, Donovan, for coming through. Spider, bring us home another championship, baby. Go Cavs. Hell yeah.

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