Donovan Vernell Mitchell Jr. (born September 7, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Spida", he was drafted in the first round of the 2017 NBA draft and acquired by the Utah Jazz, whom he played for from 2017 to 2022. He is a seven-time NBA All-Star and three-time All-NBA Team member.
Mitchell played college basketball for the Louisville Cardinals, earning first-team all-conference honors in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2017. As a rookie with the Utah Jazz, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2018. He was traded from the Jazz to the Cavaliers in 2022 where he would lead Cleveland to the postseason for the first time since the 2017–18 season and the first without LeBron James since 1997–98. That season, he scored a Cavaliers record 71 points in a game. In 2025, he was named to the All-NBA First Team after leading Cleveland to the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Contents
Early life
Mitchell was born on September 7, 1996, to parents Donovan Sr. and Nicole in Elmsford, New York. His mother -- who is of Panamanian & African American descent -- is a teacher and his African American father is a former Minor League Baseball player. With his father serving as a director of player relations for the New York Mets, Mitchell spent his childhood around Major League Baseball (MLB) locker rooms. At seven years old, he idolized a star pitcher of the Mets' minor-league system Scott Kazmir and later to David Wright, who was the first poster he hung on his wall. When he was eight, he played AAU basketball for the Riverside Hawks out of New York City with future Cavaliers teammate, Ty Jerome. Mitchell also played AAU for The City program in New York City. In 2010, Mitchell was present at the Boys and Girls Club of Greenwich (Conn.) when LeBron James announced his decision to sign with the Miami Heat. Mitchell has one younger sister named Jordan.
High school career
Mitchell attended Canterbury School in New Milford for his first two years of high school, after having graduated from Greenwich Country Day School likewise in Connecticut. Besides basketball, Mitchell played baseball for Canterbury. He stopped playing baseball after an injury, which also ended his upcoming AAU season. For his junior and senior years, he transferred to Brewster Academy, competing in NEPSAC. Focusing on basketball and joining Brewster's nationally prominent program, Mitchell garnered considerably more attention from college basketball coaches. He won two prep school national championships with Brewster. As he would later do in college, Mitchell spent his summers playing in streetball games at the famed Rucker Park in New York City. Mitchell was invited to play in the regional game for the Jordan Brand Classic, ranking twenty-seventh in the 2015 class by one recruiting service and forty-third by another. He committed to the University of Louisville to play college basketball.
College career
Mitchell opted to wear number 45 on his jersey in appreciation for Michael Jordan, who took the same number during his baseball career and the early part of his NBA comeback in 1995. As a freshman at the University of Louisville, Mitchell started in no more than five games and averaged 7.4 points, 1.7 assists, and 3.4 rebounds for the season.
Over his sophomore season, Mitchell averaged 15.6 points, 2.7 assists, and 4.9 rebounds per game, while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor as well as 35.4 from behind the arc and 80.6 percent from the free-throw line. He was named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference. Though he did not immediately hire an agent, Mitchell declared for the 2017 NBA draft on the heels of his sophomore campaign.
Professional career
Utah Jazz (2017–2022)
Mitchell was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the 13th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft only to be traded to the Utah Jazz for the 24th pick (Tyler Lydon) and Trey Lyles. On July 5, 2017, Mitchell signed a four-year rookie scale contract with the Jazz. On July 11, 2017, Mitchell signed a multi-year shoe deal with Adidas. Later that day, Mitchell scored 37 points against the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2017 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, the most by any player during the 2017 NBA Summer League. In his NBA debut on October 18, 2017, Mitchell registered 10 points and four assists against the Denver Nuggets. On December 1, 2017, he scored a career-high 41 points in a 114–108 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He set the Jazz scoring record for a rookie and became the first NBA rookie to score 40 points in a game since Blake Griffin in 2011. He surpassed Darrell Griffith's team-record 38 in 1981. Mitchell also became the seventh rookie in franchise history to have a 30-plus point game, as well as the first to have a 40-plus point game. On January 4, 2018, Mitchell was named the Western Conference Rookie of the Month for December 2017 after averaging 23.1 points, 3.4 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.8 steals in 34.3 minutes per game during the month of December. On January 15, 2018, Mitchell surpassed Karl Malone's franchise record for most 20+ points games during a rookie season when he had his 19th 20+ point game. On February 2, 2018, Mitchell recorded his second 40-point game of his rookie season against the Phoenix Suns, becoming the first rookie guard to notch two 40-point games since Allen Iverson in 1996–97. On February 5, 2018, Mitchell was named by the NBA as an injury replacement for Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (strained left hip flexor) for the 2018 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He won the contest scoring a 48 and 50 in the first round, then a 50 and 48 in the final round being the first rookie to win the contest since Zach LaVine. On March 1, 2018, Mitchell was named as the Western Conference Rookie of the month for the third time that season for games played in February. On April 10, he set a rookie record for most three-pointers in a season with 186 three-pointers during a 119–79 win over the Golden State Warriors. On April 12, at the end of the regular season, Mitchell was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for March and April.
In Mitchell's playoff debut against the Oklahoma City Thunder on April 15, he recorded 27 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists. He bruised his foot during the game and was questionable for Game 2, but was able to play, scoring 28 points, including 13 in the fourth quarter to lead the Jazz to a 102–95 win. Mitchell set a new record for points by a shooting guard in the team's first two postseason games with 55 points, breaking Michael Jordan's record of 53 points. Mitchell led the Jazz to a 4–2 series win over the Thunder, averaging 28.5 points a game on 46.2 percent shooting. His 171 points in the series were the third-most ever by a rookie in his first six playoff games, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. His 38 points in Game 6 (on 14-of-26 shooting) marked the highest scoring output by a rookie in a series-clinching win since 1980. On May 22, 2018, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
Cleveland Cavaliers (2022–present)
On September 1, 2022, Mitchell was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, three first-round picks, and two pick swaps. He made his regular season debut on October 19, putting up 31 points and nine assists in a 108–105 loss to the Toronto Raptors. On October 28, Mitchell scored 41 points in a 132–123 overtime win over the Boston Celtics. With teammate Caris LeVert also scoring 41 points in that same game, it was the first time the Cavaliers had multiple 40-point scorers in one game since Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals, when LeBron James and Kyrie Irving both had 41. The next game, Mitchell had a career-high 12 assists and scored 38 points in a 121–108 win over the New York Knicks. On December 6, Mitchell scored 43 points on 17-of-27 shooting from the field in a 116–102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
On January 2, 2023, Mitchell scored an NBA season-high, career-high, and Cavaliers-record 71 points, along with eight rebounds and 11 assists, in a 145–134 overtime win over the Chicago Bulls. It was the highest-scoring game for any NBA player since Kobe Bryant's 81-point game in 2006. Mitchell became the seventh player in NBA history to score 70 or more points in a game, and the first to do so with at least 10 assists. On January 26, Mitchell was named an Eastern Conference starter for the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, marking his fourth consecutive selection and first one as a starter. On March 31, Mitchell scored 42 points in a 130–116 loss against the New York Knicks. He also surpassed LeBron James for the most 40-point games in a season by a Cavalier with 11. On April 4, Mitchell scored 43 points, his fourth straight 40-point game, to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 117–113 victory over the Orlando Magic. He became the first Cavalier to score 40 or more points in four straight games. Mitchell with his performance also secured the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and home-court advantage in the first round for the Cavaliers and their first 50-win season since 1993 without LeBron James on the roster.
On April 15, Mitchell in his Cavs playoff debut recorded 38 points, five rebounds, eight assists and three steals in a 101–97 loss against the New York Knicks. Mitchell's 38 points set a team record for scoring in a player playoff debut, and he also joined elite company by becoming the first player to score more than 30 points in 20 of his first 40 playoff games since Allen Iverson. In Game 2 of the Cavaliers first round playoff series against the New York Knicks, Mitchell recorded a playoff career-high 13 assists in a 107–90 win to tie the series at a game apiece. The Cavaliers were eliminated after their third straight loss to the Knicks despite a 28-point, 7-rebound and 5-assist performance by Mitchell in Game 5.
Awards and honors
7× NBA All-Star: 2020–2026
3× All-NBA Team selections:
All-NBA First Team: 2025
2× All-NBA Second Team: 2023, 2026
NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2018
NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion: 2018
Career statistics
Personal life
During the 2017–18 NBA season, Mitchell appeared on the cover of Slam and starred in a documentary called Rookie on the Rise. The docuseries follows Mitchell during his race for NBA Rookie of the Year.
Mitchell is a fan of the New York Mets and frequently attends games during the off-season. Mitchell's father, Donovan Sr., has worked for the Mets for over twenty years.
On July 11, 2025, Mitchell announced that he was now engaged to singer and actress Coco Jones. They married on August 1, 2026.