"There was me, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum": Donovan Mitchell recalls star-studded lineup present at his craziest dunk game
Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers star, is known to be one of the most electric players in the league today. When it comes to putting on a show, Mitchell recalled an Under Armour All-American Game that featured NBA stars such as Boston Celtics teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, as per a podcast interview on Thanasis Antetokounmpo's "Thanalysis."
At the time, Donovan Mitchell and the rest of the NBA stars present in the basketball game were still young, itching to make it to the professional league. It was an incredible showing for them and the upside that they would eventually bring to the NBA.
"(19:28) You people have seen, you can find this too, it's Under Armour All-American game," Mitchell said. "That game was crazy with the amount of pros that were in it. There was me, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Derrick Jones, Harry Childs, Dennis Smith, there was a lot of talent in these games."
During that game, Mitchell did one of his best dunks, which not everyone had seen as he wasn't in the NBA yet at the time. In the ball game, Derrick Jones was in the inbounds area when he launched the ball from the opposite free-throw line and Donovan Mitchell ended up catching it with one hand to finish the throwdown.
It was a show-stopping type of dunk that Mitchell argued put him on the map for people to watch out for him on his road to the NBA. Now that he's made it in the league, electric dunks are a common practice for the Cleveland Cavaliers star with his game continuing to improve in each season.
Donovan Mitchell talked about his 2018 NBA All-Star Dunk putting him on the map
During the 2018 NBA All-Star Dunk Contest, numerous high-flyers showed up to put on a show for the fans. Donovan Mitchell, Dennis Smith Jr., Larry Nance Jr. and Victor Oladipo were all incredible from the jump, but Mitchell was the one that took home the trophy.
Looking back on that achievement, the five-time NBA All-Star talked with NBA's Shaun Powell as he recalled how important winning the 2018 Dunk Contest was for his career.
"It changed my life," Mitchell said. "I don't think people knew who 'Spida' really was until the dunk contest. That changed things from a marketing standpoint, from a branding standpoint. Off the floor, my life changed. A blessing to have that."
Recognition-wise, Mitchell put himself on the map with one impressive dunk to another during the contest. He went up against some tough competition from Larry Nance Jr. to Dennis Smith Jr. when it came to showing off their athletic ability on the court.
Despite only being listed as 6-foot-3, Donovan Mitchell was able to combine incredible elevation with creativity, elegance and power to finish his dunks off, mesmerizing the crowd each time.