Cavs Fans Are Up In Arms Debating Whether Donovan Mitchell Or Kyrie Irving Is The 2nd Best Player In Franchise History
So a couple Cleveland media members had this take after yesterday's Game 7 win. Let's not beat around the bush with my take on this one: at best they were prisoners of the moment, watching the Cavs complete the biggest Game 7 comeback (18 points) ever, and they started spewing ridiculous takes. And at worst they were blatantly not telling the truth in search of interactions and clicks. And I cannot believe I'm about to do this, but I have to: I am going to defend Kyrie Irving.
I hate that motherfucker, but I can't believe this is even a discussion.....? Are we talking about the same two resumes here? Donovan Mitchell has been here for two seasons now and he has:
1. Gotten bounced in the 1st round
2. Advanced to the 2nd round, in a series that took 7 games, over what was supposed to be a much inferior opponent
Anything else...? If THAT'S what it takes to be the 2nd best player in franchise history then we have the worst franchise in all of sports. The man has been here for two years and never even won 1 game in the Conference Semis. And after the Celtics series gets played out over the next week or two, he still might not. Yes, he obviously did have a 50 burger in Game 6, and yes he followed that up with 39 yesterday in Game 7, making him the 2nd highest scoring player in Game 6/7 history, which is quite the feat....
....but he did it against the Orlando Magic in the 1st round of the NBA playoffs......?
Kyrie played here 6 seasons, and while he won more, got to more All-Star games, etc etc etc....the only argument I need is that he hit the biggest shot in the history of the city. And that's not debatable.
If Donovan Mitchell wins a title, I will change my tune. But for a city so hungry to win a championship to completely forget that Kyrie took us there and hit the shot to win one is so shortsighted that it's disrespectful. In Cleveland, he was the Rookie of the Year, multiple time All-Star, 20+ point per game scorer, and won an NBA Championship. Donovan Mitchell put the team on his back to beat the #5 seeded Orlando Magic in a matchup that we tanked to set up. This is an embarrassing conversation for Cleveland sports talk radio to be having this morning, on the heels of what should be an incredible day to be in Cleveland. But now you've got people at each other's necks in what I consider to be an indisputable argument.
Are we sure Donovan Mitchell is even third? After two seasons??