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Donovan Mitchell made it a point to speak to the media after his scuffle with Memphis Grizzlies guard Dillon Brooks.
The Cleveland Cavaliers star had plenty to say about what went down.
“That’s just who he is,” Mitchell said of Brooks. “We have seen it a bunch in this league with him. Him and I have had our personal battles for years. Quite frankly, I’ve been busting his ass for years. Playoffs. Regular season. And the one game he does an alright job on me today, he decides to do something like that. No place for that in the game. Gotta protect yourself. This has been brewing for years. With me. With other guys in the league. You all see it. This isn’t new. Tonight was just the end of it.”
The fracas started after Brooks had his shot block and tumbled to the floor. While on the ground, Brooks flailed back and hit Mitchell with an intentional-looking low blow. Mitchell tossed the ball at Brooks and the fireworks then started, leading to both players being ejected.
Mitchell believes the league should look at further punishment for Brooks due to his reputation.
“There should be something. This isn’t just a Donovan thing. This has happened to other players throughout this league, and it’s bulls**t if I’m being honest with you,” Mitchell said. “When you start doing little cheap s**t, that ain’t it.”
Cavs Have Donovan Mitchell’s Back After Ejection
It was a tight game when Mitchell and Brooks got tossed, with the Cavaliers holding an 81-76 lead midway through the third quarter. Cleveland rallied the rest of the way without their leading scorer, notching a 128-113 victory.
“We’re some nice young men — until you try to do some weird stuff like the dude did over there,” said Darius Garland, who dropped 32 points in the win. “We’re still some dogs, and we’ll never back down from nobody, never lay down for nobody, especially those guys over there. … We’re no sisses over here.”
In the locker room, Mitchell was waiting and was awarded the Junkyard Dog Chain, which the team documented on their official Twitter account. The theme of the post was “F**k around and find out.”
We don’t have those guys that start s**t, but we got guys that don’t run from s**t,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “You have to in this league. You have to stand up for yourself. That’s what he did and his teammates had his back.”
The Grizzlies refused to talk about the scuffle after the game, although Brooks agreed with the Flagrant 2 call.
“It saved me some T’s (technicals),” Brooks said.
Victory Could be Spark Cavaliers Were Looking For
The Cavaliers needed a spark, struggling to string together consistent results since the New Year. The win moved them to 32-22 and they’ll have a few days off before facing the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.
It was a much different tone in the locker room after they lost to the Miami Heat earlier in the week, with Mitchell and others lamenting a fourth-quarter collapse.
“I think we’re all kind of tired of coming here and saying, ‘We’re learning.’ You want to learn through success, and we haven’t played well,” Mitchell said after the loss. “That’s just the honest truth. We’ve got to find a way to do that. That’s on all of us.”
Perhaps the altercation and win against the Grizzlies will be a watershed moment for the Cavaliers.
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