Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers blew the doors off of the Los Angeles Lakers. In what was possibly the last time LeBron James would play in his hometown, Donovan Mitchell and the short-handed Cavaliers beat the Lakers by 30 points.
After the game, second-year forward Jaylon Tayson had a bold statement to make: Cleveland belonged to Donovan Mitchell now. It was his city, not LeBron's, anymore.
A few minutes later Tyson was contrite and respectful to LeBron James, who means so much to the town and the franchise, the hometown Akron boy taken first overall by the Cavaliers and who brought the first title in franchise history to The Land. He is by all accounts a top-3 palyer of all time, and many place him first.
Obviously, LeBron James no longer plays for the franchise, but he is still the franchise GOAT. This site is still named after him! The crowd cheers for him when he comes to town on the opposite team. He was in tears last night watching the Cleveland tribute video. Everyone involved seems to be hoping he will come back and finish his career with the Cavaliers next season.
Without question, Donovan Mitchell has been incredible this season for the Cavs. He is on track for an All-NBA season and perhaps another spot down the MVP-ballot. He is scoring 29.4 points per game, launching and making 3-pointers at a historic rate, and for a team beset by a myriad of injuries this year has kept them afloat and now on track to push back up toward the top of the Eastern Conference.
Tyson's comments beg the question, however: how much would it take from Mitchell for this to be his city instead of LeBron's? Is it possible for him to put up enough stats and collect enough accolades to take over the town? That's a question with two answers: what would it take to pass him in the present, and what would it take for him to pass LeBron in historical standing?
Donovan Mitchell still doesn't own Cleveland
The Cavaliers and their fans certainly adore Donovan Mitchell, but he hasn't forged that deep connection with the city that LeBron has. Mitchell will never be the hometown kid, the Akron boy, who grew up before the eyes of these fans, won state titles and brought fame and relevance to a forgotten franchise.
The two pathways to becoming the apple of the fan base's eye in the present are likely scoring and playoff success. He needs to continue shooting and scoring at a high level, putting up 40 and 50 and 71 points to make it obvious that he has a special skill that is driving winning.
Secondly, Mitchell needs to lead the Cavs somewhere that matters in the postseason. Cleveland has lost in the second round for two consecutive years now, and as the league's most expensive team, everyone is expecting more. This season has been more wobbly than expected, but a run from the middle of the pack through to at least the Eastern Conference Finals, and likely the NBA Finals, will be needed before Cleveland starts to look at Mitchell as a true superstar worthy of their adoration.
The career question is much more of a hurdle. In terms of team success, LeBron James led the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals 5 times and won a championship; Mitchell likely won't achieve that longevity, so winning two titles will need to be enough. Can the Cavs make the Finals two or three times in the next five years and win twice? It's a tall order.
LeBron played 11 seasons in Cleveland and accumulated an insane number of stats. Mitchell is in his fourth season with the team, so he has a long ways to go to get anywhere near LeBron in essentially any category. He has 6,408 regular season points with the franchise, good for 13th in team history. He'll be in 12th after this year, in the Top 10 by the end of next season. He could reasonably make it to No. 2 and pass Zydrunas Ilgauskas early in the 2028-29 season.
At that point, he would be less than halfway to LeBron's 23,119 career points for the frachise.
Every statistic is like that. LeBron is the franchise leader in rebounds, assists, steals and 3-pointers. That final category is the only one where Mitchell has a dream of catching LeBron with anything short of a 20-year career himself. He could get there in another two seasons past this one, give or take. The 3-point revolution helps, but it's also the most lethal part of Mitchell's game.
Now factor in that LeBron made 10 All-Star Games, 10 All-NBA teams and won two MVPs with the franchise and you get an impossible resume to touch. Michael Jordan with the Chicago Bulls. Stephen Curry with the Golden State Warriors. LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Is Mitchell playing great basketball and earning the love of fans in Cleveland? Absolutely. Can he and the current team compete for championships? It seems possible. But Mitchell has no realistic hope of becoming the best player in franchise history. He is fighting for second.
LeBron James has and likely always will mean more to the city of Cleveland than any other athlete. That's nothing against Mitchell, and everything about LeBron. He earned that title, and he won't be giving it up easily.