Animosity runs rampant in the NBA Playoffs, but there are special instances where bonds are formed across enemy lines. Back in the 2019 postseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers were still suffering the second departure of LeBron James. Meanwhile, the Donovan Mitchell’s Utah Jazz duked it out with James Harden’s Houston Rockets.
A lot has changed since then: the two Western Conference star guards joined the Cavs, and James won a ring for the Los Angeles Lakers. However, one thing did remain a constant after seven years — the mentorship between Harden and Mitchell.
2019 Rockets helped Mitchell, Cavs grow
Let’s paint the picture. It was the 2019 first round and the Rockets were an overwhelming favorite to wipe the Jazz out of the NBA Playoffs. James Harden delivered on that expectation and decimated Donovan Mitchell’s squad in five games. Mitchell played 39 minutes but only mustered up 12 points because he shot 18% from the field and did not make a single three-pointer.
His future Cavs teammate, Harden, would then approach him and give life-changing advice. Mitchell still vividly remembers that post-game moment in the 2019 NBA Playoffs and lives vicariously through it, via Sam Amick of The Athletic.
“I tell (Harden and Chris Paul) all the time how that second year when we played them, and that series, changed my entire career… You don’t succeed without failure. You don’t succeed without having times like this. So to have that so vividly in my head in a moment like this, you know, I can tell you that I’m upset and what all. But you know — I’m gonna be better. Simply put, ‘I wasn’t tonight, and I’ll be better’,” the Cavs superstar declared.
Since then, Mitchell has been better. He has grown to be an effective leader for the Cavs since his arrival. They are also trending in the right direction due to his help. The Cavs have not missed the NBA Playoffs and went as far as the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 2025. Many of those efforts were because he had the 2019 Rockets version of Harden and Paul echo great advice to his young self.
Now, he is getting direct advice from Harden because they share the ball in the Cavs system. Will the 2026 NBA Playoffs be the time when Mitchell paid the favor back by helping The Beard win the Larry O’Brien trophy?
