Donovan Mitchell reacts to Fat Joe's WILDEST NBA takes + talks Cavaliers title hopes, LeBron to Philly, Russell Westbrook & more

Joe and Jada

Donovan 'Spida' Mitchell joins Fat Joe and Jada on their show to discuss his journey from New York baseball hopeful to NBA superstar with th

Key takeaways

• Mitchell reflects on his unexpected rise from high school baseball player to NBA All-Star, emphasizing how surreal his journey has been.
• He shares that he knew instantly upon meeting his wife that she was 'the one,' highlighting the importance of emotional maturity before marriage.

Main topics

• Donovan Mitchell's personal journey and career evolution
• Marriage and emotional maturity in young stardom

Notable quotes

"I knew off rip within an hour. It was easy." – On meeting his wife

Conclusion

Donovan Mitchell emerges as a thoughtful, grounded superstar who value

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:01) Hey, I'm Mike Yam. And I'm Trevor Sykema. And together, we host the NFL Fantasy Football Show. Are you ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Because if you aren't locked in with us on the NFL Fantasy Football Show, you're already playing from behind. Whether you're a first-time player or a grizzled vet chasing another championship, we give you the advantage and the confidence you need to make every move count. Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football Show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The new NFL season is here, and you should be listening to NFL Daily as we march along to Super Bowl 61. It is in the name, NFL Daily. You'll have fresh content in your feed every day, all season long. That game-winning drive. Maybe it's Herbert. Maybe it's Geno. Maybe it's Mahomes. We'll have the highlights. If Fernando Mendoza or any of the rookies are balling out, we'll break down the tape. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and an all-star cast of co-hosts as we preview and recap every game. Listen to NFL Daily. on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Whether Speaker 8 (1:04) you're a seasoned NFL fan or new to the game, there's one place to keep up with all of it, the league's newest podcast, the NFL Report, hosted by me, Andrew Siciliano. It is your home for everything football, breaking news, expert analysis, game picks, and hear from your favorite players, too. Join me and an all-star cast of experts for everything you need to know from around the league. Get new episodes of the NFL Report Monday through Friday all season long. Listen to the NFL Report podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Brett Coleman. And I'm Trevor Sykema. If you love football and want to understand what's really happening on the field, check out our show, NFL Pro. Every week, we break down the biggest plays, trends, and matchups using exclusive next-gen stats insights and NFL content you will not find anywhere else. Speaker 4 (1:51) Whether you're new to football, a fantasy football fanatic, or a diehard fan, NFL Pro will help you analyze the game like a pro. Listen to NFL Pro on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 6 (2:07) Huh? You would have lost the blackout game, though. You think so? Yeah, Speaker 2 (2:10) get down and talk this shit. You think I would have lost? I don't Speaker 6 (2:13) know. Speaker 2 (2:13) Allen Speaker 6 (2:14) Iverson. Speaker 2 (2:14) I like it. Stephon Mulberry. Speaker 6 (2:17) Carmelo Anthony. I don't think I was born for that, but I heard about that. And obviously, I've heard. What you heard? How it was supposed to happen and, you know what I mean? I think you shut the power up. I say all the, I shut the Speaker 5 (2:27) power up. I fuck with you. I fuck with you. I fuck with you. I fuck with you. I fuck with you. Speaker 2 (2:45) Yo, what's up, y'all? This is your boy, Speaker 7 (2:47) Joe Crack the Dawn. You know who it is, your boy Jada. You know what it is, the Joe and Jada show. Every show legendary. Every show iconic. And we continue, continuously, both hands on the esophagus. Not that much air. Hospice. Just going through a lot of things like that. Speaker 3 (3:13) Trickling down. If you're running down the street, we don't Speaker 2 (3:17) know Speaker 3 (3:17) all you on the street so you can trip. Speaker 7 (3:19) You know what I mean? Might slip. But we never hear nor that. When you think of today's guest, you think of one of the coldest guards in the league by far. A New York kid who had to take his talents out west, became a star in Utah. Sheesh. Then came to Cleveland and turned into the face of the franchise. Seventh time All-Star. All NBA, 70-point bangers, big playoff moments. And every summer, New York fans start asking the same question. How did the Knicks let this one get away? This is about pressure, leadership, family, loyalty, and what it really means when the whole basketball world is trying to tell you a story for you. Give it up for one of the best in the game right now. Donovan Spidermitchell! Speaker 6 (4:21) I appreciate that. First Speaker 2 (4:23) of all, I should have been in that wedding. I seen a lot of guys you don't actually like at your wedding. Speaker 7 (4:30) And your brother fad. What am I doing? Seeing bad people he don't like at Speaker 2 (4:37) his wedding. Yeah, yeah. I mean, them guys ain't as man like me. Like, are you kidding me? Like, are you nuts? I'm looking at it. I said, damn, man. I Speaker 7 (4:46) dropped a little tear when I ain't seen myself there. I dropped one. Like a tear of joy inset. I was happy inset. I was happy for him. I'm Speaker 3 (4:55) happy Speaker 7 (4:55) you found Speaker 2 (4:55) love, man. I'm happy y'all. You found such a beautiful Speaker 3 (5:00) wife that's fucking incredible, talented, and y'all found a way to, at a young age, say, yo, we're going to make this shit for real. What kind of decision was that for you? Speaker 6 (5:13) Man, it wasn't no decision. It was easy. It was easy. Y'all want to marry you? Yeah, like it was the first date. You know what I mean? No, you knew. I knew off rip within an hour. You know what I mean? The only reason why I tell her, I tell her the time is why it took so long is because I had to become a man in my own right before you, before you, you know, marry someone, right? You can't just go marry someone if you're not like, then like, you know, learn how to be a grown man. You know, I'm in a grown business at a young age, but like, you still got to learn and figure it out. And Speaker 3 (5:46) it's hard. Speaker 6 (5:46) You know, it's not easy. It's Speaker 3 (5:47) hard Speaker 6 (5:47) to pick a Speaker 3 (5:48) wife 2026. It's hard to trust somebody when you... So rich. Cause you already rich. You're not at that. Let's see what I'm gonna do. You're a big boy in them pockets. So it's hard to be like, when you hear all these tragic stories for you to be like. all right, fuck it. I'm going to get married. So I know, you know, she understands that. Speaker 6 (6:15) And being around her made it so easy. And I mean, like y'all know what she does. Y'all know how talented she is. She's man cool. She's dope. She's dope. And it was like I said, within the first date. Best friend type. Best friend. You know, Khaled met his Speaker 3 (6:28) wife. Khaled met his wife. And he said, yo, I need you to meet somebody. And I went and met her. And the first second before I even spoke, he was like, yo, this is my wife. The second day he met her, he was like, yo, this is my wife. And I think a guy and a girl know when they meet each other, they be like, yo, this is my soulmate. That's who I'm running with. Speaker 6 (6:52) That's when I knew my security guard that night. When I got in the car, we both went our separate ways. He was like, bro, you acting real different. Speaker 6 (7:01) When he told me that, I was like, all right, like, you know what I mean? He said, you acting different? I never seen like this before. He seen Speaker 7 (7:08) it. Seen it, Speaker 6 (7:09) like that. Like that. Like that. That's fucking crazy, man. But I do apologize for y'all not being in the wedding. I completely, I told Craig, man, I all over the place. Speaker 3 (7:20) Donovan, I'm your guy. You know what I mean? Donovan, Speaker 7 (7:23) I'm your guy. What was the early years of Utah like for you? What was you doing? Speaker 6 (7:27) Video Speaker 7 (7:28) games? Speaker 6 (7:28) I ain't going to lie. Speaker 7 (7:29) I Speaker 6 (7:29) just got drafted. I'm a millionaire. In my brain, when I tell the story of the time, I didn't think I was going to be in the league. I didn't think I was going to be playing basketball in the NBA. I thought I was going to be a baseball player. So within four years, my life went from high school baseball to now you're an NBA player. Like that. So my first few years in Utah, I'm playing like an NBA 2K mic. 2K career. Like, you know, you get drafted. I'm like, I'm vibing. Like, I'm just having a great time. And we end up winning the playoffs better than anybody expected. So, like, I'm riding a high. And we had a great time, man. And obviously, we didn't work out. But that time in Utah was definitely dope. It was an experience I'll never forget just because I didn't expect none of that to happen. Like, you know what I mean? Like, coming up, growing up, this wasn't the plan. You know what I'm saying? Also a great guy, the owner Speaker 3 (8:17) of the Utah team. Ryan Smith. Man, that guy's a great guy. I like Ryan. What kind of changes you doing this year so that you can win the championship? Because at the end of the day, Donovan Mitchell, Speaker 2 (8:30) he got to win a championship. Speaker 6 (8:31) He's got to. That's the goal. That's why we do what we do. For me, I mean, I think the biggest thing is, like, Harry Wright talks about the conference finals. We made it great. But, like, we still fell short of the ultimate goal, right? Obviously, beating y'all to get to that point. We failed that. So, for me and for the group, it's not even just for me, right? But for the group. You know, using that experience and saying, all right, cool, we know what it takes. You know, you can only train, but so far, right? Like, you know, I use y'all, I use Indiana as an example. Like they get there, now they know, boom, we need to do this. Maybe it's you train different, you eat different, sleep different, lift different, whatever it is for each player, it's all different. So we as a team have been together a lot this summer, just getting ready for the season coming up and then just trying to, you know, make sure your body's in the right shape. for when that time comes. And I'm excited for this year. I'm excited for a lot of guys this year. Speaker 2 (9:20) Any new Speaker 6 (9:20) players on the team? Yeah, we just Speaker 2 (9:22) got Peyton Watson. For Speaker 6 (9:23) sure, I thought Speaker 2 (9:23) LeBron was the whole Cleveland. By the way, if you ain't know, I'm in the crowd. They swore LeBron was coming over there. Yeah, I mean. Like Speaker 3 (9:31) the Speaker 2 (9:31) crowd. Every day, seat holder was like, yo, LeBron is coming, you'll see. Speaker 6 (9:37) They were shocked out there. I had no clue. Like, you know what I mean? Obviously, I just go by what the world saw. He was golfing in Cleveland. So, I mean, yeah, you think about it, but I had no idea. Did Speaker 3 (9:49) you reach Speaker 6 (9:49) out? Yeah, I reached out. You know what I mean? Obviously, when you got a player like that, you obviously want to at least make an attempt. Speaker 5 (9:55) You Speaker 6 (9:56) know what I'm saying? Like, you're not just going to be like, nah, like, you know what I mean? There's still respect there. Everybody definitely thought, especially in Cleveland, especially when you get the only championship in the city, like, you got to. And it's LeBron James, but, you know. I thought it was us or Golden State, to be honest. That's what I thought. I thought the same thing. You know, they got a team in Philly. They got a team locked in in Philly. Shout out to them. I Speaker 3 (10:19) also thought Speaker 6 (10:19) he would have been... Speaker 3 (10:20) The Speaker 6 (10:21) East got dangerous. It is. It's nice. It's stretching. Everybody, like, retooled. Everybody's going to be good. Philly, Atlanta, Speaker 3 (10:30) Miami, Speaker 6 (10:32) Austin, Detroit. Speaker 3 (10:35) My favorite teams in the East as young as Orlando and Atlanta. I love watching them play. Speaker 2 (10:43) Atlanta's a sleeper. Atlanta's a sleeper on people. They're not a sleeper. They're taller. They're lengthier than everybody. Atlanta's good. They're Speaker 3 (10:49) really, Speaker 2 (10:49) really, really good. Atlanta's going to be good. Orlando, too. I like the— Orlando's good. I wish homeboys the name. What's his name? Palo. Palo's good. Palo's good. Speaker 3 (10:59) Did I get his Speaker 2 (10:59) name right? Yeah. Boncaro? Close. He was close. Speaker 7 (11:04) Latin names messed up. Speaker 2 (11:06) No, it's not shit. It's not no Latin. It's shit like Portuguese. It's some shit. We Speaker 3 (11:12) never heard of that shit. Speaker 6 (11:17) It's not. We got the perfect Speaker 2 (11:21) pronunciation. Speaker 2 (11:25) Is he Latino? Speaker 7 (11:27) Is Speaker 2 (11:27) he Latino? Speaker 7 (11:29) What Speaker 2 (11:29) the fuck? He could be Portuguese or some other shit. I don't know. He Spanish? I can't believe. And in this show, I got to watch what I say. The other day, I'm walking out to St. Regis. I see your man, Ben Simmons. You know, I called him a bum, a flopper of all floppers on here. Speaker 2 (11:49) Man, come on. I got my sandals on my chanclet. I just walk up on him. He's like, yo, I'm in suntan mode. I got the suntan spray. I Speaker 3 (12:00) said, Speaker 2 (12:00) I got to fight this seven foot Speaker 3 (12:02) nigga, man, with chanclet on. What did he say though? He said, yo, it's me, the flopper. I said, true. Speaker 2 (12:12) I said. Speaker 2 (12:14) But you got 120 amps. Yeah. I see you did good for yourself, brother. You got the bag. Yes. Speaker 3 (12:22) He's like, Speaker 2 (12:22) yeah, I'm coming back. I said, all right, my man. I don't know what to tell you. They say he's coming back. They say he's coming back. They say he's coming back. He was nice. I don't know what happened and what the pressure was. He did not deliver, brother. I'm very, very Speaker 3 (12:35) sorry. This happens all the time. God bless him. I wish him the best. You know what I'm saying? What you want me to do? Speaker 7 (12:40) I'm the number one flop. Speaker 2 (12:43) That Speaker 6 (12:43) was crazy. Well, Speaker 2 (12:44) he Speaker 3 (12:44) came Speaker 2 (12:44) up to me. I would too. You see, yo. The number one. I'm the number one. What you call that shit when they don't make it? Bus. Bus. Speaker 6 (12:57) That's crazy. That's crazy. He made an all-star team, all-NBA. Defensive team. Speaker 7 (13:02) Yeah. He made 120 M's, made all-NBA. You know any Speaker 3 (13:07) buses that made it all-star? Worse. I don't know about a bust to be an all-star, but what's my man Greg Oden? He broke his kneecap two times in a row. That's not a bust. That's injury. Speaker 6 (13:20) You Speaker 2 (13:20) can't Speaker 6 (13:20) say, like, you can't say, no, you can't. If he get hurt, if he get hurt. Speaker 2 (13:25) If you take your number one draft and he gets hurt. I don't want nobody to get hurt. I'm not trying to diss him. God forbid anybody gets hurt and they get a high pick. That's not, that's not their fault. If you would have drafted him, if you were a fan of, Miami Heat, you draft him and he gets hurt the first game. Come back and get hurt the next game. That's on him. That's on him. You lost your first pick. Right, but that's not his fault. His name is Frankie Aquino from France. Oh, my God. That Speaker 5 (13:57) means his name for once. Chill on Frank, man. Frankie Aquino. Chill on Frank, man. Yo, Chris, I quit the show. Speaker 2 (14:07) Right now. What? I will quit Joe and Jada. Let me ask you a question right now. Frankie Aquino, nigga. That ain't his name. Frankie, what's his name? I don't know how Speaker 5 (14:19) to say it. And I'm not going to say that. Why? Speaker 6 (14:24) Michael, that Speaker 2 (14:24) ain't his name. Speaker 6 (14:26) That's his name. That's his name. That's his name. That's Speaker 2 (14:28) his Speaker 6 (14:28) name. That's his name. That's his name. That's his name. Nigga. Chill on, Frank. Chill on, Frank. That's my dog. Chill on, Frank. Chill on, Frank. That's my dog. That's my dog. Great kid. Shout out to Frank. He's like Speaker 2 (14:39) a Speaker 6 (14:39) nice guy. I'm Speaker 7 (14:40) not saying it. Speaker 6 (14:40) Chill on, Frank. Speaker 7 (14:41) Frank's got some of the greatest players in the world. What's Jordan and them coach think? Speaker 7 (14:47) What's my man? He's picked Frank. Phil picked Frank. Speaker 2 (14:52) Phil fucked up two times. Oh, man. He got my man. Did Mello wrong. Not Mello wrong. He got your man. What's the white boy? Phil put Mello back. Don't Speaker 6 (15:02) you Speaker 2 (15:02) say Chris Steps. Phil Speaker 6 (15:04) did Mello Speaker 2 (15:04) back. Speaker 6 (15:04) You're not talking about Chris Steps. I like Chris. How about I say Chris? Come on now. He made Jeremy Lin. Phil created Jeremy Lin. Speaker 7 (15:11) No. I ain't got no more. I Speaker 2 (15:14) ain't got no more flags. With Mello, he shitted on Mello. Well, Linsanity was a good time for New York. When you lose every game forever, and you got a guy like, you didn't like Linsanity? I liked Speaker 7 (15:26) him. I didn't think he was a bad, I didn't think he was ready to control Speaker 2 (15:30) the Metro. No, he ain't better than Mello. Yeah, he was good. He wasn't ready to put Speaker 7 (15:36) everything on his shoulders after two games. No, Speaker 2 (15:40) no, no, no, no. No, he had like a 10-game run, a 13. Speaker 2 (15:45) Linsanity was a great time. I was a kid. I was a kid for that. I was a kid for that. You seen him lighting them up every day, right? That shit was like magic. You know me, I'm a fake basketball player. So what is he? Huh? What is he? Oh no, he ain't a boss. Linsanity? Yeah. Oh no, no. He did just fine. For what though? He wasn't the number one pick, bro. That's fair. That's fair. No one expected him to do that. That's fair. Come on. You right. Are you over here? The next we struggling. We don't gave away all our picks. We finally get a pick. The niggas go. And from Hong Kong's Mung's Goliad, Frank Alatulo. Like, yo, get the. Fuck. Speaker 5 (16:29) Yo. In the first Speaker 2 (16:30) game, I seen niggas dusting that nigga like this. Ha, he went that way. I was like, oh no. Like this. Like Speaker 6 (16:37) you Speaker 2 (16:37) talking about this man, Frank. They was bobbleheading that nigga. The first nigga was like, he ain't Speaker 1 (16:43) know Speaker 2 (16:43) I see you. Speaker 6 (16:45) What is this? Shout out my dog, Speaker 2 (16:47) Frank. What, Frank? I don't co-sign none of this, Frank. He know I ain't with it. Keep that separate. He ain't know. He know I ain't with Speaker 7 (16:54) it. What does last year's season tell you about the cap ceiling? Speaker 6 (17:00) I think we got really potential to win the whole thing. Like I told you, I think the biggest thing for us is, you know, taking what we learned, you know, wearing it. Like, understand, like, yeah, like, we failed, but in a lot of areas, we didn't fail. We failed winning the ultimate goal, but at the end of the day, like, we made it to the conference finals. Okay, now what? You feel me? Like, now what? Like, we're not going to just sit here and be like, yeah, you know. We hype. We made it out. I'm like, no. We made it and we got swept. So now how do we respond to that? You know what I'm saying? Kiss and... Speaker 3 (17:30) Well, the first thing you said, you scared me. You're on the right way to winning the chip. You said, this summer we spent time together. We spent time. Come on. When a team becomes brotherhood behind the scenes. Fuck basketball. Speaker 2 (17:42) When you're eating dinner together, watching a movie together, talking shit together. We were just in Phoenix for Speaker 6 (17:47) James' birthday as a Speaker 2 (17:49) group. That's the biggest thing. That's Speaker 6 (17:51) a Speaker 2 (17:51) problem for me. Because I know you know. You know I win chips. I'm a legendary coach. This guy don't understand. Nobody wants. What's your record? What's your record? 99 and 1. You know I coached two NBA All-Star games and they banned me because it's not entertaining. I win by 40, 50 points every Speaker 6 (18:08) time I coach. You Speaker 2 (18:08) would have lost that blackout Speaker 6 (18:09) game though. Huh? You would have lost the blackout game Speaker 2 (18:12) though. You think so? Yeah, go ahead, Donovan. Talk this Speaker 6 (18:14) shit. You think I would have lost? Allen Speaker 2 (18:17) Iverson. I like it. Stephon Mulberry. Carmelo Anthony. It was disgusting what I had out there. I'm just saying like, so what, the only way they would have won is if they asked to kill O'Neal. Speaker 6 (18:29) I don't think I was born for that, but I heard about that. And obviously I've heard. What you heard? The story of how it was supposed to happen. And you know what I mean? I think you shut the power up. I say all that. I fuck Speaker 5 (18:40) with you. I fuck with you. I fuck with you. I fuck with you. I fuck with you. I'm fucking with you. I'm fucking with you. I never heard that when you got that power shut off. I'm fucking with you. I'm fucking with you. Well, Speaker 3 (18:51) actually, it went out from Cleveland and it trickled down. If they bring Shaquille O'Neal, listen, they asked me recently at the album listening, and they was like, yo, who would you be as a ball player? I said, yo, I'd be Shaquille O'Neal. That motherfucker was the most dominant player that I ever seen with my eyes. slam dunk him with four guys on his back. Like, that shit was crazy. Different. But if Jay-Z and them bring Shaq, it's over. That's what I'm saying. I don't think they had Shaq. I didn't believe it. And by the way, my guys that they said I had, they were on the court. Mike Bibby at his prime. Allen Iverson, Stephon Mulberry, Al Speaker 2 (19:37) Harrington, Zach Randolph, Z-Bo, Z-Bo, Jamal, Jamal. You brought up that Speaker 6 (19:41) one Speaker 2 (19:42) name, though. What? Oh no, he's Shaq. Nobody's beating him. He probably break the fucking rim in that court. It's over. He would have ripped the gizzard trunks off him. He Speaker 7 (19:51) would have ripped that shit off the ground. Speaker 3 (19:54) They heard I had y'all