Donovan Mitchell
David Richard-Imagn Images
On Wednesday, Donovan Mitchell exploded for 46 points while leading the Cavaliers to a 132-121 win over the 76ers. He spent a couple of hours playing NBA 2K ahead of the showdown, and he called out a troll he faced off against for giving him some extra incentive to go off.
Donovan Mitchell has never averaged less than 20 points per game since winning Rookie of the Year honors after making his debut with the Nuggets in 2017.
The man who recently kicked off his ninth year in the league has fallen just short of obtaining “Superstar” status (although I’m aware there are some fans who would argue otherwise), but he’s earned a spot in the All-Star Game six seasons in a row and ended up in impressive company when he earned his All-NBA First Team nod in 2025.
On January 2, 2023, Mitchell exploded for 71 points to join David Robinson, Elgin Baylor, and Damian Lillard on the list of players responsible for the ninth-most impressive scoring performance in NBA history. Prior to that point, his high for a single game had been 46 points—a feat he’d achieved three times before adding a fourth into the fold a little over a week after setting a new career best.
On Wednesday, Mitchell turned that quartet into a quintet, and after the game, he gave a shoutout to an online foe who he credited with lighting a fire under his butt.
Donovan Mitchell made a troll on NBA 2K eat his words after scoring 46 points in a game
Mitchell had averaged 29.5 points in the six games he’d played in this season before the Cavaliers hosted the 76ers on Wednesday night, and he was a few days removed from a 37-point performance against the Hawks that had his best showing of the current campaign.
However, he outdid himself by dropping 46 points on Philadelphia while contributing four rebounds, eight assists, and a steal as Cleveland improved to 5-2 on the season with a 132-121 victory.
Mitchell spoke with the media after the game and treated us to a fantastic press conference moment when he revealed he was playing with a chip on his shoulder thanks to an interaction he had when playing NBA 2K earlier in the day.
It’s impossible not to like @spidadmitchell.
He’s basically one of us — getting pissed off at random people online — except he’s also one of the 10 best basketball players on the planet. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/mn6NCJ5HEQ
— Mikey McNuggets (@MikeLucasTV) November 6, 2025
Here’s what the man who rocks the “Spidaaaa203” gamertag on Xbox Live had to say:
“This kid pissed me off today, I was playing 2K . I’d been playing 2K for two hours and I told him too, I was like, ‘Wait, just wait.’
He called me washed up, he called me a bunch of things…He said he hadn’t seen a highlight from me in a minute and I just told him, ‘Alright, we’ll see.’ He told me to go to sleep, he was going in.
So, this game was for that kid or grown man, whoever that was. I appreciate you. I told him I would give him a shoutout too.”
NBA players—they’re just like us.