The Cleveland Cavaliers were stunningly bounced from the NBA playoffs in the second round after being defeated by the Indiana Pacers in just five games. ESPN's Kendrick Perkins didn't waste much time before assessing blame for the team's shortcomings in the postseason.
During a recent appearance on the Road Trippin' podcast, Perkins bluntly called out Donovan Mitchell, indicating he was one of the main catalysts behind Cleveland's lackluster playoff run.
In particular, Perkins pointed to Mitchell's role in the Cavaliers' decision to part ways with former head coach J.B. Bickerstaff as a cause for concern, while also questioning the star guard's ability to lead his team on a deep run in the playoffs.
"A Donovan Mitchell-led team has never been to the conference finals. Donovan Mitchell, you got a coach fired. You got J.B. Bickerstaff fired. This is a fact. You had no communication with that man while he was there. You didn't like him, right? Soon as he got fired, you signed a contract extension, right? You extended with the Cavs," Perkins said.
Perkins went on to criticize members of the team, namely De'Andre Hunter and Evan Mobley, for sitting out Game 2 due to injuries, even suggesting that Mitchell was playing up his own ankle injury for the cameras.
"How many times y'all watched that game and the camera went on Donovan and it was like Donovan wanted the world to know that his ankle was sore and that he was pushing through it. ... He wanted y'all to know that, 'I'm giving it my all, y'all, but I got a sore ankle,'" said Perkins, comparing that to the toughness displayed by Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards, who are also battling injuries.
"To sum it up, this Cavs team, they were just f––ing soft. They were soft. There's no other way to slice it and dice it. They were soft," Perkins concluded.
It's certainly a harsh assessment of Mitchell, who made his sixth consecutive All-Star team while averaging 24.0 points, 5.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds per game. In the playoffs, Mitchell averaged 29.6 points, 3.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds per contest, yet despite his contributions, Cleveland failed to advance past the second round. Perkins believes the lack of toughness from the team was their undoing in the playoffs, and he made clear that he feels that starts with Mitchell.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Kendrick Perkins Harshly Blamed Donovan Mitchell for Cavaliers' Playoff Shortcomings.
