Believe it or not, the Cleveland Cavaliers' road food itinerary played a big role in Donovan Mitchell signing an extension.
In the summer of 2024, Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension with the Cleveland Cavaliers and the team's road food itinerary played a role in that.
During an interview with Joe Vardon of The Athletic, Mitchell spoke about the Cavaliers providing his teammates and him with good food.
“I talk about the basketball stuff, but part of it is why I re-signed here,” Mitchell told The Athletic. “When you have a team that, and it’s not BS food either, it’s like top of the top chefs making it in front of you, and it’s like gluten-free, dairy-free, all the right stuff … when you have a team that believes in nutrition as much as they believe in medical, and what you do on the floor, I think it shows the mindset of an organization.
“That’s what stood out for me, like, it costs a lot, but this is an organization that’s willing to do that for its players. I talk to guys all over the league … and I don’t know of anyone else that does what we do.”
On every road trip, the Cavaliers pay for the top chefs at the five-star hotels at which they stay to cater at least two meals for their entire traveling party. Cleveland is not the only team in the league to cater multiple meals each day for its team, but the Wine and Gold could be the only organization that opens those meals up to so many people beyond the players.
“I speak for myself — if it was up to me, I wouldn’t go anywhere,” Mitchell said. “It’s like, hey, let’s all go downstairs and eat. It’s not like, all right, we got to go, we’ve got to order the Uber. It’s just so much easier. Like I said, it costs. Some teams don’t want to do that. But when you have a group that wants to do it, it makes the players feel comfortable. I think that’s what elevates this organization.”
Cleveland is a small TV market, but the Cavaliers have little trouble attracting stars, thanks in large part to their commitment to providing the most basic of human needs: food.
James Harden requested a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Cavaliers because he wanted to play with Mitchell, who probably told him about how great of a organization Cleveland is.
"Definitely up there in the sense of making sure players are covered in every aspect," Harden said. "That’s what makes them an amazing organization."
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