The Cleveland Cavaliers beat LeBron James, who, it has been speculated, may have been playing in Cleveland for the last time in his NBA career, on Wednesday, Jan. 28.
Not only did they win, they positively blew out the Los Angeles Lakers by a 129-99 score. After the game, one Cavaliers guard proclaimed that Cleveland now belongs to Donovan Mitchell.
Who Said Cleveland Is Donovan Mitchell’s City?
Mitchell may have put up his usual stat line against the Lakers — 25 points on 9-for-21 shooting — but it was Jaylon Tyson who stood out, putting up 20 points and 12 points + rebounds while shooting 8-for-15 from the field.
During a postgame interview, Tyson made his decree about Mitchell and Cleveland.
“This is Donovan Mitchell’s city now,” Tyson said, per SportsCenter. “When he come back here, we gonna make everybody root for him like they did for (LeBron).”
“This is Donovan Mitchell’s city now.”
Jaylon Tyson giving Spida props after beating LeBron and the Lakers 😅 pic.twitter.com/CwFSCl9QkR
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 29, 2026
Tyson didn’t retract his statement while talking with reporters after the game, but he made it clear he didn’t intend to fire a shot at James as much as he wanted to prop up Mitchell.
“There was no disrespect there,” Tyson told reporters, per Lakers All Day Everyday. “I didn’t want to disrespect or step on nobody’s toes. That’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Obviously, I was a Cavs fan growing up because of him. I didn’t want to take away (from) him, but I just wanted to give Don his flowers.
“That was my biggest goal in it. If I offended anyone, I’m sorry. I take personal responsibility, but I just wanted to give the man his flowers because we want to do the same thing that LeBron did here. We want to do that with (Mitchell) here as our leader.”
Jaylon Tyson apologized for this after the game, clarifying that he wasn’t trying to offend LeBron:
“There was no disrespect there. Bron is one of the greatest players to ever play the game. I was a Cavs fan growing up because of him. If I offended anyone, I’m sorry. I take… https://t.co/R46WZy3tzI pic.twitter.com/KH5Ai5Sj9x
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) January 29, 2026
It seems ridiculous if anyone interpreted Tyson’s words as some sort of shot at James. He clearly is just trying to let it be known that Mitchell was the LeBron replacement the Cavaliers wanted after his departure.
If anything, these words come off a little suspicious, as if the Cavaliers themselves wanted James to know that Tyson wasn’t trying to disrespect him. LeBron will be a free agent this summer, and no one knows what exactly he’ll do next. Leaving the Lakers could open the door for yet another stint in Cleveland.
Sure, the Cavaliers want to prove they can win without James, but even they know passing on the opportunity to bring him back to pair with Mitchell would be ridiculous.
