The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Is Donovan Mitchell Good Enough To Win A Title As Your Best Player? | Postgame Show

Episode Date: May 12, 2026

"That's 15 yards in the NFL." Congratulations to Donovan Mitchell, who has taken Jimmy Butler's spot in the 'is this guy good enough to be your best player on a championship team?' debate. The gang weighs in on that, before JuJu tells us his Joker of the day that leaves Greg Cote shocked and dismayed. Plus, it was a loaded day for polls, and there are some massive results to share. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Wayfair, every style, every home. All right, let's bring Juju aboard here. Juju, a lot of good NBA last night. The Cavaliers, they even up their best of seven series two apiece. The Lakers, they are done. We didn't talk much today, though, about James Hardin. You got anything for us on Hardin's performance last night? Oh, man, James Harton, first half.

Without that first half from James Harton, they wouldn't have made it, dog. Never would have made it like the gospel song say. I think that he provided the time in the proper runway for the Don to have that second half, man. Like, he had, what, 40 points in the second half? That was incredible, making it so that that trade makes the sense that it looked like it should have made back in the day.

Last night was a great example. of it working out. Daniel, the calves are six and O at home this postseason. They are 0 and 5 on the road. What Donovan Mitchell did yesterday is crazy, where midway through the second quarter, he's got one point, and then he scores 39 in the second half, scores four in the first half, and 39 in the second half.

Do you think that if I just throw to the audience, and I'll throw the question to Juju, is Donovan Mitchell good enough to win a championship as your best player? Yes or no, Jujo? know how great he is, but is he in the Jimmy Butler category of, yeah, I can be only so good with this player. I might be good, but I'm never going to be championship good if this is my best player. Yeah, I think he can. I think it's all according to what you surround him with. Like you say, last night was a great example of it working out, but there are some nights where Evan

Mobley, where are you, brother? I know we talk so much about James Harton, but Evan Mobley, you're an All-Star. Last night, my brother, Alan, hey, we got nine points from you, but we could have used 12. So it's according to the pieces around him performing at the clip that they must in these playoffs. I think Mitchell is such a talented score that if you put them on the right team, let's say you swap Tatum for Donovan Mitchell. I think he becomes their go-to guy and they end up winning a championship just the same.

I think that's why it was such a miss opportunity for Miami in their two different pursuits of Donovan Mitchell to fail to get him. because you plop them into that Miami team with Jimmy Butler and Bam out of bio, you know who your alpha scorer is at the end of games. Tony disagrees. Tony's making faces next to you. The question is, is he the best player on a championship team? He hasn't done it.

He's been on good teams in the past that haven't done anything. They were the number one seed last year with a really good team. They didn't do anything. And this year, they're tied to two, too. Okay, that's great. He had 39 points in the second half. Great. But are we looking at this Cavs team across the way in the Eastern Conference

and look at the Knicks and being like, oh, gee, he's not going to shut him down? Nobody's looking at that Detroit Cleveland series and saying the champion's going to emerge from that series. Nobody. Yeah, but also, too, what's important to remember from last year, the Don was hurt. You feel me? Darius Garland, he was hurt, that toe was acting up. We were lying, they were relying on Ty Jerome in the playoffs last year. So, as crazy as it does sound that he hasn't been able to get it done, he just hasn't had the right situation happen.

You see how long it took Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown and get it right. They went to the chip, thought they had it, and then the Warriors got him. So I think once everything around him lines up, he could be that player. Yeah, I object to the idea that, you know, can this player be the best player on a championship team? Well, they didn't win so he can't be. Like, Anthony Edwards, Anthony Edwards may go his whole career without winning an NBA championship. I think Anthony Edwards can definitely be the best player in championship team. No one doubts that, though.

No one would say, listening to this, no one would say Anthony Edwards, if he's your best player, you can't win a championship. I think plenty of people would say it about Donovan Mitchell. You're probably right about that. Yeah, and I would also say the same thing to Kate Cunningham. Like, they're not going to win this year. I think Kate Cunningham can totally be the best player. He's pretty inefficient, though, man. Those turnovers and he's bad, he's bad.

He's really, like, he's got multiple eight turnover games. Doesn't he have like four of them already this postseason? Like, that's an inefficiency in the postseason when the baskets are hard to come by and you're allowing fast break points. That's something you can't have as an Achilles heel on your resume. It's also a byproduct of who he has around them. right like you start putting him around with different guys guys that can play actual offense outside of him creating and we'll see his turnovers drop i'd imagine yeah it's 1,000% right

because like you say tim hardaway junior uh beasley all those pieces around him made way way more sense than Duncan robinson having this off night you did so it's it's rough for k right now juju give us some jokers the day who you got for us man man man we're gonna travel to baseball man I'd be tuning in to baseball sparingly. You know what I mean? I'm a casual fan. I'm supporting my brother Jeremy and the Marlins. But, man, San Francisco.

We're going to call these the Frisco Giants that I saw last night. I don't know what they are celebrating, but there are kids watching, sirs. Please excuse yourselves. I am out on. For the audio audience, it's the three outfielders meeting at center field after a victory, and they do a three-way hug where they're, you know, their pelvic thrusts. A little. A little.

That's 15 yards in the NFL for sure. Craig, what do you think of that? Oh, I'm shocked. And dismayed. That's something. That ain't my kind of sally. It is something. And you know it.

Juju, let's update some polls. Oh, sorry. Yes, go ahead. Yes, sir. Yeah, we can go straight to the pose, man. Before I pull up the pose. Thank God. I'm going to give a huge shout out, though,

to Caris Lavert, Rui Hachamora, Jackson Hayes, basketball Paul Reed, Dean Way for his defense, as well as Max Trues for his defense, things that will probably fly under the radar today, but those things were major that happened yesterday, man. Salute to them boys. Check out Juju at DLS Hoops on YouTube. He and Trista, an assortment of fun and guests are after basketball playoff games at DLS hoop, at DLS, hoops on YouTube. What do you have for us in the way of polls today, Juju? Yes, sir.

Is OKC going to be the first ever sneaky dynasty? 66% of the audience says, yes, they are. Damn, cover your ears, ass. It's the best University of Miami fan you'll ever meet, allowed to be a graduate of the University of Florida. Yep. 83% of the audience says no. but that's good news for you

because he went to Santa Fe which is more negative nerdy or goofy 51% of the audience says goofy is more negative close one damn hell yeah was a blind

Pacino in a few good men 52% of the audience say no wow also very close. Humah! Was a blind Pacino in Bull Durham?

Humah! Mamib! 54% of the audience says, no, he wasn't. Tight. Close pose. Is there a player in the league that can successfully elbow

Wimby in the face? 83% of the audience says, no, there isn't. Do you, You often confuse De Niro and Pacino and you know it. Whoa. 62% of the audience says, no, they don't. Is Emu a Disney delicacy?

57% of the audience says no. Is Dan above group chats? 74% of the audience says yes. Is Woody Woodpecker a parrot? Huma. 79% of the audience says no, and those are your pose. We forgot the one is a blind Pacino in raging bull. Whoa?