Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jaylon Tyson made waves in recent days after he said that Cleveland is Donovan Mitchell's city now — implying that the city no longer belongs to the greatest player in franchise history, LeBron James. Tyson, of course, was simply very ecstatic in the aftermath of a win that saw the Cavs defeat James' Los Angeles Lakers at home, and this stirred plenty of reactions among fans, former players, and pundits alike.
At the end of the day, Tyson apologized to anyone whom he may have offended with his remark. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem as though his comments were too big of a deal anyway. At least to former Cavs guard JR Smith, who suited up alongside James in Cleveland's 2016 title-winning squad, Tyson's proclamation didn't even warrant any further discussion among his contemporaries.
“Nah [it didn't make it to the group chat.] Nobody said nothing about it. Certain stuff, you just let it go. God bless his soul,” Smith said in an appearance on the Run It Back show on FanDuel TV.
JR Smith says Jaylon Tyson's "Cleveland is Donovan Mitchell's city" quote didn't make it to the 2016 Cavs group chat 🤣
"Certain stuff, you just let it go. God bless his soul."@MichelleDBeadle | @TeamLou23 | @boogiecousins | @TheRealJRSmith pic.twitter.com/qcl04kzDZ9
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) February 5, 2026
Those Cavs are world champions, and they know that no one even comes close to James' legacy with the franchise. And what Tyson said didn't even contain a sliver of malice, so this wasn't much of a story to begin with anyway.
Donovan Mitchell looks to lead Cavs to the promised land

The Cavs' decision to trade Darius Garland for James Harden signals one thing and one thing alone: they are looking to win a title within the next year or so what with Harden being 36 years of age.
It will all boil down to Mitchell being able to exorcise his team's playoff demons and getting them over the hump. He's 29 years old and he's in the middle of his prime, and if he manages to get the Cavs another title, then Cleveland certainly could be his city.




















