{"id":592446,"date":"2026-02-15T20:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T20:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/592446\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T20:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T20:13:10","slug":"why-cavs-donovan-mitchell-apologized-to-jaylon-tyson-sam-merrill-after-3-point-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/592446\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Cavs\u2019 Donovan Mitchell apologized to Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill after 3-point contest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why Cavs\u2019 Donovan Mitchell apologized to Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill after 3-point contest<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Donovan Mitchell<\/a> has represented the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> four times at NBA All-Star Weekend<\/a>, competing in his third career 3-Point Contest and second as a member of the wine and gold. Both times, he\u2019s paid his teammates respect by wearing their jersey numbers. In 2024, it was Sam Merrill\u2019s No. 5. On Saturday, it was Jaylon Tyson\u2019s No. 20.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Mitchell came out swinging in Los Angeles, putting up a score of 24 in the first round. He started perfectly from the right corner and knocked down 9 of his first 10 treys. Unfortunately, his momentum slowed above the break, missing his two opportunities from the logo. Mitchell put his money ball rack on the left wing and only went 2-of-5. Still, the veteran finished strong from the left corner and nailed 4-of-5, most importantly, the remaining money ball.<\/p>\n

Following up on finalist Kon Knueppel\u2019s opening round of 27, it looked like Mitchell was in prime position to get into the top three to compete for the win. Nobody was able to match or outscore the Cavs\u2019 standout until Devin Booker, who put on a show with a 30.<\/p>\n

Then, it was Damian Lillard\u2019s turn to close out the field, and despite not playing a single game this season, it was officially Dame Time. Wearing Portland Trail Blazers colors for the first time since 2023, Lillard matched Knueppel\u2019s 27.<\/p>\n

Mitchell couldn\u2019t believe it when he was eliminated from the final round by the last two competitors. He went to X\/Twitter to apologize to both Tyson and Merrill for coming up short<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have failed y\u2019all,\u201d Mitchell wrote. \u201cSam Merrill, Jaylon Tyson, my apologies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

That may be putting a little too much on his shoulders, even if it is for fun, but Mitchell is a great sport and an even better teammate. To wear Tyson\u2019s jersey two years after he rocked a \u201cMoney Merrill\u201d version of Sam\u2019s threads on the national stage shows what he is all about.<\/p>\n

Maybe his guys should\u2019ve been on that stage with him.<\/p>\n

Merrill is statistically the best high-volume catch shooter<\/a> from distance in the NBA, and his season percentage is at 47.2% on over seven attempts per game. Tyson actually carries a better overall clip (47.5%) on over four tries a night, too. Mitchell leads the league with 185 total threes made.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Mitchell scored a first-round 21, not enough to get to the final three. Lillard won that one.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

No matter who was there on Saturday, history was going to repeat itself, as Lillard won the third NBA 3-Point Contest in his career.<\/p>\n

Dame joins Larry Bird and Craig Hodges as the only players to accomplish that feat.<\/p>\n

Related: Teaming with LeBron James would be \u2018special\u2019 for Cavs\u2019 Donovan Mitchell<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Cavs boost forward depth with latest signing to fill roster<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Why Cavs\u2019 Donovan Mitchell apologized to Jaylon Tyson, Sam Merrill after 3-point contest appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":592447,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[3128,23229,7196,39463,173818,2498,1260,3133,21592,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-592446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-damian-lillard","tag-devin-booker","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-jaylon-tyson","tag-kon-knueppel","tag-nba","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-sam-merrill","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116076479134585324","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}