“Looked Like Baldheaded Kid With Long A** Arms”: Donovan Mitchell Unveils the Backstory Behind His ‘Spida’ Nickname

NBA has quite a few guards we can all vouch for. One of them stands tall and proud at 6’1. Who is he? It’s Donovan Mitchell. The Cleveland Cavaliers star is also known to be the up-and-coming face of the league. The 4x NBA All-Star has also won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2018 and averages 27.1 points per game. He’s been playing incredibly well this season, in fact, so well that people are calling it his career-best.

One of the most peculiar things, however, is his nickname. Ever since he entered the league in 2017, the high nickname “Spida” has been the most recognizable. So, how exactly did he get the nickname? Is it suggestive of his playing style, or something else? Let’s find out!

Why is Donovan Mitchell nicknamed ‘Spida’?

Mitchell is spitting fire like a dragon across the NBA realm. Considering his powerful performance of late, no wonder people are going crazy for him. He also recently made an appearance on the “Tidal League” podcast and first thing first was prompted, “Where did ‘Spida’ come from?”

Donovan reveals it goes back to when he was just eight years old playing for the Riverside Hawks. His teammate gave everybody a nickname, and he coined the famous “Spida” for a bald and long-armed kid who could steal. “I had no hair at this point, all bald. I looked like a baldheaded kid with long a** arms,” he said. 

His teammate goes at him and says that he was “spinning webs” getting all those steals in front of the press. “I am a spider spinning my web, so he just kept telling me ‘Spida’,” added Mitchell on where the moniker came from. 

Spida took off after he won the dunk contest

This nickname truly stuck with him through his high school years and into his time at Louisville, where he was named First Team All-Atlantic Coast Conference as a sophomore. Donovan also revealed that he kept this nickname as his Instagram handle ever since ninth grade and kept calling himself that for years. He entered the NBA and spent his rookie year with the Denver Nuggets. The nickname truly took off after Mitchell won the NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 2018. 

Read More: “Not Everybody Is Kyrie (Irving)”: Donovan Mitchell Opens Up About His Optimum Dream While Sharing Valuable Advice for the Next-Gen Stars

There has never been a dull moment in his career. Last season he set a record-breaking 71 points wearing his Spidey Adidas DON shoes. He became the 7th player in the NBA history to score 70+ points. There is still some more time before Spida becomes the steals leader in the league.

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